Creeping weight gain :( wah ! ...suggestions/support?!

[shanihib]

well this thread is scary! i started meso 2 this week. i have lost 11 lbs since starting STS and i really don't want it back!

are you guys gaining because you are eating more? what do you think it is? becky, i also run for cardio and i run 4-5 days/week, so i can't imagine what i would do if i started gaining!

Thank you SNM! I came to realize at least several pounds was water since each rest week I tend to drop a couple pounds, to regain them once we start a new meso. ;

I also wanted to tall you marnigold that for me, I have increased my eating, which does account for some of the gain. I am not up that much... only 3 lbs, but I kind of went into this knowing that I wanted to gain muscle, and wanted to ensure it, so I bumped my calorie intake to aid in it. BUT, during Meso 1 I was absolutely ravenous... and I woudn't say that what I was eating was entirely on purpose. I was simply hungry and eventually had to adjust my eating.

That said, I look better now than when I started. I also know I can strip off 2-3 pounds easily once I stop lifting quite so intensely. I am also at my target weight range, so my purpose was not to lose. I didn't have to gain a few pounds... but chose to. And if I'd been intentionally trying to lose, I probably could have. (Meso 1 was tough for me personally though.) Does that help? What I'm saying is that I don't think STS necessarily causes inescapable weight gain. It will cause you to retain some water as STS said because you're breaking down and rebuilding muscle fibers which uses water to aid in the process.

 

[marnapril]

OMG SNM videos.. THANK YOU!

 

[Connie07]

SNM, thanks for posting about water weight gain. I think that post should be a "sticky"!

 

[cakebaker]

Never drink your calories

My bad habits are not drinking enough H20 as a general rule and having a few glasses of wine on weekends (which I'm not giving up ! ;-) ...yet anyway!)

Would love any thoughts/input...meanwhile I'm upping my cardio and protein and going to attempt to cut portions a wee bit...I guess...

One thing you said that stuck out was about your weekend "few" glasses of wine. How many is a "few"? If a few is four, maybe cut back to two. If a few is six, cut back to four. 5.2 ounces of wine is 129 calories, even more than soda pop.

Another suggestion is to track your calories - you may be eating more than you think, even if it's "clean." Also, you may consider making your cardio more intense and/or trying different forms of cardio.

 

[Pearlstrand]

Thank you so much for the info!

A little common sense talk about weight gain. First, it is nearly impossible for even a young adult male to add 5 lbs of muscles doing STS for 3 months. The most muscle a male could hope to add to their body doing STS for 3 months is only about one pound, less for a female....

It can be so discouraging to eat well, exercise well, and discover that you weigh more than you did yesterday! It helps to know why.

Thank you so much for the very informative post. This really helps me feel better with my eating and my workouts!

 

[kellyp]

121 at 5'4"....I could only wish. I'm at 145 and 5'4"

I totally agree. 121 for me is my perfect weight at 5'4 and I was wearing a 2! Now, on another note, I'm in the same boat as you.... I eat like you, healthy, love whole grains, but try not to eat too many. Try to make sure to eat a light protein snack between meals, have worked out consistently for 20 years and NEVER fought my weight. In the last year I've gone up to a size 6/8! I seem to be hovering around 138-140 pounds and although I don't really care what the scale says, I DO care what my clothes are saying. I'm currently starting my 3rd week of CLX and liking the results so far, but am feeling a little bit puffy, possibly due to the intense weight work and new style of training. I've always trained with weights, but in the past have usually used lighter weights, up to 15 pounds. I'm desperate to kick start my metabolism again and regain my nice figure. I'm hoping that whole "muscle burns fat" will work! So, I do understand your frustration. I'm 38 now and have had 3 children, the youngest being 4 and lost the prego weight with all 3 and got back into my clothes, don't know what has happened in the last year and a half. Trust me, I've gone to all kinds of Docs, had my thryoid checked, swore it's Perimeno, but docs say no, been checked for Celiac via an upper endiscopy. The only thing that was found was that I was having some active Epstein-Barr about 6 months ago and was very tired. I have had a stressful couple of years, don't know if that caused it. I'm taking Holy Basil now to try to counterract any possible Cortisol from stress. My weight is hanging around my whole mid-section, even though I have visibly strong obliques and lines to prove it. I would love some suggestions too.

Kelly

 

[chammer]

Thought I'd post an update in case it's helpful to others...

I started noticing a myriad of other odd symptoms (entirely unrelated to STS or workouts in general) - including vertigo, joint pain, and now increasingly severe fatigue. I'd happened to have had a full blood workup just for health optimization, not to diagnose or treat any issues (the issues were very stealthily creeping up on me - including the little weight gain so I wasn't too concerned, just used to the stuff).

Turns out that I'm in early hypothyroid that likely wouldn't have been diagnosed by my primary care doc as they don't normally do the 'antibodies' test that this doc did and that was the tip off - high antibodies - my body is attacking my thyroid - as well as high reverse T3 (which is evidently the sign that my active T3 is being blocked somehow, reverse T3 is the inactive form - it's all very complex!).

So for those of you with similar issues, I highly recommend you request (and demand if your Dr. refuses it initially) not only your T3, T4 and TSH but antibodies tests as well. I've been experiencing symptoms of hypo for years, but based on outmoded diagnostic methods am just now getting treatment.

Good luck to anyone else suffering from wonky symptoms !

 

[lworks]

Similar Experience

I've gained about 3.5 lbs since starting STS too and some of it is fat but definitely some of it is muscle. I got on my body fat scale (Tanita) yesterday for the first time in a long time and my body fat % had dropped 1%. I wouldn't freak out too bad... Plus if you are sore you'll be retaining water. I figure once STS is over, I'll bump up the endurance and cardio and I'll shed a few of those pounds and be in BETTER shape than ever.

I've had a similar experience. I attribute it to burning fewer calories each week on this program. I used to alternate between cardio and then mixed cardio and weights - like High Step Challenge, Body Max 2, Drill Max, Low Impact Circuit, Jari Love's Ripped 1000. Now it is cardio alternated with weights.

I finished Meso 3 yesterday. I gained 3.5 - 4 pounds as well. I weigh on a tanita scale twice a week. I was showing added fat starting two weeks into Meso 2. Here at the end, the weight is still up, but body fat down 1%. (I think maybe plyo legs added some cardio) So, I am planning to hit the cardio for a few weeks and will probably start up STS again on the 6 1/2 month rotation.