Gaining weight while exercising

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  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,558 Member
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    gebeziseva wrote: »
    StarvingAuthor wrote: »
    Hey all,

    I don't use MFP to count my calories (I use a stand alone program). I weigh everything by the gram with a scale that measures in .5g increments.

    Anyway, eating ~1400 calories a day (sometimes more, sometimes less) I was consistently losing weight (went from 122 to 114 in a matter of weeks; note, I am short and small framed).

    I began exercising and keeping the same dietary patterns I went up to 118 and now I'm at 120.

    I'm doing high rep body weight exercises (Ross Enamait). Any idea what is going on?

    P.S. I suspected there was a calorie thief in there so I restricted more, which should have made me lose a least SOMETHING (I've ballooned up!) but that day I just maintained 118.

    My typical diet consists of:

    Breakfast
    2 Cups of Coffee
    4 tsp sugar
    2 tsp cream

    Lunch
    4-6 Large Eggs
    (Maybe a little soy sauce or ketchup on top)

    Dinner
    Vegetables of some kind
    Rice

    Snacks
    20-calorie-a-piece Gum

    So this is essentially a 1400 calorie day. Like I said, sometimes I'll have more (a homemade roll, maybe some salad dressing on the rice), but my calories rarely top 1600 (not to say that I don't have very heavy days, but I try to make up for it by restricting the following few days little by little to make up for it - e.g., 100 calories off monday-wednesday, etc.)

    Is this normal because I just started exercising? IDK what's up. It freaks me out because I really don't want to eat 1,200 calories.

    I had the same experience as you.
    I was losing fine for a year. I stopped losing after I started lifting and lost nothing for 4 weeks while on a deficit.
    I started losing once I stopped lifting but the missing weight (the deficit I had accumulated during the 4 weeks) didn't come off.
    I'm a scientist and this makes zero sense to me.

    I lift more in the off-season (no on water rowing in Winter here). I also log meticulously and have enough experience that I can usually predict weight changes from over-goal eating, both water & true gain, along with how long they'll stick around.

    Last Winter, when I started lifting seriously, I put on two otherwise unexplained pounds - presumably water weight - and lost 2 otherwise unexplained pounds in Spring when I backed off strength training again.

    Theory: However much water my body wants to hang onto for extra muscle repair sticks around as long as what I'm doing is challenging enough to require further similar repair. Do I care? No. Would I care if it were 4-5 pounds, maybe even more? No.

    Even the two pounds would've been enough to mask fat losses for a month, in my later stages of weight loss. (I know yours never dropped back off, which is a different symptom set. I'm just recounting what i observed in myself, FWIW.)

    I don't think that's necessarily what's going on with OP, though - I fear she's putting undue stress on her system, as I said up-thread.
  • StarvingAuthor
    StarvingAuthor Posts: 67 Member
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    Silentpadna wrote: »
    Don't worry yourself about the "bloat". The water is there for a specific purpose, and you should be glad that it's there to help repair your muscle. Why would you want it gone? Other than for the scale reading you're looking for?

    It makes me look puffy. I don't mind the scale so much, but I look like a balloon. :P I am usually very flat-stomached and now I'm more half-moon stomached! That day is 1440 calories to be precise.

    I sincerely appreciate each and every post here. Thank you so much! As an update, I was 120 - yesterday I had 1400 calories again but this time I ate very watery oatmeal. I peed 1000x and woke up at 117lbs. I'm going to repeat today, I will be at exactly 1,382 calories (as of this posting, I may have a few more pieces of the most addictive gum in the world, putting me at about 1402-1422).

    My protein is really bad today, but I will def. up it tomorrow (I was too far into my food for the day to change the outcome, lol. Pancakes.)
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
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    StarvingAuthor wrote: »
    Silentpadna wrote: »
    Don't worry yourself about the "bloat". The water is there for a specific purpose, and you should be glad that it's there to help repair your muscle. Why would you want it gone? Other than for the scale reading you're looking for?

    It makes me look puffy. I don't mind the scale so much, but I look like a balloon. :P I am usually very flat-stomached and now I'm more half-moon stomached!

    I can understand that reasoning, but it begs the question: "Would you rather have your body use fluid for proper repair functions, or would you rather be less 'puffy'?"

    Looks like you had "whoosh" yesterday. Remember the fluid retention cycles though, so just be aware that when it does cycle up, it doesn't mean you've added any fat!

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