Keep gaining weight but doing everything right

Once again, in an intensive training program as I play pro badminton. I have badminton training ~10 hours a week, tennis ~7 hours a week. Do my fitbit 10k steps and some swimming and jogging when I can together with weight training.
I eat a plan of Protein>Carb>Fat and cut sugar by 80%.
I keep gaining weight, have gained 15kg since last year (7 month break due to injury but didn't gain anything then). I am obviously getting muscle mass, however, my body fat % is hardly moving more than 0.X.
I had my thryoid checked and it is working hard but still normal. No diabetes either.
I realise I do more anaerobic training but it should still show something......
Has anyone had similar problems? I keep getting bloodwork done but they can't find anything.
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Replies

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    If you're gaining weight over time, you're eating over maintenance level.
  • Abby2205
    Abby2205 Posts: 253 Member
    How much are you eating?
  • IsaackGMOON
    IsaackGMOON Posts: 3,358 Member
    Open your diary so we can see your logging... if you're gaining, you're probably eating over your maintenance calories as @DeguelloTex has said.
  • 3bambi3
    3bambi3 Posts: 1,650 Member
    How many calories are you eating, and how are you logging your food?
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    The numbers you've given us (33 lbs in 12 months gain) indicate you are overeating by an average of 315 or so calories per day.

    How's your food logging? Do you weigh everything before you eat it?

    This isn't knocking the weight gain, since a lot of it might have been muscle. Do you measure yourself to see how many inches you've gained and where?
  • SaffronSunrise
    SaffronSunrise Posts: 182 Member
    Even though you're very active, you're not eating in a deficit, so you're eating more calories than your body's using.
  • zoeysasha37
    zoeysasha37 Posts: 7,088 Member
    If your not eating at a deficit , then you won't lose weight

    It doesn't matter that you've cut out sugar or try to eat healthy.

    For weight loss, it comes down to calories
  • mallory_2014
    mallory_2014 Posts: 173 Member
    Can you open your diary so we can see what you are eating?

    If you are not losing, you are eating too much. Could be you are under estimating what you are eating by not properly logging or weighing out your foods. Never use a measuring cup for food as it is not accurate at all, always use the grams listing for serving sizes.

    There's no way you have gained much muscle mass over the past year. Your weight gain would be a small amount of muscle, but mainly fat and water.
  • Hornsby
    Hornsby Posts: 10,322 Member
    You are missing one key answer....how much have you been eating?
  • BoricuaUK
    BoricuaUK Posts: 19 Member
    I haven't been overeating, in fact I am constantly under my calorie goal. I eat a special diet too, FODMAP, which are just easier digestible foods, so no lactose and low gluten etc.
    Sure I've noticed I am getting muscle both around my legs and arms, noticeable biceps and forearms, but that isn't 15kgs.
    Just very frustrating, hoping to find out what it is at some point.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't been overeating, in fact I am constantly under my calorie goal. I eat a special diet too, FODMAP, which are just easier digestible foods, so no lactose and low gluten etc.
    Sure I've noticed I am getting muscle both around my legs and arms, noticeable biceps and forearms, but that isn't 15kgs.
    Just very frustrating, hoping to find out what it is at some point.
    If you're gaining weight, you're overeating.

    If you're constantly under your calorie goal, your goal is too high or you're not logging correctly.

  • BoricuaUK
    BoricuaUK Posts: 19 Member
    I don't and it would 't make sense anyway......I ate the same when I was off training because of my injury and I didn't gain any weight during that time. I only gained through the time I was training. Training actually makes me less hungry and I can end up eating very little, which of course isn't idea, either.
    I've been down because of this so I've been a bit lazy for two weeks now.....and nop, have not gained anything.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I don't and it would 't make sense anyway......I ate the same when I was off training because of my injury and I didn't gain any weight during that time. I only gained through the time I was training. Training actually makes me less hungry and I can end up eating very little, which of course isn't idea, either.
    I've been down because of this so I've been a bit lazy for two weeks now.....and nop, have not gained anything.

    Are you weighing your food on a digital scale? If you're not, unfortunately there is very little chance you know your intake is accurate. A 'cup' of your breakfast cereal could be 150 calories or 350, you wouldn't know if you don't weight it. Open your diary and people can give you more targeted advice.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I don't and it would 't make sense anyway......I ate the same when I was off training because of my injury and I didn't gain any weight during that time. I only gained through the time I was training. Training actually makes me less hungry and I can end up eating very little, which of course isn't idea, either.
    I've been down because of this so I've been a bit lazy for two weeks now.....and nop, have not gained anything.

    A whole bunch of questions have been asked of you up thread to try and cover the basics and weed out some of the easy answers. I know you think that you know more than everyone here trying to help, but if you want answers that are more specific to your situation then you need to give us as much information as you can.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I don't and it would 't make sense anyway......I ate the same when I was off training because of my injury and I didn't gain any weight during that time. I only gained through the time I was training. Training actually makes me less hungry and I can end up eating very little, which of course isn't idea, either.
    I've been down because of this so I've been a bit lazy for two weeks now.....and nop, have not gained anything.
    You do. You can accept it or you can argue.

    If you're gaining weight, you're eating more than maintenance. It really is as simply as that. Unless you think your body is magic.

  • megantischner
    megantischner Posts: 85 Member
    Are you eating back all your exercise calories?
  • BoricuaUK
    BoricuaUK Posts: 19 Member
    edited August 2015
    I haven't logged properly on here, I've used the fitbit app. But I'm gonna start logging here again.
    I know pretty well what I am eating and not as I'm a medical researcher. I've had everything from food and nutrition to physiology and so on. My food plan is also done by professionals and checked every now and then.
    Thanks for the suggestions though, I'm gonna have to just keep trying.
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    edited August 2015
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    ... I'm gonna have to just keep trying.

    trying =/= logging accurately by using a digital scale

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1234699-logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide

  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,652 Member
    edited August 2015
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't logged properly on here, I've used the fitbit app. But I'm gonna start logging here again.
    I know pretty well what I am eating and not as I'm a medical researcher. I've had everything from food and nutrition to physiology and so on. My food plan is also done by professionals and checked every now and then.
    Thanks for the suggestions though, I'm gonna have to just keep trying.
    If you're a medical researcher, what would you list as possible causes of weight gain without a caloric surplus? Other than, perhaps, an aggressive tumor or tapeworm, what else is there over this timeframe?
  • robspot
    robspot Posts: 130 Member
    Do you use sports drinks during training? Before? Recovery drinks after?
  • Bacchants
    Bacchants Posts: 92 Member
  • ultrahoon
    ultrahoon Posts: 467 Member
    If you're consistently building muscle and not losing fat, you're in a calorie surplus. It's really that simple.
  • gaelicstorm26
    gaelicstorm26 Posts: 589 Member
    I think that the logical first step, before getting more blood drawn or paying for more doctor's appointments, is to carefully log your food intake using a digital scale for two weeks and seeing if that helps. Without consistently logging with a food scale, you just can't rule out overeating. As a medical researcher, surely you know about Occam's Razor. I would start with the simplest solution and work my way up instead of searching for medical reasons when you aren't logging food intake. And having a pretty good idea of what goes in your body is very different from actually logging. Having courses in food, nutrition, and physiology don't negate the need for a food scale.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    If you are gaining weight you are eating more than you burn

    If you are gaining muscle you are eating more than you burn, or possibly at maintenance with a good progressive lifting programme

    You do not know how much you are eating

    Log accurately, weigh everything, come back in 6 weeks

    Work out as much as you do and you will eat more to fuel your body

    You are not a special snowflake, nobody is...you are just consuming around 300 calories extra per day ...in food terms it's not a lot
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    Once again, in an intensive training program as I play pro badminton. I have badminton training ~10 hours a week, tennis ~7 hours a week. Do my fitbit 10k steps and some swimming and jogging when I can together with weight training.
    I eat a plan of Protein>Carb>Fat and cut sugar by 80%.
    I keep gaining weight, have gained 15kg since last year (7 month break due to injury but didn't gain anything then). I am obviously getting muscle mass, however, my body fat % is hardly moving more than 0.X.
    I had my thryoid checked and it is working hard but still normal. No diabetes either.
    I realise I do more anaerobic training but it should still show something......
    Has anyone had similar problems? I keep getting bloodwork done but they can't find anything.

    You are eating too much food, that's why you're gaining.

    Shoot, it sounds like you are doing everything right when it comes to fitness, but that will not matter as to weight loss if you eat too much food.

    You are not gaining muscle, you are gaining fat. Muscle gains are intentional and require some heavy weight lifting.

    Here's what I would do if I were in your shoes: weigh all food, log all food and ensure you are using accurate calorie entries, and set your activity level to active. As for exercise calories, log only your intentional cardio exercise (running) but nothing else, as it would be included in your daily activity because you do it every day.

    If you want more concrete advice, open your diary too (assuming you log all food). If you don't log your food, I would suggest you do so because it will provide a more accurate picture of how much your intake is.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    WBB55 wrote: »
    The numbers you've given us (33 lbs in 12 months gain) indicate you are overeating by an average of 315 or so calories per day.

    How's your food logging? Do you weigh everything before you eat it?

    This isn't knocking the weight gain, since a lot of it might have been muscle. Do you measure yourself to see how many inches you've gained and where?

    I disagree with your statement about muscle.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't been overeating, in fact I am constantly under my calorie goal. I eat a special diet too, FODMAP, which are just easier digestible foods, so no lactose and low gluten etc.
    Sure I've noticed I am getting muscle both around my legs and arms, noticeable biceps and forearms, but that isn't 15kgs.
    Just very frustrating, hoping to find out what it is at some point.

    Science is based on evidence where nobody gets to be a special snowflake.

    The evidence (of weight gain) shows you have been eating too much.

    You may be more toned from all your fitness work, but that does not mean it's muscle. Women have a harder time of building muscle than men, and it's not even that easy for men to build muscle.

    Please take a step back and listen to the good advice here. :)

  • tincanonastring
    tincanonastring Posts: 3,944 Member
    SLLRunner wrote: »
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't been overeating, in fact I am constantly under my calorie goal. I eat a special diet too, FODMAP, which are just easier digestible foods, so no lactose and low gluten etc.
    Sure I've noticed I am getting muscle both around my legs and arms, noticeable biceps and forearms, but that isn't 15kgs.
    Just very frustrating, hoping to find out what it is at some point.

    Science is based on evidence where nobody gets to be a special snowflake.

    The evidence (of weight gain) shows you have been eating too much.

    You may be more toned from all your fitness work, but that does not mean it's muscle. Women have a harder time of building muscle than men, and it's not even that easy for men to build muscle.

    Please take a step back and listen to the good advice here. :)

    +1 No matter what, if you are gaining weight, whether that be fat or muscle, you are eating more calories than you burn and have been doing it on a consistent basis.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't logged properly on here, I've used the fitbit app. But I'm gonna start logging here again.
    I know pretty well what I am eating and not as I'm a medical researcher. I've had everything from food and nutrition to physiology and so on. My food plan is also done by professionals and checked every now and then.
    Thanks for the suggestions though, I'm gonna have to just keep trying.

    Just because you are a medical researcher and have taken those classes does not mean you are immune to fat gain. :)
  • ElJefeChief
    ElJefeChief Posts: 650 Member
    edited August 2015
    BoricuaUK wrote: »
    I haven't logged properly on here, I've used the fitbit app. But I'm gonna start logging here again.
    I know pretty well what I am eating and not as I'm a medical researcher. I've had everything from food and nutrition to physiology and so on. My food plan is also done by professionals and checked every now and then.
    Thanks for the suggestions though, I'm gonna have to just keep trying.
    If you're a medical researcher, what would you list as possible causes of weight gain without a caloric surplus? Other than, perhaps, an aggressive tumor or tapeworm, what else is there over this timeframe?

    Excellent questions.

    I always look at weight loss thusly - we've evolved over tens of thousands of years as a species and untold numbers of famines to stubbornly eat at a surplus every chance we get. Likewise, conservation of energy always applies to weight loss - CICO.

    So, all other things being equal (e.g., tapeworm or malignancy aside, as examples) if you're gaining weight despite how carefully you think you might be logging your intake or measuring your output, despite how many physiology and nutrition classes you've taken, or medical research you might have performed - you're missing something.

    So, logical response - you need to look closely to find out what might be causing your gains and adjust your approach further.
This discussion has been closed.