Gaining weight- don't understand why

marianimal

marianimal

Cathlete
I would appreciate anyone and everyone's help here. Five years ago I started eating clean and lost 22 pounds and kept it off for 2 years until my husband left me and I went off the rails. I gained alot of the weight back with misery eating but ready to take my life back now. So now I am up 16 pounds and trying to get it off. I am doing Pure Barre once a week, Cathe cardio once a week and STS 3 days a week. I understand what clean eating is and I am using recipes from Clean Eating and my Tosca cookbooks. I am eating between 1200-1350 calories a day and logging my food on My Fitness Pal.
I weighed this morning and I have gained 1 1/2 pounds in 2 weeks. I could understand not losing but gaining? This has been going on for about 3 months. I am trying to keep my carb intake below 150 carbs a day and I have tried eating more calories when I was doing more cardio but nothing happening then either. So I thought I would focus on STS (I just finished week 3). I am miserable and feel very discouraged.
Any thoughts?
 
I'm sorry you've been miserable, I hope you get some relief soon. You might want to rely more on how your clothes fit or get out the tape measure. As you go through STS this will probably be a better indicator of your progress. Any weight gain is not guaranteed to be increased fat. If you have the means you might want to get your body fat tested as well. I wish you well :)
 
It might be muscle gains. If you're doing weight work/STS you are probably adding on some muscle. Other than the number on the scale....how do you feel? Are you fatigued or energetic, can you get through a tough Cathe cardio, are you lifting heavy? Sleeping ok? After doing "Ripped w/ Hiit" I noticed my pants were getting tight in the legs, not really happy about it but when I have shorts on...wow, muscle definition!

I hope you start feeling better soon and that others will chime in. This is one of those curve balls life throws at you. I'm sorry for your troubles but glad you're doing something for yourself. Feel better.
 
Thanks TLC and Sue-
I am not really fatigued and I can do Cathe cardio without taking a break. I am using the 1 rep max %s that STS suggests.
My clothes are not feeling looser. I would feel much better if they were. They feel about the same and some feel snugger. I was thinking about going to the doctor for tests. But I understand that doctors usually assume you are just overeating. I spoke with a nutritionist and am trying to do what she suggested regarding macronutrients. Also, this may be an issue too--- I have gone through menopause since losing the weight initially so my body is just not cooperating. But other than clean eating and exercise, I don't know what to do.
Also- I realize 16 pounds is not earthshattering but it is so frustrating to do everything that has worked in the past and see no results.
Again I really appreciate the advice.
 
Hi there,
Sorry about your recent stresses, I've had some too with my dad passing away last month so I know about the emotional eating that sometimes accompanies these times. I know hormones can wreak havoc on our weight and I've noticed more belly/ hip fat which i didn't have before peri-menopause so it's very frustrating. I find now I have to be super clean with my diet and cut out as much sugar as possible in order to drop any fat so maybe don't just focus on the calorie number but on additives like this as well. Not sure how long you've been doing STS but there generally is some water retention for many weeks d/t embarking on a new program and the effect of heavy lifting on the muscles so give it some time to settle.
Good luck,
Jamie
 
Hello,

Hope you manage to put the past behind and eventually get over whatever is causing the overeating cycle. You have had good advices
on previous posts. Trying your hardest to be positive and putting emotions in the past will keep stress at bay.
By doing so you can break the eating cycle.

I do not know how long you have been on STS. Give it sometimes to see the change. We all want change quickly but
there are factors which come into play and slow the process. They have been mentioned:hormones, menopause,
stress/emotions etc... My piece of advice is if you have been relying on same eating pattern and/or training method
may be it is time to change. Our body tend to hold onto habits: same restricted calories, training method,same exta
activities etc...Try something different you enjoy:):):)

I do not know how long you have been on 1200-1350kcal for. If you have been on this calorie allowance for a longtime
(more than six month) with a written record to the letter, I advise you see a nutritionist. Last thing I would advise,
since you are on STS: do not focus on your scale too much. There is a difference between loosing weight and fat loss.
Be honest with yourself to know if you want a change in your body composition or you just want
to loose weight as per what you see on the scale.

Without knowing your motivation for the weight loss campaign,here is an article. IMO anyone willing to "loose weight"
while on weight traing need to know the content.

http://cathe.com/category/blog/fitness-tips/weight-loss-fitness-tips-blog

Wish you the very best:)
 
What kind of workouts has your body typically responded the best to?
Personally, I know that a combination of HiiT 2-3/week ON TOP of a heavy lift (both in the same day) works best for me. I just do an hour of cardio on those in between days.
Looking at what you're doing, I'd suggest adding more cardio. The strength is great, but maybe replace the Barre with a cardio routine. You may not be doing enough cardio to offset the strength.

I've not dealt with the hormonal fun yet, so I can't speak to that, although I know everyone says it's much harder to lose afterwards.
I think as long as your thyroid and hormones are balanced, and you're eating clean (good fiber intake?), it comes down to what kind of workouts your body responds best to. It may be that you need more balance.
 
melimcn said:
Looking at what you're doing, I'd suggest adding more cardio. The strength is great, but maybe replace the Barre with a cardio routine. You may not be doing enough cardio to offset the strength.

I've not dealt with the hormonal fun yet, so I can't speak to that, although I know everyone says it's much harder to lose afterwards.
I think as long as your thyroid and hormones are balanced, and you're eating clean (good fiber intake?), it comes down to what kind of workouts your body responds best to. It may be that you need more balance.
Click to expand...

I agree with this above.
Hiit short and long up to an hour works the best for me.
I keep long steady to a minimum frequency.

Ps: what works best for A does not necessarily work for B. If you have been repeating
the same pattern which has been working in past without any succes, It is time for a change!
 
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first thing I'm thinking is your calorie are really low for a weight lifting program like STS then my second thing would be doing a hiit workout followed with 30-40 min of steady state really shreds the fat which has been the key to me getting rid of the peri menopause cellulite that was taking over my legs LOL. I still have cellulite and have since teen but man with the hormone changes it was out of control for awhile. I'm totally rocking a bikini and no embarrassing deep dimples just a bit of cellulite if you squeeze kwim.

I also think you need to ditch the scale mainly because during hormone fluctuation with menopause is major body change and there no rules for how each of us will adapt to the new us. I think the scale is demoralizing to any type of weight training workout program so just get a tape measure and throw the scale in the trash ;)

http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/
 
Thanks Nathalie, Melissa and Cafelatte,
I've always tried to mix my cardio and weights. Truly I have done STS previously but never really been too successful with it. I may need to go back to just the full body workouts 2X a week.

I tried to shake things up with Orange Theory Fitness and Pure Barre but my body did not respond at all.

I think I will try cardio 3X a week and maybe one day of STS legs and one day of total body weights to see if that has a better result.

Maybe up my calories a little bit too. You all are right..there is no reason to let the scale ruin everything. Cafelatte-- so proud of you rocking the beach in a bikini! I think those days are behind me but just trying to be the best I can and I know this weight is holding me back on that. I let my weight rule my self esteem-- which is so stupid. The wrong things certainly aren't going to help. So I will keep trying the right ones. I decided to go in for a full checkup too.

Thanks everyone
 
marianimal said:
Maybe up my calories a little bit too. You all are right..there is no reason to let the scale ruin everything. Cafelatte-- so proud of you rocking the beach in a bikini! I think those days are behind me but just trying to be the best I can and I know this weight is holding me back on that. I let my weight rule my self esteem--
Click to expand...

Hi Maria,

if you really want to up your calories and your fitness level accordingly, the article below can help!
It explains how to workout your calorie allowance depending on your fitness level. This workout almost to
simply multiply xxx pound to 10 or 12. This is the starting point. You can then decrease or increase by 200
or 250 calories depending on the loss. The article below talks about breaking through plateau.
you can skip and go straight to the calculation.

http://www.fitnessrxwomen.com/nutrition/break-through-your-plateau/

HTH:)
 
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I was in the same boat =sinking boat!) last year, so found Intermittent fasting, and have been doing it for 7 weeks now, and am down 14 lbs.

YES definitely put the weight on me, and cardio was not taking it off. I knew something else was going on. I was low carb also. Check into IF; it will change your life. I have posted about it several times.

For the science behind it (why obesity is not caused by eating too much or exercising too little), read the I do at www.intensivedietarymanagement.com. It is a real eye opener. I was flabbergasted!
 
I can say I know how you feel with regard to perimenopause! What used to work for me doesn't anymore. It's tough work! I'd agree with what others are saying, sounds like it's time to change things up. When trying to lose body fat it's really hard to gain muscle because you are eating at a calorie deficit, but it is very important to at least maintain it so definitely don't eliminate your strength training but maybe changing it up to do 2 total body weight routines a week like you mentioned is the way to go, or even 1 total body weight that has a calorie burn like Hi Reps and then another day do Cardio Leg Blast and then a third day do a shorter upper body like the Up premix from Pyramid Upper Body paired with HiiT. You could do a steady state cardio another day. It is important to take rest days when eating at a caloric deficit so as not to overtrain. I also have read that on your rest days to focus more on protein and veggies which can allow you to up your carbs a bit on your more intense workout days, basically a carb cycling approach. Good Luck!!
 
Cafelattee said:
first thing I'm thinking is your calorie are really low for a weight lifting program like STS then my second thing would be doing a hiit workout followed with 30-40 min of steady state really shreds the fat which has been the key to me getting rid of the peri menopause cellulite that was taking over my legs LOL. I still have cellulite and have since teen but man with the hormone changes it was out of control for awhile. I'm totally rocking a bikini and no embarrassing deep dimples just a bit of cellulite if you squeeze kwim.

I also think you need to ditch the scale mainly because during hormone fluctuation with menopause is major body change and there no rules for how each of us will adapt to the new us. I think the scale is demoralizing to any type of weight training workout program so just get a tape measure and throw the scale in the trash ;)

http://www.coachcalorie.com/not-eating-enough-calories-to-lose-weight/
Click to expand...


Hi Cafelattee! Can you please give more details on your cellulite buster? How long are your HIIT workouts? Then you said 30-40 mins of steady state? Do you mean cardio? Can you give an example? And how many days of that vs lifting?
Thank you in advance for sharing!
 
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