Hidden weight gain. Fat, water or glycogen? Also question on supplements/meds

veggiefake
veggiefake Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So to introduce myself, I was previously fat all my life and then started to trim down like 2 years back to where I reached my lowest weight of 134 pounds in October 2019. As you could probably guess. I was frustrated that my lifts were garbage so I planned to bulk. However I had that fear of fat kid syndrome so I failed to put on any significant weight until about 2 months back. At first when I hit the high 140s I was like YES but then I kept doing my NORMAL things I used to do when I was in the 130s but I was just happy I was gaining strength slowly..... but then as my lifts stall and some even decrease, j decide to check my weight after weeks of not checking. Holy I was 160. So I planned a mini cut to where I would take about 50k steps or above DAILY as well as intermittent fast with only eating a pre workout meal and my dinner/post workoutmeal. I did that and i check my weight couple days ago and it was 175. Today it was 180.

I googled something about this unknown weight gain and they said something about medication causing hormonal imbalances. I read on some article or just google in general on how 1) Alpha Lipolic Acid(ALA) Is a supplement that basically shifts whatever you eat into muscle growth as a priority. Basically a macronutrient partitioning agent. So I supplemented on that as well as L Carnitine and recently some Biotin and cinnamon. Now the first 3 I researched and bought them because of their uses on metabolism and insulin and nutrient partitioning. Basically all of them WOULD/SHOULD help aid my fat loss/weight loss. Keep in mind this was when I was in the high 140s and sometimes 150s(which i thought i was gaining too fast). So one of the causes of unknown weight gain was from meds that aid with high blood pressure and i assume. That those 4 meds i mentioned do support HBP in some way right? Could this be why i am CONTINUALLY gaining weight rapidly? Even on a big calorie deficit?.

Sorry for the long post. Thank You

Replies

  • veggiefake
    veggiefake Posts: 4 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Do you track food and weigh with a food scale? Are you consistent? Its likely inconsistency is driving the fat gains.

    Also, ALA are fatty acids. They don't shift things to muscle. Really unless you are supplementing with significant amounts of steriods, you won't gain tons of muscle. L-carnitine and cinnamon don't have much benefit either.

    From a muscle grow, its driven by your training program, adequate nutrition and protein levels.
    Yes but could it be my bad eating habits? I dont really want it to be called a binge but more of a smart approach of banking calories. So I typically fast and then eat light so I can end my night with big meals. But going to bed right after doesnt allow me to burn any but instead store it. This is what I assumed but I kept following this eating pattern because I read about how meal timing doesnt matter because CICO. I appreciate your advice. But I am still concerned because of the constant gaining. Assistance is needed
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,386 MFP Moderator
    veggiefake wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    Do you track food and weigh with a food scale? Are you consistent? Its likely inconsistency is driving the fat gains.

    Also, ALA are fatty acids. They don't shift things to muscle. Really unless you are supplementing with significant amounts of steriods, you won't gain tons of muscle. L-carnitine and cinnamon don't have much benefit either.

    From a muscle grow, its driven by your training program, adequate nutrition and protein levels.
    Yes but could it be my bad eating habits? I dont really want it to be called a binge but more of a smart approach of banking calories. So I typically fast and then eat light so I can end my night with big meals. But going to bed right after doesnt allow me to burn any but instead store it. This is what I assumed but I kept following this eating pattern because I read about how meal timing doesnt matter because CICO. I appreciate your advice. But I am still concerned because of the constant gaining. Assistance is needed

    Can you open your diary? If you aren't logging your binges, that is likely where you are gaining weight. Its also probably not good for you to follow that type of cycle.
  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,091 Member
    I highly doubt that only eating late in the day/before bedtime is causing your weight gain, CICO works perfectly for me and I eat most of my calories later in the day.

    There is more going on:
    1) either you are eating more
    2) and/or burning fewer calories
    3) and/or gaining water weight

    For point 1: are you sure of how much you are eating? Weighing and logging everything, checking that the entries you are choosing are correct?
    For point 2: from what I've read, high BP medication can make you tired, decreasing how active you are in daily life (both exercise and non exercise activity) and therefore lowering the number of calories you are burning.
    For point 3: perhaps it's a side effect of medication you are taking, or it could be a medical issue in itself. After checking point 1 and 2, you could consult a doctor.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,482 Member
    If you're continually gaining weight, you're in a surplus. Yes there are some meds that interfere with hormonal balance, but water weight gain wouldn't be more than say 10lbs or so. Also, most supplements are bunk. Unless USP certified, you really have no idea if the product really has the ingredients mentioned on the bottle since regulation for supplements are a joke.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png
  • veggiefake
    veggiefake Posts: 4 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    If you're continually gaining weight, you're in a surplus. Yes there are some meds that interfere with hormonal balance, but water weight gain wouldn't be more than say 10lbs or so. Also, most supplements are bunk. Unless USP certified, you really have no idea if the product really has the ingredients mentioned on the bottle since regulation for supplements are a joke.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    That's what I thought but I'm taking around 50-60k steps now due to the virus while I usually get 50-70k(because I get a decent amount of steps in the gym) but anyways my point being I'm pretty sure I'm not in a surplus because I only eat around the 2000's while I run, get a crap ton of steps, and weightlift heavy. So could you elaborate on the hormonal part? I read something about how you can be insulin resistant to where WHATEVER and even how little you eat will be stored mostly as fat. And I googled how to fix IR but they just said lose body fat(which is the issue that IR is causing so that was helpful**not)
    Any insight would mean a lot. Thanks
  • veggiefake
    veggiefake Posts: 4 Member
    While taking note of the above, could someone also list some meds that are notorious for hidden weight gain? All Google said was those that fight HBP and diabetes
  • cupcakesandproteinshakes
    cupcakesandproteinshakes Posts: 1,092 Member
    veggiefake wrote: »
    While taking note of the above, could someone also list some meds that are notorious for hidden weight gain? All Google said was those that fight HBP and diabetes

    As others have said the most likely culprit is that you are in a surplus. So fix that first before wasting time on the less likely causes.
  • netitheyeti
    netitheyeti Posts: 539 Member
    I'd strongly recommend checking your diary entries (especially food you eat often) to make sure you're not using entries that are wildly incorrect (say, something claiming X is 100kcal per 100g, when it's really maybe 300kcal per 100g), make sure you're not eyeballing your portions etc.
    The most common cause of not losing the weight, imo, is either overestimating your calorie burn (which is why some people only eat back half their exercise calories), or not logging the food correctly.

    There's stuff that can make weight loss harder or make you more prone to gaining weight, but with careful logging the whole concept of CICO still works (coming from me, a 29yo woman with diagnosed hormone issues that are associated with weight gain - I'm down 70lbs and maintaining).

    If everything still checks out, and tightening your logging doesn't give you any results, then it might be time to see a doctor or someone who's an expert in nutrition who might be able to help.

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