Weight gain slowing down...?

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Hello!

Im currently trying to gain some weight, and have increased my calories by about 250, and gained weight for a while but now it's sort of stopped...has this happened to anyone else? Is this the "metabolism speeding up" thing happening?

Im not sure what to do now, how much to increase it by and for how long etc? It also happened pretty fast, like in two weeks or so. Has this happened anyone else?

(Just for clarity - Im a 24 year old, female, lifting weights, not going to say weight but assume it's low enough!)

:) thanks in advance!

Replies

  • AliceDark
    AliceDark Posts: 3,886 Member
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    What kind of a timeline are you talking about? How long have you been at a surplus, how much did you gain, and how long have you been stalled? Weight gain isn't linear any more than weight loss is.
  • yellowantphil
    yellowantphil Posts: 787 Member
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    I'm no expert in anything, but... you could gain several pounds in your first week or two without gaining any fat or muscle:
    • Water weight from starting an exercise program, if you weren't on one before
    • Water weight from starting creatine
    • Weight of extra food in your digestive tract when you first start eating more. I feel like I gain or lose a few pounds just from varying how much fiber I eat.
    • Water retention if your new diet is significantly higher in sodium than your old diet was
    • Maybe water weight from extra glycogen, if you're eating a lot more carbs than you used to
    • Probably other factors...

    I think it would take several weeks to know if you're going to gain consistently. If you increased your calories by 250/day but you exercise more than you used to, you could be burning those extra calories with the extra exercise.
  • Bellchick91
    Bellchick91 Posts: 148 Member
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    Oh this has been over the course of about a month (been in a caloric surplus for about 3 months, but not high enough to cause any weight gain really at all, so this weight gain stall is only counting the REAL surplus) - my weight has stabilised completely, not up or down, and hadnt changed anything in my diet really just larger portions of things. I have started to take creatine but only last week and it hasnt even been up since then either!

    My fitbit tells me that Im burning the same amount of calories..so the only thing I can think of is the whole "your body speeds up with the extra food your consuming" malarky you here all the time.

    What should I do?
  • RedWolf09
    RedWolf09 Posts: 90 Member
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    If you don't need to cut and feel good as far as how much fat you have then it's time to increase your intake. Consume more calories until you see results again.
  • Bellchick91
    Bellchick91 Posts: 148 Member
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    Thank you! By 250 again ya'll think?