Calorie Deficit and Still Gaining Weight-Help!

[Prototype20]

First post, so please be kind.

I’ve been trying to lose weight for about three weeks now. I’m 5’10, 214, 150lb LBM, and have what some people would call, a weight problem. I’ve read the stickies and tried to follow them accordingly. I use a program on my iPhone called MyFitnessPal to track my calorie intake. Well, after doing the calculations it came out to be that my maintenance calorie level was 2,470. I’m currently doing a 1000 calorie deficit in order to lose +/- 2 lbs a week. I’ve also started hitting the gym and I’ve gone 5 days a week and also doing 15 min cardio a day with at least an hour or more on the weekends.

The first two weeks went great actually, and I lost 6 lbs. Eating 1500 calories isn’t too hard for me because I don’t eat much normally. My typical day looks like:

Wake up: Lift weights for 45 min, 15 min of cardio on bike/treadmill.
Breakfast: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with 2 tbsp of peanut butter.
Get to work: 50g protein shake + multivitamin
Lunch: 5 oz can of tuna with relish, and ¼ cup of almonds.
Snack: Apple (or pear, banana)
Dinner: 5 oz NY Strip Steak with medium sweet potato.

That’s more or less what I do every day. I substitute the steak or tuna for chicken, and have veggies also, squash, broccoli etc.

Typical day is about 70 grams of fat, 100-150g of carbs, 130-160g of protein

Well all was great until I hit this past week when instead of losing I actually gained 2 lbs. I don’t get it, I was under my calorie goal for the week, how could I have possibly gained weight? My lifts are all going up and I feel better, but I’m getting discouraged at the weight gain.

What am I doing wrong?

[lee__d]

- counting cals inaccurately
or
- eating too many cals.

did u cheat over the holiday? could have gained some water weight, too.

[zstanton]

First post, so please be kind.

I’ve been trying to lose weight for about three weeks now. I’m 5’10, 214, 150lb LBM, and have what some people would call, a weight problem. I’ve read the stickies and tried to follow them accordingly. I use a program on my iPhone called MyFitnessPal to track my calorie intake. Well, after doing the calculations it came out to be that my maintenance calorie level was 2,470. I’m currently doing a 1000 calorie deficit in order to lose +/- 2 lbs a week. I’ve also started hitting the gym and I’ve gone 5 days a week and also doing 15 min cardio a day with at least an hour or more on the weekends.

The first two weeks went great actually, and I lost 6 lbs. Eating 1500 calories isn’t too hard for me because I don’t eat much normally. My typical day looks like:

Wake up: Lift weights for 45 min, 15 min of cardio on bike/treadmill.
Breakfast: 2 pieces of whole wheat toast with 2 tbsp of peanut butter.
Get to work: 50g protein shake + multivitamin
Lunch: 5 oz can of tuna with relish, and ¼ cup of almonds.
Snack: Apple (or pear, banana)
Dinner: 5 oz NY Strip Steak with medium sweet potato.

That’s more or less what I do every day. I substitute the steak or tuna for chicken, and have veggies also, squash, broccoli etc.

Typical day is about 70 grams of fat, 100-150g of carbs, 130-160g of protein

Well all was great until I hit this past week when instead of losing I actually gained 2 lbs. I don’t get it, I was under my calorie goal for the week, how could I have possibly gained weight? My lifts are all going up and I feel better, but I’m getting discouraged at the weight gain.

What am I doing wrong?

it's called body recomp live it, love it
i did a PSMF with 1300 cals a day, and gained weight... you are fine

[Prototype20]

- counting cals inaccurately
or
- eating too many cals.

did u cheat over the holiday? could have gained some water weight, too.

Only cheat i've had this entire time is i had two drinks on Saturday, vodka and seven up. But my weight was already higher that morning before i cheated. I entered them into the calorie counter and was still under for the week though.

Thanks for the reply.

[dat]

If you're consistently gaining weight you're not eating a calorie deficit, simple as that.

Create a deficit by doing more exercise, or by eating less. That's it.

[getgot211]

dat's right.

oh Im so clever.

[Blazedbeast]

Your obviously not in a defeict. Up your protein and drop your carbs completly for a few days and try that. And lower cals

[Prototype20]

So the consensus is less calories, what is recommended? 1200, 1000?

[dat]

Anything less than 1,500 calories is probably too little to continue with a healthy diet.

Do more exercise and make sure you are actually eating 1,500.

[MikeK46]

Calories seem way too low. No refeeds? Your metabolism will take a big hit.

Weigh yourself again. It's temporary water weight. You didn't gain 2lbs unless you ate 7000 extra calories.

[evilone777]

it's called body recomp live it, love it
i did a PSMF with 1300 cals a day, and gained weight... you are fine

damn didn't think it was possible to gain weight on a psmf even if you gained a little bit of muscle.

[WonderPug]

it's called body recomp live it, love it
i did a PSMF with 1300 cals a day, and gained weight... you are fine

damn didn't think it was possible to gain weight on a psmf even if you gained a little bit of muscle.

It isn't, given the parameters listed.

The poster claiming weight gain on a PSMF stated he consumed a daily total of just 1,300 calories (consisting of protein) and lists his age as 19, height as 5'10" and his weight as 198 pounds.

Either he did this years ago when he was dramatically smaller or his story isn't accurate.

[Prototype20]

Calories seem way too low. No refeeds? Your metabolism will take a big hit.

Weigh yourself again. It's temporary water weight. You didn't gain 2lbs unless you ate 7000 extra calories.

Sorry new to the lingo, what are refeeds? So do you suggest going in the neighborhood of 1750 cals then? Or should I cycle days, 1500 then 1750, repeat, to avoid damaging my metabolism? Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

[WonderPug]

^ Perhaps you should start by reading this: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...1&welcome=true

[Prototype20]

^ Perhaps you should start by reading this:

I read the above, but couldnt find anything on refeeds.

If you're inferring i need to read this to figure out my calorie intake, I have already. It's where i came up with my original numbers i started with. I gained weight using the recommendations, hence the reason i was requesting assistance. If you werent inferring this then i apologize.

[zstanton]

It isn't, given the parameters listed.

The poster claiming weight gain on a PSMF stated he consumed a daily total of just 1,300 calories (consisting of protein) and lists his age as 19, height as 5'10" and his weight as 198 pounds.

Either he did this years ago when he was dramatically smaller or his story isn't accurate.

i did that after a year of mostly 1200 cals a day, my metabolism was ****ed and it was noob gains, sorry for not clarifying

[LgFriess]

Wait, you've been working on this for 3 weeks, lost 6 in the first 2 weeks, gained 2 in the last week.

You're doing fine! Don't let one week drive you crazy. There are a ton of factors that could make the scale jump a few pounds in one week... mainly water weight.

Just keep doing what you're doing, make sure your calorie count is accurate, workout hard. If you get stuck for another week or two, then it's time to re-evaluate, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit here.

[Prototype20]

Wait, you've been working on this for 3 weeks, lost 6 in the first 2 weeks, gained 2 in the last week.

You're doing fine! Don't let one week drive you crazy. There are a ton of factors that could make the scale jump a few pounds in one week... mainly water weight.

Just keep doing what you're doing, make sure your calorie count is accurate, workout hard. If you get stuck for another week or two, then it's time to re-evaluate, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit here.

Maybe you're right. I just panic and try to reevaluate if I'm not getting results. I'll keep going, maybe even increase my calories as has been suggested.

[MikeK46]

Sorry new to the lingo, what are refeeds? So do you suggest going in the neighborhood of 1750 cals then? Or should I cycle days, 1500 then 1750, repeat, to avoid damaging my metabolism? Thanks for the help, it's much appreciated.

Here ya go:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/sclark60.htm

[coltmasterj]

I have the same issue happening, where I've gained 8 pounds in 4 weeks after a layoff from workouts, and am consuming 2500 calories/day. I am 203 lbs, and 20-25% bodyfat. According to most calculators, my maintenance calores are about 2700/day. I am also on a cyclic ketogenic diet.
I also thought it was physically impossible to gain weight while on a calorie deficit or maintenance level calories, but after thinking about it, it MAY be possible if one has enough bodyfat to fuel the protein synthesis (muscle building) to make up for the missing dietary calories.
Because fat is 9 calories/gram burned, and protein (converted to muscle tissue) is only 4 calories per gram, one can gain about 2 lbs of muscle tissue for every 1 lb of fat loss, and not change the net calories stored in the body tissues. This would be a net change, though, in scale weight of 1 lb without an excess of calories.
If one is very lean though, it is more difficult to gain muscle without an excess of calories in the diet. Theoretically, if one had zero bodyfat, it would then be impossible to gain weight on a calorie deficit or maintenance calorie level.
Does this make sense? I swear I have seen this happen in the past after layoffs while consuming less than 2500 calories/day.

[WonderPug]

I also thought it was physically impossible to gain weight while on a calorie deficit or maintenance level calories, but after thinking about it, it MAY be possible if one has enough bodyfat to fuel the protein synthesis (muscle building) to make up for the missing dietary calories.

You're very confused.

If you're eating at or below maintenance, but for fluctuations in water weight, you will maintain or lose bodyweight.

[Prototype20]

A few weeks old, I guess someone brought it back up. If anyone is interested, I did start losing weight again.

As was suggested, I did up my calorie intake by 250 and stayed there for a week. I've since dropped it again by 125 or so and am now at about 1595 calories per day. I'm losing weight gradullay at a rate of 2 +/- lbs a week, which was my goal.

My body fat % was originally 32.2% and is now down to 24% according to the scale (not too confident in the accuracy). All my lifts have gone up considerably. I'm not where I want to be but I'm on my way. Thanks again everyone for their help.

[StanPT]

Body fat will be higher if you don't take in lots of fluids. My body fat is 18% and my visceral fat is very, very low. This is a picture of me correcting my sprint techniques at the lab. As you can see I'm nowhere near 18%. I'm probably around 10%. I was 3.6% body fat with an eating disorder. Lowering my body fat meant that I have osteopenia, no sex drive, always cold and people didn't find it attractive. So be careful you don't take it too far, because it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Anyway use your goals on being healthy or like myself ''sprinting'' going to do a workout for vanity will lead to you chasing your own tail.

Goodluck.

[AFC96]

I bet he got his **** already. You made me read an entire page of a 3 year old thread.

[Rich1143]

me too haha