Why you gain weight if you eat more than your cut

momofthreesons · May 2013

Well that explains it! duh! Thank you for the info.. now I can stop wondering WTH? lol :-)

RoseTears143 · May 2013

This is fantastic to read as I am still in my journey and something to keep in mind for when I get to goal and begin the transition to maintenance.

meeper123 · May 2013

hey thanks normally I get side tracked when I read stuff like this but this was so informative I really appreciate you taking the time to post it

I never really understood what all that meant.

55in13 · May 2013

Pretty much what someone else told me in my thread. Thanks for posting this, it makes it very clear. Since the amount your body stores varies by lean body, it helps to explain why my 13-15lb gain in a couple of days was so high. I'm sure there's a couple lbs of fat mixed in there as well.

Aside from fluid intake and lowering sodium, is there another way to get the body to quickly release the storage weight?

Another question to add to this... you eat your high carbs or what have you and gain the 5lbs for storage. If you continue eating at that level of sodium/carbs and are still in caloric deficit wouldn't you begin losing the weight aside from the stored? Are simple carbs and sodium a main contributor to the storage or is it simply caloric? I seem to maintain by simply eating a higher level of carbs despite the caloric deficit. As in, if I were to consume 2200 calories and 180g of carbs I don't drop weight. I consume 2200 calories and drop carbs to 100g and my weight drops week after week.

if that makes any sense?

It does make some sense and it is a question I have had also. It's about efficiency. Don't mean to gross anyone out, but your poop is not calorie free. In other words, just because you consume 2000 calories doesn't mean you have 2000 calories gained. For purposes of discussion, lets say you absorb 90%. It probably isn't 90% of every food; some may be more, some less. So if you ate a bunch of food that you don't absorb as well the calories you need to expend to offset it would be less than if you ate the same amount of calories using a food you absorbed better as a source.

Here is another oddball example - alcohol. The calories are a pure measure of energy that can be produced, but the way they test for drunkenness is by checking for alcohol in your expelled breath. In other words, some of the alcohol you ingest is expelled without being broken down. There is no way you can get calories from those molecules that passed through and were expelled without ever being broken down.

Sjenny5891 · May 2013

When I hit my goal weight, I changed my goal from lose 2lb to lose 1.5lb for a week. then lose 1lb for a week.... then .5lb for a week... then maintain.

Any time you have sudden jumps you have to expect a gain.

Lysander666 · May 2013

This is a useful thread.

My goal weight is 147 pounds, however, I have been at 2000 cals for the last week, 1800 before that and I am still losing weight. I am now at 142 pounds.

I will jump straight to 2500 cals a day which should hopefully let me maintain.

__Di__ · May 2013

I answered someone in another topic and it was suggested to me that I give my response its own thread. It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

*********************

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Okay, sorry... that was long-winded. I just cringe at the number of people who think they have to eat so little to maintain.

*************************

So now having thought about my answer for another day or so, I do want to also say this:

1) I have no formal education in this field.
2) I believe how much glycogen is stored is relative to the amount of lean mass on a body. A 100lb person may store 2-3 lbs while a 250lb person could probably store up to 7-8lbs when combined with the water.
3) If your goal weight is unreasonably low because of ED, I am not recommending you cut to 5 lbs less than that

So with that said... feel free to discuss, rebuke, relax...

Neat posting OP!

shadow2soul · June 2013

bump

BenPolonowski · June 2013

Thanks for all the info.

djwife03 · June 2013

I answered someone in another topic and it was suggested to me that I give my response its own thread. It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

*********************

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Okay, sorry... that was long-winded. I just cringe at the number of people who think they have to eat so little to maintain.

*************************

So now having thought about my answer for another day or so, I do want to also say this:

1) I have no formal education in this field.
2) I believe how much glycogen is stored is relative to the amount of lean mass on a body. A 100lb person may store 2-3 lbs while a 250lb person could probably store up to 7-8lbs when combined with the water.
3) If your goal weight is unreasonably low because of ED, I am not recommending you cut to 5 lbs less than that

So with that said... feel free to discuss, rebuke, relax...

Ok it makes sense! Very helpful! My issue is that since I started eating healthy and tracking calories, I haven't lost anything and have actually gained! I have no idea what is going on with body! I do workout. I get into circuit training a couple months ago and I love it! But again no weight loss. My TDEE is 1886 and I have my activity set at lightly active. I am 5'11, 166lbs, but this week that went to 168!

djkshdfd · June 2013

bump

Roxiesmother · June 2013

bump- good info, thanks.

JudieJudes · June 2013

I answered someone in another topic and it was suggested to me that I give my response its own thread. It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

*********************

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Okay, sorry... that was long-winded. I just cringe at the number of people who think they have to eat so little to maintain.

*************************

So now having thought about my answer for another day or so, I do want to also say this:

1) I have no formal education in this field.
2) I believe how much glycogen is stored is relative to the amount of lean mass on a body. A 100lb person may store 2-3 lbs while a 250lb person could probably store up to 7-8lbs when combined with the water.
3) If your goal weight is unreasonably low because of ED, I am not recommending you cut to 5 lbs less than that

So with that said... feel free to discuss, rebuke, relax...

Thank you for putting it in layman terms

Flab2Thin · July 2013

I answered someone in another topic and it was suggested to me that I give my response its own thread. It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

*********************

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Okay, sorry... that was long-winded. I just cringe at the number of people who think they have to eat so little to maintain.

*************************

So now having thought about my answer for another day or so, I do want to also say this:

1) I have no formal education in this field.
2) I believe how much glycogen is stored is relative to the amount of lean mass on a body. A 100lb person may store 2-3 lbs while a 250lb person could probably store up to 7-8lbs when combined with the water.
3) If your goal weight is unreasonably low because of ED, I am not recommending you cut to 5 lbs less than that

So with that said... feel free to discuss, rebuke, relax...

Bump

KristinD1977 · August 2013

bump.... I want to read this but must finish up the work day first!

Seesawboomerang · August 2013

I

this

Sizethree4Ever · August 2013

I answered someone in another topic and it was suggested to me that I give my response its own thread. It seems this is new information for a lot of people and it could potentially relieve a lot of anxiety about weight gain when increasing calories. So for anyone who thinks, "But 1700 calories IS my maintenance amount!" Or, "I must just have a really slow metabolism because when I go over 1200 I gain." ... this post is for you.

*********************

The reason most people think they have to eat so little to maintain their weight is because our bodies naturally store glycogen and water in our muscles. This is the body's ready energy. When you eat at a caloric deficit, the glycogen stores (and the water molecules they must bind to in the cells) are shed first. That's why you get a big loss the first week of any diet. You just depleted your glycogen stores and now the body has no choice but to resort to fat in a continued caloric deficit.

So you keep up your deficit and your body is burning both glucose from the food you're eating and fat from your body (and some lean mass because you're in a deficit and that will just happen anyway) and you finally get to a weight you like. So you increase your calories to stop losing...

Or, you just decide to ditch the caloric deficit for a weekend of eating without discretion...

Or Christmas rolls around or you go on vacation and you eat to satisfaction and maybe a touch more...

... and you find you almost instantly put on 5 lbs.

All that has happened is your body has restored its glycogen stores and the water that glycogen must be stored with. In fact, trained endurance athletes will deliberately store extra glycogen by carb-loading before major events in order to have more energy for sustained effort. The body will, under perfect conditions, store this energy for use. It's part of being human.

So suppose you want to maintain your weight at 125 lbs. You diet down to 125 and then think, "Awesome! I will diligently increase my calories to maintenance." So you were eating 1700 calories/day to lose and you increase to 2000 calories daily... and after 1 week you've put on 1.5 lbs... so you cut back down to 1800 and your weight stays the same but now you're at 126.5... but you want to be 125lbs, so now you're just pissed off. So you go back down to 1500 calories for a week and you get back down to 125lbs. Then you increase by only 100 calories/day for a week and your weight stays the same... so you do it again... and you stay the same. You think, "Yay! I'm maintaining!"... And any time you eat over 1800 calories daily you start to gain again.

Why?

Because your body just wants 5 lbs of glycogen stores. The solution? Cut down to 5 lbs under your target weight and then eat at maintenance. Your body will rebound up to a healthy non-glycogen-depleted state and you'll be able to maintain relatively effortlessly and eat more food.

Okay, sorry... that was long-winded. I just cringe at the number of people who think they have to eat so little to maintain.

*************************

So now having thought about my answer for another day or so, I do want to also say this:

1) I have no formal education in this field.
2) I believe how much glycogen is stored is relative to the amount of lean mass on a body. A 100lb person may store 2-3 lbs while a 250lb person could probably store up to 7-8lbs when combined with the water.
3) If your goal weight is unreasonably low because of ED, I am not recommending you cut to 5 lbs less than that

So with that said... feel free to discuss, rebuke, relax...

Save!
Thank you.

lovelyx091 · August 2013

bump!

fleetzz · August 2013

The problem sounds like you wanted to lose approx 10 lbs of fat--you lost weight, but several lbs of that was a combination of glycogen and water, which is typical of anybody losing weight. I agree with OP--you have to lose below your goal weight because if you want to go back to maintenance calorie intake (which will be LOWER because your body requires less now that you weigh less), your body will naturally and normally replenish the glycogen/water stores, which adds a few lbs.

Frustrating but true.

norahwynn · August 2013

bumpity bump bump bump!!

fleetzz · August 2013

above reponse meant to quote:

Hi, I've only been on maintenance 2 weeks and actually didn't up Calories too much as wanted to do if slow. I've already put back 1.5 llbs out of a 9 llb loss! It's took about 3 months to lose the 9 llb and I want to maintain at 112 llbs. But what yr saying I need to do is lose a bit more first say another 3 -4 llb! To be able to maintain ish at 112! I do understand the science of it, it just makes me sad I've got to lose more as these 9 llbs were such hard work!! Hope i haven't mis understood!!