Eating TDEE but below BMR and gaining...help please

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ajcmoran2005
ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone,

I just looked back at my weight and I've actually gained more than I thought. I'm 5'4", 129.6 pounds and I'm 39. My TDEE -20% is 1675 but my BMR is 1336. I burn about 300-350 calories running everyday so I'm netting less than my BMR. I eat about 1600 cal a day. I had been losing but now I'm gaining. Could I be gaining because I'm eating below my BMR but still eating TDEE? This is just getting really frustrating because I thought I was doing everything right.

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  • Ainar
    Ainar Posts: 858 Member
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    BMR = Basal metabolic rate. It is how much calories you burn a day if you do nothing the whole day, not even move a muscle. This is irrelevant in real life situations, unless you are paralyzed completely by stroke or something and can not move at all. You don't need to count that...

    TDEE = Total daily energy expenditure. This is how much calories you burn a day, what includes also calories from exercising. If you ate at TDEE you are eating just as much as you are burning, therefore maintaining weight not gaining it or losing it. You are burning around 300 cals while eating 1675 cals so you are below your TDEE. You should be losing weight...

    You can not gain fat weight if you are in caloric deficit, which you are. That is against lows of physics - you can not make campfire burn more by taking firewood out of it.

    Must be just water weight. How much exactly you have gained? It's not more than around 2 or 4 mounds I bet, is it? Sometimes you may gain or lose even up to 8 pounds of water weight a day. Have you been drinking enough or maybe drink more or less lately? Have you lately have been eating more salt, alcohol or suddenly increased amount of carbs you ate? Have you been weighting yourself at same day and time as you did last week?

    To get the most accurate fat loss tracking results make sure you weight yourself at same time of day, at same day of week once a week. If you weight yourself every day then make sure you hit the same macros, activity level, water intake every day, as well as weight yourself at same time.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
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    It's less than a pound but it's just so weird. I've been losing for awhile and then all of the sudden I've been gaining doing the exact same thing. I drink at least 100 ounces of water everyday and eat at least 100 grams of protein. I usually go a little under on my carbs but I do go over on my sodium. It's not bad though. It's just so irritating doing everything right and have it not work.
  • 4_Lisa
    4_Lisa Posts: 362 Member
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    Also though if all you do is run, your body becomes more efficient at reserving energy. You need to contantly be upping intensity or the distance in order to continue losing, if you are running the same intensity and same distance all the time, you are going to plateau at your loss
  • 1princesswarrior
    1princesswarrior Posts: 1,242 Member
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    My weight fluctuates by 5-8 pounds a month due to water gain and loss. I started weighing in daily and learned when that happens so now I expect it. It's frustrating and can be demotivating but I wouldn't worry too much if it's less than a pound.
  • LyleMcCracken
    LyleMcCracken Posts: 5 Member
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    That sounds like something along the lines of water weight.

    I weigh myself everyday at the same time. Even doing this I have found that I can have some pretty big up swings, frequently in the 2 pound range. I even had an apparent gain of 3 lbs in one day. I stuck with my routine and all that water weight quickly came off at the rate of 1 or more lbs a day. Bye the end of the week I was still on track for my overall weight loss of 1 lb a week.

    The short is don't fret the short term. There are way to many variables influencing your weight from day to day. Focus on your progress over time.
  • mcouturezz
    mcouturezz Posts: 145
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    I've been losing for awhile and then all of the sudden I've been gaining doing the exact same thing.

    ^^ This !
    Your body is adjusting to your routine and the exercise you do have less effect.
    Try something new, surprise your body and you'll get the scale moving down again.
    Btw half a pound in a month is NOT gaining ! :)
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
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    I never ever thought about changing my exercise but it does make sense. I run about 3.5 miles a day at a 6.0 incline so maybe I will slow down a bit but raise the incline. Would that help?
  • Some_Watery_Tart
    Some_Watery_Tart Posts: 2,250 Member
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    Try eating at maintenance (TDEE) for a couple weeks and then going back down. In the meantime, change up your workouts. That usually does the trick for me.
  • ajcmoran2005
    ajcmoran2005 Posts: 173 Member
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    I know that this is going to sound bizarre but I have become obsessed with running so psychologically it will be tough for me to change it up but I will. Thank you all for your great ideas!
  • Koldnomore
    Koldnomore Posts: 1,613 Member
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    It's less than a pound but it's just so weird.

    Stop obsessing. If you are weighing yourself every day stop. You WILL gain/lose weight HOURLY. Just pick one day of the week to weigh yourself, same time, same circumstances and stop obsessing. If you gain 1 pound for 4 weeks IN A ROW, then maybe you have an issue. If it's concern over a daily fluctuation it's not even worth it.
  • Bekahmardis
    Bekahmardis Posts: 602 Member
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    Instead of changing your running routine since you absolutely love it so much, why not just add some weight lifting to it?
  • Lbf321
    Lbf321 Posts: 81 Member
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    Whenever I start gaining or not losing I've found that eating at maintenance for a couple days helps. Before I found this method I had stopped losing for a few weeks.
  • SrJoben
    SrJoben Posts: 484 Member
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    It's less than a pound but it's just so weird.

    That's a tiny amount of weight.

    Is it trending consistently upward, and if so for how long?

    If it just bounced up half a pound randomly and has hung there for a few days don't worry about it. Water weight, digestions speed, stars aligning, whatever. It happens. See what's it's doing next week.
  • MinnieInMaine
    MinnieInMaine Posts: 6,400 Member
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    With less than 10 pounds to lose, your deficit should be 10-15%, not 20%. This should bring your net closer to your BMR.

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