weird weight gain!
colleenceo92
Posts: 5 Member
Hey! I am 21 years old and began working out consistently about 2 years ago. About 9 months ago I increased my workouts to 6 days a week and eat very healthy. I am a vegetarian but do my best to get protein from other sources to build some muscle. I have a huge sweet tooth and up until this past January I would eat a bowl of ice cream or frozen yogurt every night. I slowly began changing my "dessert" to either nothing or greek yogurt or fruit. I thought this change was healthy and would hope me loose a little extra fat, however since then I have gained nearly 20lbs!!! I dont know why but I keep gaining and gaining, while im working out more than ever and eating right (with the occasional splurge). At first I thought some of it may be muscle, but pretty much all of my clothes do not fit anymore and I dont know what to do! HELP!
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Replies
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How much are you eating in a day?0
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I do struggle with that a bit because I am a college student on summer break so I tend to sleep very late in the day so breakfast ends up being around 12 or 1pm. I typically eat about 1,000 calories a day, however I do not specifically measure out everything so it may be slightly over or under that number!0
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You really have to track everything to figure out how much you're eating. I even had to stop guessing at amounts because sometimes my 1/2 cup that I wrote down was closer to a cup. Get a food scale, it makes your life so much easier. I got fat eating primarily healthy foods, just in totally crazy proportions. Hopefully you're wrong about the number of calories you're eating, because that's makes figuring out why you've gained weight a whole lot easier.0
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I used to track everything specifically, but my family thought I was going a bit crazy so I stopped. If anything I underestimate by alot. The only things I dont really measure are vegetables and fruits (like I dont measure if I have 1/2 cup of strawberries or 3/4 of a cup) i feel like that wouldnt make a huge difference. I am just so confused because since I am eating about 1000 calories (closer to 800-900 each day) I have heard that maybe I ruined my metabolism? I have recently been closer to 800 because I cut out my ice cream which was about 200 before0
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Personally I would say that you're not eating enough. 1200 is what the vast majority of people need AT LEAST to fuel their bodies, and since you're a vegetarian fueling can be even tougher. It's possible that you've gone into starvation mode, yes.
Likewise, LOG EVERYTHING, even if it's 1/3 of something. A calorie is still a calorie...it all counts.0 -
I do struggle with that a bit because I am a college student on summer break so I tend to sleep very late in the day so breakfast ends up being around 12 or 1pm. I typically eat about 1,000 calories a day, however I do not specifically measure out everything so it may be slightly over or under that number!
The problem i see your having, you are eating now where near enough net calories every day. You say to are working out, so lets take a nice number of 300 for a 60min workout. You are leaving your body with less than 700 calories to run itself. You are basically starving your body.
Your body needs a minimum amount of calories just to keep all your normally bodily functions, the is called your BMR. AT NOT POINT should you every go under this for a prolonged period of time, this puts the body in whats called starvation mood, with forces the body to store calories as fat to try and keep you alive.
Search for a BMR calculator in google and find out what yours is and never go bollow it.0 -
I 100% understand the starvation mode thing and have tried to increase my calories. However, I am confused why that would make e gain fat? I have gone up a whole clothing size...0
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I 100% understand the starvation mode thing and have tried to increase my calories. However, I am confused why that would make e gain fat? I have gone up a whole clothing size...
You said you underestimate. If you are gaining weight and a clothing size then you are eating more calories than you are burning.0 -
Plus starvation mode is a misused statement in regards to weight loss...0
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I have kept very specific track of my calorie intake and it is still very low..only around 1,000 a day0
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Personally I would say that you're not eating enough. 1200 is what the vast majority of people need AT LEAST to fuel their bodies, and since you're a vegetarian fueling can be even tougher. It's possible that you've gone into starvation mode, yes.
Likewise, LOG EVERYTHING, even if it's 1/3 of something. A calorie is still a calorie...it all counts.
ummm no - you cant eat 1000 calories a day and be in starvation mode...you have to eat nothing for 72 hours to see initial effects of starvation mode.0 -
I have kept very specific track of my calorie intake and it is still very low..only around 1,000 a day
I dont see how you can put on 20 pounds and only eat 1000 calories a day...
You would have to be over eating by 3500 calories to gain..
1. You defy the laws of physics
2. you really are not logging as accurately as you think
3 you need to see a dr...0 -
I have kept very specific track of my calorie intake and it is still very low..only around 1,000 a day
I dont see how you can put on 20 pounds and only eat 1000 calories a day...
You would have to be over eating by 3500 calories to gain..
1. You defy the laws of physics
2. you really are not logging as accurately as you think
3 you need to see a dr...
This.0 -
Hey! I am 21 years old and began working out consistently about 2 years ago. About 9 months ago I increased my workouts to 6 days a week and eat very healthy. I am a vegetarian but do my best to get protein from other sources to build some muscle. I have a huge sweet tooth and up until this past January I would eat a bowl of ice cream or frozen yogurt every night. I slowly began changing my "dessert" to either nothing or greek yogurt or fruit. I thought this change was healthy and would hope me loose a little extra fat, however since then I have gained nearly 20lbs!!! I dont know why but I keep gaining and gaining, while im working out more than ever and eating right (with the occasional splurge). At first I thought some of it may be muscle, but pretty much all of my clothes do not fit anymore and I dont know what to do! HELP!
First off, believe what you are experiencing. It took me way too long.
Okay--this is part of my experience with my body. Reducing calories by itself does not work. Cutting fat does not work. Restricting carbs has a shortterm wt loss effect, then nothing. Intense cardio causes wt gain. Lack of sleep causes wt gain. Not enough water stall wt loss.
Here is what does work: A low glycemic diet; More than the typical stated good fats (35-50g/day); More protein than I thought a women past childbearing age required (60-75g/day); Restricting carbs to 90-120g/day, and those carbs are 80-90% vegetable--especially leafy greens. This latter habit helps keep daily fiber at a minimum of 15g/day--but I am for 20-25g/day.
Exercise is important--but the kind of cardio that warms the body and allows me to breathe normally (no breathless conversations). I also add free-wts and resistant bands to my cardio. Then I finish with some yoga and pilates.
I drink 8-12 eight ounce glasses of water daily. I aim to get to bed by 10-11pm nightly. The foods and beverages I consume are mostly whole, organic, unprocessed. Butter is 100% real dairy creamery butter. Sweeteners are never chemically engineered. But eating low glycemic and within my macros keeps my diet in balance and snacks-desserts-treats a weekly or monthly occurrence.
Here are few extra things that really seem to help once I got on my own right track. I drink unsweetened tea (green, white & black) on most evenings. I regard the following as my core supplements: a good multi-vitamin&mineral tablet, omega oil capsule, CoQ10. I filter my water in way that makes it also somewhat alkaline.0 -
I have kept very specific track of my calorie intake and it is still very low..only around 1,000 a day
I dont see how you can put on 20 pounds and only eat 1000 calories a day...
You would have to be over eating by 3500 calories to gain..
1. You defy the laws of physics
2. you really are not logging as accurately as you think
3 you need to see a dr...
This.
Current research shows somethings that should take us all back to internet to update our knowledge. One: a calorie of simple carbe (without fiber) metabolizes differently than a kcal of fat or protein so that the energy in stored. Two, strenuous exercise in some causes the cortisol to rise, as if responding to stress, which inhibits fat loss.0 -
I once knew a lady who had no hunger signal. If she didn't consciously think about going to eat, she would forget to eat, like all day. She was quite obese (I'm totally guessing, but probably at least 50% over her ideal weight). She said that whenever she would get into a situation where meals were scheduled, like at a conference, she would start losing weight.
I don't know if that was starvation mode or a messed up metabolism or what, but that's what she very frankly told me.
I'm not saying that's what your problem is, but it might be. Seriously, you're probably burning more than 1000 calories a week just exercising! You need to eat!!!0 -
My vote is also for a messed up metabolism. Im one of those who has next to no hunger signal...I lost my appetite when I got pregnant and its never been the same since then. if it wasnt for kiddo reminding me its time to eat, I wouldn't. I track my calories to make sure Im eating enough. I remember years ago when I first started trying to lose weight, I joined a site kind of like this one, and started tracking what I ate. I was *floored* to realize on an average day, I wasnt even clearing 500 cals.
But that whole thing that the only key to losing weight is drop your calories just doesnt work for someone who is eating WAY less calories than they should and has screwed up their metabolism in the process. Instead, its about eating more calories, and getting the body regulated so that its has something to live off of and also to get you in the mode of burning off the weight instead of holding onto it.
But yeah, Id say to go back to tracking what you eat, and work on making healthy choices and eating properly so that your body can adjust and start the process of losing weight. Warning though, it takes some time...like for me, it can be a few weeks of gaining weight, then leveling off, before any weight starts to actually come off. Its super frustrating yeah, but it takes time. Its something I have to remind myself of, I always freak when I start gaining, but like Im going through it right now....once I started eating more and trackign to make sure I get as close to cal goal as possible about a month ago I gained weight, then after a couple weeks of that mess leveled off with no gain or loss, and now FINALLY just yesterday, the scale is starting to move down.0 -
LOL. Yes one calorie of carbs takes 0.1 calories to digest, while one calorie of protein takes 0.2 calories to digest. That tenth of a calorie will really cause weight gain. Cortisol will NOT cause weight gain in someone who is consuming such low calories, the body CANNOT create something out of nothing. If you need 2000 bricks to build a wall, but i only give you 1000, you won't be able to magically build the entire wall. Your body is the same way, the calories need to come from somewhere, and if there is a caloric deficit, weight will be lost. Period. Macros are irrelevant, cortisol is irrelevant. I think you may need to go back and actually read this "research" you are referring to, as I don't think you actually understood it.I have kept very specific track of my calorie intake and it is still very low..only around 1,000 a day
I dont see how you can put on 20 pounds and only eat 1000 calories a day...
You would have to be over eating by 3500 calories to gain..
1. You defy the laws of physics
2. you really are not logging as accurately as you think
3 you need to see a dr...
This.
Current research shows somethings that should take us all back to internet to update our knowledge. One: a calorie of simple carbe (without fiber) metabolizes differently than a kcal of fat or protein so that the energy in stored. Two, strenuous exercise in some causes the cortisol to rise, as if responding to stress, which inhibits fat loss.0 -
I am a 21 year old college student too, so I possibly have a similar metabolism, and I have had experiences with the same things. First of all you're not in "starvation mode", eating under 1200 calories won't automatically make you balloon up, that's ridiculous. If it did we wouldn't have anorexia and starvation in poverty stricken areas. It can slow your metabolism to eat too little, but eventually you'll keep losing if you eat under 1000 consistently. That's just the truth of biology.
My guess is you really aren't tracking that well, and you're not really varying your food choices/getting adequate nutrition. If your clothes don't fit you are gaining mass, and to gain mass you need to be eating more than what your body needs. Try visiting a nutritionist, being really accurate in your tracking for a while, and having a treat every so often! Maybe visit your doctor to make sure you're not hurting your body in case you *are* eating too few calories, they can check for malnutrition. Good luck!0 -
Measure/weigh everything. The best thing you can estimate is calories in, but your estimate is only any good if you measure most things (or everything, food labels are also estimates). If you started gaining weight in January, when did you stop measuring everything?
Once you are certain of your calories in, the less easy thing to estimate is calories out. Assuming you recalculated calorie needs as you lost weight, that leaves over-estimated activity level, over-estimating exercise calories, over-estimating metabolism (possibly due to adrenals/thyroid fatigue/damage or muscle loss), among other things.
Eat what you have been but weigh it all for a week. If you really have been eating less than 1,000 calories for 5+ months it might be worth getting your adrenals and thyroid checked out first and treated if necessary. 20 pounds of fat gain in 5 months means a calorie surplus of 500 calories per day, which on an 800-900 calorie diet doesn't sound possible to me.0 -
Figure it this way.
20lbs (20 * 3500) is 70,000 calories over your TDEE/BMR+Exercise.
You have either unknowingly consumed 70k calories (over nine months this would be ~260 calories a day over your expenditure) or there is something wrong.
I have two ideas of what might be wrong, the first is... your measurements, regardless of your perceived accuracy in the past, are wonky, so--
1) Get a food scale. **** what anyone thinks. A medium potato is ~150g according to my bag of potatoes. There isn't a potato in the bag less than ~190g. If I were using the guess of the average potato in the bag being 150g I'd be hugely off on the number of calories. In a potato that's a couple dozen calories. In other higher caloric density foods or high fat foods, that can be hundreds of calories. Get a scale and use it and make sure your numbers are accurate. If they're not-- adjust. If they are, don't. If you are eating back your exercise calories... make sure you're using a hrm otherwise your numbers are likely to be massively high (alternately, switch to tdee instead.)
2) You have something wrong. Go to the doctor, explain to him your situation. Ask for a full blood work up and thyroid test especially. Take a pregnancy test (you scoff... but... surprise babies!) If those turn up nothing, ask for a RMR test. That should give you an idea what your metabolism is ACTUALLY doing.
and my final thought is: You're not in starvation mode. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/761810-the-starvation-mode-myth-again <- summarized sciencey stuff.0 -
I agree with the others that you need to start weighing your portions and tracking everything. At the moment you are only guessing your calories and have no clue how much you actually eat. You don't track fruit and vegetables - an apple and a banana are just over 100 kcal each, two of these a day and you are 200 over already. Potatoes, corn and many other vegetables are the same. You could well be eating an extra 500-1000 calories a day. Are you logging oil, butter, milk and sugar in coffee?
I'd keep track weighing everything that passes your lips for couple of weeks and if you are honestly at 1000 calories and gaining will make an appointment with your GP to check for tyroid or other problems0 -
One post you say you don't specifically measure everything out and in another post toy say you keep very specific track if your calories. You can't be keeping very specific track if you aren't specifically measuring everything out.0
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Can someone help ....
I have lost a total of 6 pounds felt like I was doing great.. last night I went and did a contact boxing class .. burned almost 600 calories .. so when I got home .. which was late I had a chicken burrito ( i didn't do over my target calories, if anything I was under) .. I knowI was dehydrated due to the massive headache that I had last night . I tried to drink water .. but I felt sick.. but this morning I am up in my wt almost 3 pounds.
What could that be?0
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