Gained Fat and Lost Muscle :'(
Options
TayTayDrenDren
Posts: 65 Member
I seriously need help. Since the beginning of the year, i have gained about 3-4 pounds. For a while i thought it was mostly muscle until i noticed a trend. My thighs stayed relatively the same size but my caliper measurements increased! I plugged in my stats and i found out i lost 2-3 pounds of muscle and gained about 5 pounds of fat in its place! Im going in the wrong direction and i dont want it to get any worse.
I think it has to do with the fact that my calories have been low and ive been exercising too much. On top of that, ive been trying to reverse diet to get back on track but i fell into a binging problem which is probably where all that fat came from. Is there anyway i can quickly find my maintenance so that i can start to reverse this?
I think it has to do with the fact that my calories have been low and ive been exercising too much. On top of that, ive been trying to reverse diet to get back on track but i fell into a binging problem which is probably where all that fat came from. Is there anyway i can quickly find my maintenance so that i can start to reverse this?
0
Replies
-
What kind of exercise have you been doing. Gaining 3-4 pounds since January is barely 1 pound per month. How many caliper sites are you using? Who is using the calipers? How long have they been using calipers?1
-
TayTayDrenDren wrote: »I seriously need help. Since the beginning of the year, i have gained about 3-4 pounds. For a while i thought it was mostly muscle until i noticed a trend. My thighs stayed relatively the same size but my caliper measurements increased! I plugged in my stats and i found out i lost 2-3 pounds of muscle and gained about 5 pounds of fat in its place! Im going in the wrong direction and i dont want it to get any worse.
I think it has to do with the fact that my calories have been low and ive been exercising too much. On top of that, ive been trying to reverse diet to get back on track but i fell into a binging problem which is probably where all that fat came from. Is there anyway i can quickly find my maintenance so that i can start to reverse this?
This is where your fat gains came from, not low calories or exercising too much. Its honestly really hard to over work your body consistently, as body can adjust to many crazy situations in time.
Sounds like you have been in caloric surplus. If you kept lifting weights, I doubt you've lost any muscle. The caliper measurements are extremely difficult and should be done by professionals really, so I don't think they reflect anything substantial if they're done by yourself.
What is your goal though? I mean gaining muscle comes with fat, its natural. Are you trying to lose weight? Stay on maintenance and somewhat try a re-comp?
1 -
Ok well heres the deal on the caliper tests, goals, and weight gain.
1. My goal us to gain muscle in order to re-comp my body. I started at 113-114 pounds and am at 117 pounds now.
2. I use my own calipers on myself and i usually use a 3 site method.
3.The weight gain didnt come that gradually. It mostly came from a month and a half binging problem. My concern is that i gained more fat than i thought due to muscle loss.
4. The reason why i know i lost muscle is because there have been periods that i noticed the circumference of my thigh got smaller but my fat measurement stayed the same or got bigger and thus my thighs have stayed the same size.
I just want to keep this from getting any worse but for some reason i have a problem with binging even when reverse dieting. What should i do about that?0 -
3 site method has a large margin of error and using them on yourself makes that error even larger.
What have you been doing for exercise?
It might be a good idea to seek help with the binge eating.0 -
Ive been lifting about 4-5 times per week and i usually do about 3 15-20 min hiit sessions per week however i havent been doing that much hiit cardio lately. I also work as a hostess where im on my feet for at least 4-6 hours per day worked. As for my lifting, my bad flexiblity and balance makes it harder for me to do certain exercises (squats and deaflifts mainly) and so my form hasnt been the best so im worried that im not even working the muscles right and so my body wont grow muscle.0
-
Are you following a structured program while lifting or just random things?
Also, one generally doesn't just lose muscle, especially while gaining weight. If anything, you maintained muscle and gained fat on top of that muscle. In fact, if you are maintaining, pretty much any type of resistance training will support the ability to maintain mass.
And you should look into a 9 to 11 point caliper test for increased accuracy and make sure someone else is doing the measurements and getting 3 consistent measurements.1 -
It is HIGHLY unlikely that you lost muscle and gained fat. 4lbs in 4 months is not a lot. Some people fluctuate more than that daily.2
-
I can weigh in am first thing and then have a coffee, weigh in again and I've gained 3/4 lbs...trigden1991 wrote: »It is HIGHLY unlikely that you lost muscle and gained fat. 4lbs in 4 months is not a lot. Some people fluctuate more than that daily.
0 -
jamandlettuce1 wrote: »I can weigh in am first thing and then have a coffee, weigh in again and I've gained 3/4 lbs...trigden1991 wrote: »It is HIGHLY unlikely that you lost muscle and gained fat. 4lbs in 4 months is not a lot. Some people fluctuate more than that daily.
Its not the weight fluctuating in the day. Over time my thigh circumference would decrease and then increase whenever my thigh skinfold measurement increased. Plus most of my weight gain hsppened within the past 1.5-2 months.0 -
Are you following a structured program while lifting or just random things?
Also, one generally doesn't just lose muscle, especially while gaining weight. If anything, you maintained muscle and gained fat on top of that muscle. In fact, if you are maintaining, pretty much any type of resistance training will support the ability to maintain mass.
And you should look into a 9 to 11 point caliper test for increased accuracy and make sure someone else is doing the measurements and getting 3 consistent measurements.
Ive been following the "Thinner, Leaner, Stronger." program by Mike Matthews Program for a while but ive been having trouble staying on the plan due to not knowing my maintenance calories. Ive been trying to find them through reverse dieting but due to the binging problem i had these past couple of months ive ended up going in the wrong direction.0 -
Also has anyone else dealt with this during the first part of their fitness journey? I feel like ive really screwed up. Im not going to give up on this but still.0
-
Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.0
-
Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.
The only thing is i think my calories are too low right now (minus the binges). Im trying to eat at about 1450-1500 per day, assuming i dont binge. Im thinking that because my nutrition hasnt been the best, ive been losing muscle while lifting and then gaining fat in its place. This would probably explain why my thighs would shrink and then grow again.0 -
TayTayDrenDren wrote: »Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.
The only thing is i think my calories are too low right now (minus the binges). Im trying to eat at about 1450-1500 per day, assuming i dont binge. Im thinking that because my nutrition hasnt been the best, ive been losing muscle while lifting and then gaining fat in its place. This would probably explain why my thighs would shrink and then grow again.
It's just very unlikely. Your body has multiple modes of energy and will likely turn to glycogen and fat storage prior to converting amino acids for energy.0 -
TayTayDrenDren wrote: »Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.
The only thing is i think my calories are too low right now (minus the binges). Im trying to eat at about 1450-1500 per day, assuming i dont binge. Im thinking that because my nutrition hasnt been the best, ive been losing muscle while lifting and then gaining fat in its place. This would probably explain why my thighs would shrink and then grow again.
It's just very unlikely. Your body has multiple modes of energy and will likely turn to glycogen and fat storage prior to converting amino acids for energy.
I always thought that your body goes right for your muscles first whenever that happens0 -
TayTayDrenDren wrote: »TayTayDrenDren wrote: »Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.
The only thing is i think my calories are too low right now (minus the binges). Im trying to eat at about 1450-1500 per day, assuming i dont binge. Im thinking that because my nutrition hasnt been the best, ive been losing muscle while lifting and then gaining fat in its place. This would probably explain why my thighs would shrink and then grow again.
It's just very unlikely. Your body has multiple modes of energy and will likely turn to glycogen and fat storage prior to converting amino acids for energy.
I always thought that your body goes right for your muscles first whenever that happens
Nope... muscle is the last place it will look for energy. Depending on your activity, it will eat burn fat or burn glycogen.1 -
TayTayDrenDren wrote: »TayTayDrenDren wrote: »Well you will have to control your binges.. that largely seems to be the culprits compared to naturally eating more per day. So cut back on calories for a few weeks or a month/two months and then bring up calories again.
The only thing is i think my calories are too low right now (minus the binges). Im trying to eat at about 1450-1500 per day, assuming i dont binge. Im thinking that because my nutrition hasnt been the best, ive been losing muscle while lifting and then gaining fat in its place. This would probably explain why my thighs would shrink and then grow again.
It's just very unlikely. Your body has multiple modes of energy and will likely turn to glycogen and fat storage prior to converting amino acids for energy.
I always thought that your body goes right for your muscles first whenever that happens
Nope... muscle is the last place it will look for energy. Depending on your activity, it will eat burn fat or burn glycogen.
However if i havent lost any muscle and kust gained fat, wouldnt my thighs be bigger than when i started?0
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.6K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.7K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.6K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 397 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.7K Motivation and Support
- 7.8K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 934 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions