Thermic effect causing no weight gain?!!

[PAKKAP]

Ok I'm 17 5'10" and 115 pounds, really trying to gain weight after having an eating disorder. About a month and a half ago I went from eating 1200 a day to 2000. Then bumped it up to 2300 for 3 weeks. Then up to 2400. Then 2500. After about 2 weeks still no weight gain. I've bumped it up to 2800 now but am giving it some more time before seeing if I've gained weight. Now my diet is really healthy and I'm wondering if it could be effecting why I'm not gaining any weight. My activity level is 4 days weight lifting for about an hour, and 2-3 days of riding my bike for around 20-30 minutes. My macros are about 200-220g of protein, 270-290g of carbs and 80-90g of fat. I also get about 60-65g of fiber a day. All my carbs come from fruits, veggies, oats, sweet potatoes, whole wheat bread, and brown rice. Can the thermic effect of my diet be causing me to not get all the calories? To me, 2800 a day should be causing me to gain weight at only 115 pounds. Need some advice and opinions on this.

Cliffs
- really trying to gain weight after eating disorder
- moderately active with really healthy diet (high protein, high fiber)
- eating 2800 calories but not gaining at only 115 pounds
- Can thermic effect cause me to not get all the calories?

[buddyboys]

Eat more if you don't see weight gain. Eventually your body will have to give in to the amount of food

[PAKKAP]

Bump

[Jen0va]

cut down your cardio, or eat more. you will gain weight if you are taking in more than you burn. Your protein intake doesn't need to be that high, although there's nothing wrong with it if you find it preferable and affordable.

[Sartecho]

I'll agree with what Jen0va said. The cardio that you're doing is off-setting some of your calorie intake. You're adding more calories in an effort to gain weight, then burning those calories right back off before your body has a chance to use them. At some point, cardio will be great for general health. It's not time for that yet, though. Right now what your body needs is to put on some weight.

I would shift some of those calories from protein over to carbohydrates. You're getting more protein than you need, and you may be shorting yourself some of the carbs that you need.

[PAKKAP]

Alright thanks guys. I do on the days I do cardio eat and extra 100-150 cals. But I'll cut down a day and maybe only do like 20 minutes a session. I really like feeling in shape and don't want to completely lose that. And as for protein, I know it's high for my weight but thing is I just enjoy eating that much. I've gone days having 230g without any whey even (I really like meat, eggs and cottage cheese). To be honest, it's the carbs I find hardest to try and keep above 250g. I know I feel much better when I do hit that macro though.

[KobiDC]

Simply put, if you're not gaining you're not eating enough. Eat more OP.

[thecityignites]

You definitely need to eat more than 2800 calories a day to gain weight. Especially at 17, you are still growing. Even if you weren't recovering from an ED, you'd still probably need exorbitant amounts to gain/maintain a healthy weight at that age and with an active life style. Because you've had an ED, you will end up needing more than any "calorie calculator" could determine.
I know its hard to believe, but you need to eat a LOT when you are recovering from starvation - your body has depleted all of its stores - it takes a lot of energy to rebuild all that stuff. Bone tissue, muscle and organ tissues, restoring hormone balances, etc. Your body is doing a lot more work than you think it is, even while at rest.
People with ED's usually end up needing astonishing amounts of food to make consecutive gains, at least in my experience. FWIW I've had to consume anywhere from 3600-4600+ to make even half-pound gains each week. So. How's that for perspective on what you need to eat =P
I also agree you should cut out the cardio for now, its not healthy for you mentally most likely, and is undoing your efforts in other areas. But don't drop the calories just because you aren't doing as much.

[SeboAmp]

Well, I almost got into an ED as well.. I weight 60 kg(132 lb) now, i gained 4 kg in about 1 month.. I think you just have to cut a bit your cardio, but not at all, I also like to ride bike, and it is hard to stop riding it, but if you ride for too long, it burns calories = no weight gain. You also have to eat more carbs, at leat 300 grams.

[PAKKAP]

You definitely need to eat more than 2800 calories a day to gain weight. Especially at 17, you are still growing. Even if you weren't recovering from an ED, you'd still probably need exorbitant amounts to gain/maintain a healthy weight at that age and with an active life style. Because you've had an ED, you will end up needing more than any "calorie calculator" could determine.
I know its hard to believe, but you need to eat a LOT when you are recovering from starvation - your body has depleted all of its stores - it takes a lot of energy to rebuild all that stuff. Bone tissue, muscle and organ tissues, restoring hormone balances, etc. Your body is doing a lot more work than you think it is, even while at rest.
People with ED's usually end up needing astonishing amounts of food to make consecutive gains, at least in my experience. FWIW I've had to consume anywhere from 3600-4600+ to make even half-pound gains each week. So. How's that for perspective on what you need to eat =P
I also agree you should cut out the cardio for now, its not healthy for you mentally most likely, and is undoing your efforts in other areas. But don't drop the calories just because you aren't doing as much.

Ok well I was planning on increasing to 3000. The thing that's bugging me is weeks keep going by without any weight gain and I feel like I can never find a maintainence base. I first thought 2300 was because for three weeks I ate that and my weight stayed the same. Then after increasing to 2500, it stayed the same as well, so I can't find an actual maintainence. Is it because I restricted to 1200-1300 for a lengthened amount of time. I did that for about a month, where as before I was eating about 1700-1900 a day plus more cardio though. That was for about 4 months.

[XCRunner9]

Tricky thing is once you reach a low weight, your body refuses to lose any more weight. Believe me, I used to eat 1200-1500 calories a day with a lot of cardio and weight lifting and my body stayed at 102.

[Lvisaa2]

Think less, eat more. If you don't gain for a week then bump it up. Especially at your age and height to weight ratio, you should be trying to gain over an lb a week.

[Sartecho]

Something to remember about carbs... Carbs are used by your body to produce glycogen. Glycogen is then stored in your muscles and is used as an energy source. If your carb levels are low enough that your body isn't able to produce enough glycogen, your body will start to cannibalize muscle and convert it into glycogen instead. Shorting yourself on carbs will undo some of your gains.

[PAKKAP]

Tricky thing is once you reach a low weight, your body refuses to lose any more weight. Believe me, I used to eat 1200-1500 calories a day with a lot of cardio and weight lifting and my body stayed at 102.

Yeah my weight was beginning to plateau when I snapped out of it and increased cals.

[PAKKAP]

Something to remember about carbs... Carbs are used by your body to produce glycogen. Glycogen is then stored in your muscles and is used as an energy source. If your carb levels are low enough that your body isn't able to produce enough glycogen, your body will start to cannibalize muscle and convert it into glycogen instead. Shorting yourself on carbs will undo some of your gains.

I don't feel I'm shorting myself. I do realize I could switch some protein over to carbs though. But as far as energy goes, I'm doing pretty well.

[determined4000]

More food
More rest
less cardio

Keep increasing cals 10% a week until you are gaining 1lb/week

[Sartecho]

I don't feel I'm shorting myself.

I get your point about feeling that you have enough energy. Keep in mind, though, that you're not getting the results that you want. Those missing results are because of what's missing in your diet. Add more calories progressively, and when you do, add carbs.

[PAKKAP]

I get your point about feeling that you have enough energy. Keep in mind, though, that you're not getting the results that you want. Those missing results are because of what's missing in your diet. Add more calories progressively, and when you do, add carbs.

Yeah the extra 200 cals are gunna be a carb source. Probably an extra potato and some veggies

[thecityignites]

Ok well I was planning on increasing to 3000. The thing that's bugging me is weeks keep going by without any weight gain and I feel like I can never find a maintainence base. I first thought 2300 was because for three weeks I ate that and my weight stayed the same. Then after increasing to 2500, it stayed the same as well, so I can't find an actual maintainence. Is it because I restricted to 1200-1300 for a lengthened amount of time. I did that for about a month, where as before I was eating about 1700-1900 a day plus more cardio though. That was for about 4 months.

Don't worry about what calories you will maintain on right now. Just eat to gain. Once you find a calorie level you make steady gains on, and get to a proper weight - THEN you can think about maintaining. Remember, you are 17. Your body is going to burn through whatever you give it. Not only are you still growing, you are rebuilding. It doesn't really matter why you need a certain # of calories. It is what it is, you know? Explanations don't change the reality of it. Again, I know its hard to envision having to eat so much just gain, or to maintain. But when you're ready to maintain, we can discuss that too. I do suggest you not think about that now, as you have no idea how many calories it may take for you to gain weight on a regular basis and cannot base your needs off of what you think maintenance level should be. You'll drive yourself nuts if you keep thinking about it. So. Just eat what it takes to gain, even if you have to increase your intake every other week for the next month.

[PAKKAP]

Don't worry about what calories you will maintain on right now. Just eat to gain. Once you find a calorie level you make steady gains on, and get to a proper weight - THEN you can think about maintaining. Remember, you are 17. Your body is going to burn through whatever you give it. Not only are you still growing, you are rebuilding. It doesn't really matter why you need a certain # of calories. It is what it is, you know? Explanations don't change the reality of it. Again, I know its hard to envision having to eat so much just gain, or to maintain. But when you're ready to maintain, we can discuss that too. I do suggest you not think about that now, as you have no idea how many calories it may take for you to gain weight on a regular basis and cannot base your needs off of what you think maintenance level should be. You'll drive yourself nuts if you keep thinking about it. So. Just eat what it takes to gain, even if you have to increase your intake every other week for the next month.

Aaahh. Really good answer. Yeah it's the fact that I seemed to be doing "fine" eating only about 1700 a day and now I'm eating over 1000 calories more and not gaining. It's just weird to me. But I like the idea of not needing a real explanation and just going with it. Thanks.

[Sartecho]

One thing to consider with regards to your calorie intake changing without your weight changing:

Your body is probably changing gears. It's revving things back up as more nutrients become available.

Think about a factory. When you weren't eating enough, the raw materials weren't available for the factory to operate at full capacity. What would a factory do? They start by cancelling all overtime. Then they stop scheduling a third shift. Then they layoff the second shift. After that they're cutting back on non-essential stuff. No more holiday parties, less vacation time, human resources is now staffed by two people instead of three.... They just keep cutting and cutting until the work output matches the orders/materials that are coming in.

Now, let's say that the economy turns around and they start getting lots of orders in. The factory isn't going to grow. It's being under-utilized. First they're going to start bringing things back online. They're going to hire a few people back, maybe start scheduling a second shift again. They're going to bring everything back up to full speed. The whole place will be humming right along. They're not going to add on to the factory yet. They'll increase the size of the facility once the current factory is at max output. Then, and only then, are they going to bring in the construction crew and start adding on to the building. That's what they'll do when the orders and materials coming in exceed their ability to handle stuff.

Your body is like the factory. You had laid off all kinds of people and the place was barely running. All non-essential services had been put on hold. Now, you're bringing things back online. You've got that factory humming right along. You haven't hit the point where you're adding on to the factory yet though. If you want a bigger facility, you'll have to put that sales team in charge of bringing in more and more orders until the factory has no choice but to expand.

So, anyway, that's what came to mind in terms of why you might massively increase your caloric intake without seeing gains in weight. Those calories are being burned, they're just not excess. They're getting used for stuff that your body had given up on. Your metabolism is catching up to what's available to it.

[PAKKAP]

Ok guys. A little background info before asking this. My diet is usually high in sodium due to mostly cottage cheese and pre-seasoned uncooked chicken breasts that I eat (average about 4000-5000mg a day). So with that intake my weight is usually around 115. However, on the weekends I usually lower sodium and by Monday (the day I weigh myself) my weight goes down.

I've run into a problem because last week on Saturday, I was about 115.8 after a week of high sodium. Then on Monday after eating lower sodium, I went down to 113.4. Then this week I increased calories from 2500-2800 and my sodium was up to 6000mg on most days. Now today, Saturday, I'm up to 117.4 pounds. Here's what that looked like it if sounded confusing.

Saturday (after normal high sodium week): 115.8 pounds
Monday (lower sodium weekend): 113.4 pounds
Saturday (300 calorie increase and high sodium week): 117.4 pounds

I know a lot of that is probably water weight. What I'm asking your opinions on is if I should lower sodium this weekend, check my weight, and if it hasn't gone past about 113.4, should i up calories again. Or, should I keep a higher sodium intake this weekend and give it another week to check my weight to see if I'm really gaining weight or if it's just water and the extra food.

Sorry if this is confusing but I'm really trying to make sure I'm gaining real weight week by week. Sick of checking the scales and seeing it go down. I'd rather not go another week and see that all I've gained is water. Ask me to clarify anything if you need me to. Main question is if I should give it another week with the increase in calories and keep my sodium levels high like usual. Or lower sodium and try to see if the water weight comes down.

[PAKKAP]

One thing to consider with regards to your calorie intake changing without your weight changing:

Your body is probably changing gears. It's revving things back up as more nutrients become available.

Think about a factory. When you weren't eating enough, the raw materials weren't available for the factory to operate at full capacity. What would a factory do? They start by cancelling all overtime. Then they stop scheduling a third shift. Then they layoff the second shift. After that they're cutting back on non-essential stuff. No more holiday parties, less vacation time, human resources is now staffed by two people instead of three.... They just keep cutting and cutting until the work output matches the orders/materials that are coming in.

Now, let's say that the economy turns around and they start getting lots of orders in. The factory isn't going to grow. It's being under-utilized. First they're going to start bringing things back online. They're going to hire a few people back, maybe start scheduling a second shift again. They're going to bring everything back up to full speed. The whole place will be humming right along. They're not going to add on to the factory yet. They'll increase the size of the facility once the current factory is at max output. Then, and only then, are they going to bring in the construction crew and start adding on to the building. That's what they'll do when the orders and materials coming in exceed their ability to handle stuff.

Your body is like the factory. You had laid off all kinds of people and the place was barely running. All non-essential services had been put on hold. Now, you're bringing things back online. You've got that factory humming right along. You haven't hit the point where you're adding on to the factory yet though. If you want a bigger facility, you'll have to put that sales team in charge of bringing in more and more orders until the factory has no choice but to expand.

So, anyway, that's what came to mind in terms of why you might massively increase your caloric intake without seeing gains in weight. Those calories are being burned, they're just not excess. They're getting used for stuff that your body had given up on. Your metabolism is catching up to what's available to it.

Awesome way of putting it. Yeah I can honestly say, I feel like my body is revving up again. I eat a big meal and it's like I just suck it all up instantly. Hahah a lot more energy too!

[PAKKAP]

Any suggestions?

[XCRunner9]

I personally wouldn't worry about sodium and the fact that your organs and hormones are messed up could cause you to gain quite a bit of water weight once you get your bulking calories, so since you didn't gain on 2800, I'd bump it up to around 3300 tbh.

[determined4000]

Any suggestions?

eat more now and stop thinking about the details

[PAKKAP]

I decided to drop sodium for a day to see and came up at 114.0. Which means that I gained about a half a pound in a week (113.4-114.0). I'm going to do 2800 for another week and then decide to increase or not.

[thecityignites]

Oi vey.
This sounds very eating-disordered to me. It is NORMAL for one's weight to fluctuate throughout the week which is why one should only weigh themselves once a week. Especially if one is recovering from an eating disorder.
Know how I said you'd drive yourself nuts? This is what I'm talking about lol. Do not become a sodium counter. Don't even. You already count your macros. I think that's enough counting for one person.
You need to stop trying to find reasons for every change, or lack thereof, in your weight. It fluctuates. It's a body. They do that. Maybe you took a bigger crap last week than you did this week. Maybe you drank a bottle of water before weighing in. I don't know. But I do know, you need to roll with it and not back down. It will take some doing, a lot of anxiety and so forth, but you have to just suck it up and say "Nope! This is my plan. This what I'm doing and that's that."
Also. Hooray! Half a pound/week isn't a bad start. Albeit in your case, I'd recommend 1lb/week. But 1/2 pound is a start.

[PAKKAP]

Oi vey.
This sounds very eating-disordered to me. It is NORMAL for one's weight to fluctuate throughout the week which is why one should only weigh themselves once a week. Especially if one is recovering from an eating disorder.
Know how I said you'd drive yourself nuts? This is what I'm talking about lol. Do not become a sodium counter. Don't even. You already count your macros. I think that's enough counting for one person.
You need to stop trying to find reasons for every change, or lack thereof, in your weight. It fluctuates. It's a body. They do that. Maybe you took a bigger crap last week than you did this week. Maybe you drank a bottle of water before weighing in. I don't know. But I do know, you need to roll with it and not back down. It will take some doing, a lot of anxiety and so forth, but you have to just suck it up and say "Nope! This is my plan. This what I'm doing and that's that."
Also. Hooray! Half a pound/week isn't a bad start. Albeit in your case, I'd recommend 1lb/week. But 1/2 pound is a start.

Thank you. Yeah i know weight bounces around. I literally remember seeing 3 pound fluctuations day by day. But when I'm trying to make sure I'm gaining weight (since its not the easiest for me to do) I want to make sure I dont go 2 weeks thinking that my weights actually increasing, when in turn, it's just water/carbs etc. I upped my calories anyway to 3000 (an extra 200) because I'm still not sure if I actually gained real weight. Plus, 3000 sounds like a much better "gaining" number than 2800

[n0useforaname]

Something to remember about carbs... Carbs are used by your body to produce glycogen. Glycogen is then stored in your muscles and is used as an energy source. If your carb levels are low enough that your body isn't able to produce enough glycogen, your body will start to cannibalize muscle and convert it into glycogen instead. Shorting yourself on carbs will undo some of your gains.

Ever hear of keto? Pls go away.

Thank you. Yeah i know weight bounces around. I literally remember seeing 3 pound fluctuations day by day. But when I'm trying to make sure I'm gaining weight (since its not the easiest for me to do) I want to make sure I dont go 2 weeks thinking that my weights actually increasing, when in turn, it's just water/carbs etc. I upped my calories anyway to 3000 (an extra 200) because I'm still not sure if I actually gained real weight. Plus, 3000 sounds like a much better "gaining" number than 2800

It's simple.. take advice from most of the people posting on here. Eat 3000 cals... at the end of the week if you didn't gain, up your cals again by 200ish. Also... make sure you are actually tracking properly... as most people I know say they eat 3000 cals, and they really only eat like 2300.