Burning cals but gaining weight

Patience you must have my young padawan. For a decent cut, assuming you were, ahem, a bit pudgy beforehand, you want to be banking on 4-6 months if you want to keep muscle mass. Forget the 8 week shred nonsense.

Assuming you are not rushing, you can afford to have a week or two where you realise that you haven't lost or have gained a pound or two. When you do, ask yourself honestly whether you were true in your diet/logging that week. If not, just get back onto the horse. If you have, time to adjust down the calories.

jasonmears75 wrote: »

So I should be eating back exercise cals? I thought I was doing good with the exercise on getting into cal defficit by a few hundred. I am very honest on cal logging and exercise. Just a little frustrated at a 2lb gain. The app has me at 107g. of protein a day. Is this a good amount?

Logging becomes "accurate" when you are using a food scale. Are you? Cups and measuring spoons are not accurate.

Weight fluctuates up and down throughout the course of the day/week. Do not get discouraged by it.

You should be eating at least .8-1gram of protein per pound of lean body mass. I'm a female, lighter than you, and I eat more protein than that.

Vortex88 wrote: »

Suggestions:
1) run a bit less
2) lift a bit more
3) increase protein intake
4) track your food intake - you might need to slowly and gradually reduce fat and carbs

100% NOT this..

OP, if you have been back at a deficit for 5 weeks and have gained weight, I see this as possibly overeating your calories each day/week. Do you track not just your scale weight but also body measurements and possibly caliper tests..

If you are gaining weight and not eating back any exercise calories now, then your logging in MFP is off.

TavistockToad wrote: »

jasonmears75 wrote: »

I am doing cardio at least 4 times a week, working out maybe 2-3 times a week. Not too heavy of weights, but the reps challenge me. I come way short of of burning the suggested cals this app says I need. I lost 15lbs the first few weeks. I still have some love handles I'd like to lose. I weighed in, and I have gained 2lbs. I'm starting to get some cut shoulders and arms, but time to focus lower, or will that come? I'm been back at this for 5 weeks. What's your sugestion on how to shead some pounds. I run a lot. Lay it out friends. Please.

the app doesn't tell you how many calories you need to burn, i'm confused as to what you mean by that?

Me too, it doesn't make sense.

jasonmears75, MFP gives you a calorie goal that you should CONSUME each day. The calorie goal MFP provides already is giving you a deficit. Any additional calories you burn by dedicated exercise should also be eaten.

jasonmears75 wrote: »

The cals they suggest I should consume I don't even get within 400 of on most days. No body measurement although my cloths are definitely more loose. I don't have a scale to weigh my food, or a set of calipers. And to be honest I don't think most average joes have them. But I would assume if a pack of oatmeal says it has 140 cals it's a 140 cals. That's how I've been keeping track of cals consumed. I searched what each fruit has in it, Iso protein shake, and etc etc. even if They're out 10 cals here and there I still have a few hundred cals a day it says I should eat, most days are around the 500 cal Mark, and even a 800+ on one day. Could it be I am gaining muscle faster than I am losing fat? I'm a beast when it comes to workouts putting 120% of what I got into them. I do gain muscle fast. You give me a weekend where I'm bored where I workout most of the day for 3 days straight you would wonder if I was on something for how fast I bulk up. Anyways... I'll keep at it.

As to the bolded, it's completely understandable that you would think that, but it's not necessarily the case. I paid $15 for a food scale on Amazon, and quickly discovered that the 1,500 per day I thought I was eating was often more like 1,700 - 1,800. And when you're working with a 250 cal deficit, that 200 calories a day can sting.

You don't have to do it forever, but commit for a couple of weeks to weighing your portions just to be sure. And FYI, many of the folks here use a food scale.

Unless you are obese, 15 lbs in 2 weeks was mostly water weight. Weight loss isn't linear - even if you are perfect there will be some weeks you will not lose or might even gain, usually due to water weight or digestion variables.

ETA - If you are down to a weight where you are just trying to lose the love handles, you should set MFP to lose one-half lb per week, and eat all those calories. Plus log your cardio and eat back half those calories, and focus on getting in your protein. Your body needs cals to build muscle, and if you have too big a deficit, the best you can do is maintain your muscle mass.

I have found that fruits can vary a great deal in weight and therefore calories. When I started weighing my food I was surprised at how many more calories some of the fruit had than the basic listing on mfp. I was off way more than 10 calories in those entries! Just FYI.