Gaining weight while dieting and exercise

You can begin by making sure you have a calorie deficiency. This will help you understand better: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

If you don't like that site then use this site which gives you exercise calories to use after you add your exercise to your diary.

Secondly, record all of your activities (good combination of food, exercise, measurements, and water).

Relax, enjoy, and have fun!

If you are gaining weight, you are not in a calorie deficit. You are either logging incorrectly, missing stuff out (like last Sunday), or overestimating calorie burns from your exercise.

If you are gaining weight, you are not in a calorie deficit. You are either logging incorrectly, missing stuff out (like last Sunday), or overestimating calorie burns from your exercise.

This^

When you say you are gaining.....is this one weigh-in? You could be retaining water. Sore muscles hold water (for repair).

I am really frustrated as I am exercising daily and eating 1200-1400 cals per day but I have somehow managed to gain weight!!!

Why has this happened? my goal weight is 115-120lbs. I am a runner and I typically run about 30 miles per week and lift heavy weights 4days per week for about 45 minutes. I don't feel like I am getting anywhere. It's like I am going backwards!!

Can anybody please help or give me some tips on what I may be doing wrong.!!!

You know, it could be that your body may not be reacting properly to the foods you're giving it. Regardless of calories (I know I'll get bashed for saying that.). Sometimes our bodies will get bloated or appear to gain weight because the foods we're eating is causing inflammation.

Do you feel bloated?
What types of foods are you eating?

I tried The Plan by Lyn Genet-Recitas and that really helped me get over my weight loss plateau (along with a few other things). I found that my body really doesn't do well with red/yellow bell pepper, some fish, all sushi, and goat cheese. I cut out all processed and packaged foods and saw a HUGE difference.

My winning combo was:
Finding my safe foods from The Plan (I don't count calories)
Drinking Swami Mami Teas (Get Lean) every morning
Drinking water with lemon (60oz a day)
Yoga 4x week
Hiking 2x week
Moving my body as much as I can
Resting my body & loving my body
Releasing stress and past issues

29 pounds gone, and I haven't had 1 come back in over 4 months.

Edited because I forgot to add my water! Water is so important!

My weight can fluctuate anywhere from 1-5 lbs in any given day. Don't be afraid to increase calories. It is a learning process on how certain foods affect your weight. You can always adjust back down in increments until you see a drop.

Firstly, well done for training so hard! You're doing great. This link is really helpful, I re-read these fairly often! http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1069275-links-in-mfp-you-want-to-read-again-and-again

Once you've read all of that, it would be helpful calculate your BMR, TDEE and body fat, and base your calorie intake on 20% of your TDEE. I started at 1200 calories too based on MFP's calculations and stopped losing weight after a few weeks, as well as feeling a little bit frazzled! I bumped up my calories to 1400 and lost more weight. I've just bumped up my calories again to 1600 today.

If you're exercising that much you obviously have the dedication to do this, I think maybe just your settings haven't been quite right.

you're training for a marathon eating 12-1400 calories?! you must really hate your body....

That's a bit harsh!!

I am asking for some guidance as I have clearly stated I have been told to eat more and I am worried about damaging my metabolism!!

She's just being blunt, she's right.
You ARE damaging your metabolism AND your body by eating so little while training for a marathon.

I for one don't put too much thought into what the scale says. I quit weighing myself for months and just went by what I saw in the mirror and the changes in my body. I am on my first ever REAL cut where I am tracking every single morsel of food that goes in my mouth.

From day one of the cut I have weighed myself every single morning. I have learned that days I have more carbs or sodium is higher my weight will be up the next day or two. Give it time. This is a process that you have to trust will work as long as you are tracking everything.

Have you recently upped your miles? It could be water weight from the extra load you are putting on your body, but you do sound like you are way under eating for that much cardio.

You know, it could be that your body may not be reacting properly to the foods you're giving it. Regardless of calories

I agree with this,If your body is not able to digest certain types of foods well it will store it as fat for later.Not many people agree with this,but that happens to me.I concentrate on foods that I can digest well ,of course provide enough nutrition to your body,if you are doing long runs,good carbohydrates and a balance of digestible protein and fat should do the trick.I'm eating near my maintenance and losing weight.

Watch for gas,bloating,diarrhea or constipation-any of these indicate your tummy isn't happy with the food you give it.Dark circles or deep eyes,ridges on your nails,feeling cold all the time-indicate not enough nutrition.

If you want to increase calories start with some easily digestible food,slowly by 100-200 calories per month,it won't hurt your weight loss,even if you see a 1-2 pound gain it will come back down by the end of the month and you can then add a few more calories based on your goal.Good luck!

I think this happens to everyone. First, muscle weighs more than fat. So, when you build muscle and diet you may not loose weight and even gain weight. This is happening to me right now, too. I am a very rigorous workout schedule, P90x, so the workouts I do are constant. I can't work out any more than I do now! I can limit my portion size and cut back on calories, however. A great tip I use is to drink lots of water. If you drink a glass of water before you eat any meal or snack, it will clue your body in that you are full sooner. It is also very likely when you feel like snacking that your body is thirsty, but telling you to be hungry. So, basically, you can either increase your activity level or decrease your caloric intake to drop more weight. Maybe try another type of workout? Hang in there! You're doing great!

No. 1 lb of fat weighs the same as 1 lb of muscle. And muscle gains don't happen (or will be very small) in a calorie deficit. You might see a gain in water weight on starting to exercise (water + glycogen go the muscle to help repair it, and to fuel the next workout) but this will stabilize fairly quickly.

Yes 1lb is 1lb, but that's an oversimplification of the facts. Muscle is more dense than fat. If you look at what a1lb of fat or muscle looks like, you get much more fat in 1lb than you do in 1lb of muscle. Therefore, you only gain a small AMOUNT of muscle but the scale shows 1lb gain. However, you gain 1lb of fat and it's far more visible on the body. That's why you can lose 1lb of muscle and not look much slimmer, but lose 1lb of fat and you do.

I also don't know where you get the idea that you can't gain muscle whilst in a deficit. If you're doing muscle building exercise then you are building muscle, whether you are in a deficit or not. The only time muscle loss is likely to be significant in a calorie deficit is during starvation and the absence of any body fat. Muscle wasting occurs largely from inactivity and lack of protein.

I agree with the first paragraph, but the second... not so much.

Strength training builds strength. You can certainly get stronger as neuromuscular adaptation occurs. There can even be some appearance of more muscle as glycogen and water go the muscle to give a "swole" appearance, but this is temporary. Myofibril hypertrophy - the actual laying down of new muscle fibers - take a progressive strength training routine, plenty of protein in the diet and a calorie surplus (unless you are obese or a returning weightlifter). It is very hard for the body to put on significant muscle mass in the absence of a surplus + training. It is possible to put on some muscle when eating around maintenance (recomposition) but this is a slow process (especially for a female). It takes years to put on a few pounds this way.

See Lyle McDonald for example (http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/muscle-gain/muscle-gain-mistakes.html) :

The simple physiological fact is that, to gain muscle, you have to provide not only the proper training stimulus, but also the building blocks for the new tissue. This means not only sufficient protein (see below) but also sufficient calories and energy. While it’s wonderful to hope that the energy to build new muscle will be pulled out of fat cells, the reality is that this rarely happens (there are some odd exceptions such as folks beginning a program, and those returning from a layoff).

Loss of lean body mass (i.e. muscle) can occur during a period of extreme calorie reduction if you not eating enough protein and doing some form of resistance training. This is why it's important to add weights to any fitness program, especially when dieting (and not to have too big of a calorie deficiency).

I was about to say the same thing muscles weight more than fat