Help!!! Gaining weight on maintanence cals.

Ahh! I'm so frustrated. I was eating 1900cals a day and losing weight. I lift really heavy for a little over an hour and then run 3.5-4 miles (30min) four days a week. On the other three days I don't do too much. I was told that, to maintain, I would have to eat 2400cals a day (2700cals on the four days I train, and 2000cals on days i rest...about 2400cals a day on average).

Well I got down to where I wanted, and I upped my cals this week to 2300cals a day, and I gained a couple pounds. I look and feel fatter too. AH! I should be able to maintain on this, not gain. What is up with that?

Btw, I'm 5 5, 145lbs, male, 19yrs.

It could just be water weight. What kinds of foods did you eat when you upped your calories. High sodium would make you feel bloated... I doubt a couple of pounds is noticeable on anyone.

Hmm...I did eat some high sodium foods...but not that much more than usual. Like a few more slices of deli turkey for my sandwichs and a little more cottage cheese.

Also, my stomach is sticking out more than usually, so i guess it could be bloating from eating more food than usual.

I think what I'm asking is will it all go away?

Do you track your inches.......it could be muscle growth........??

Maybe your body just isn't used to that amount of food. Give it a few days. It should go away.

Hi,

This happened to a friend of mine also I think maybe you added too many cals to quickly. Maybe you should have added 100-200 cals extra per week or two weeks then added more each week or two until you got up to the cals you listed.  Also try drinkig some extra water and cut back a bit on sodium and maybe cut back a little bit on the cals for a little while and see what happens that is what my friend did and it helped them.

Josepi

hey,

   I'm a 5'7'' male who weighs like 138ish....anyway I lost a lot of weight, but then had to up my calories to maintain and each time I did would see my weight jump the following week, only to go back down (or in some cases lower) the following few weeks....in the end I was fine and have maintained aorund the same weight (and my appearance has never changed during the time-just the number)....

I mean even now I have problems not gaining eating maintenance calories...it seems every eyar around this time while my diet and fitness routine remain IDENTICAL to other times in the year i tend to show up more weight on the scale than the summer/fall...it's bizzare but whatever...

it could also be water rention if you over indulged at all over the holiday season

eat to maintain and take the number on the scale with a grian of salt...oh and if you lift maybe it's some nice new muscle comming in....which is awesome!

let me know if you have any other q'

weren't you putting 3000-4000 cals in for a while there? i remember you in the weight gain forum asking if you could maintain on that! i told you it would catch up with you...... i think you might a zonked your metabolism a bit coz you do a lotta fooling around with your weight for wrestling yeah?

i would think 2700 is a lot for your level of exercise-especially id your body is used to it. i would think 2300-2500 should cover it for you. i know everyone will yell and say this is incorrect but if your body is conditioned to training then it doesnt burn as many cals - the effort isn' t the same

Well I was maintaining at 3000cals at 150lbs for a longgg time and it was working. But then I lost some weight, to around 140lbs, eating 1900cals, and now at 2300cals (which i started this week) i gained a few. I know that when you weigh more, you burn more, but by that much more seems kinda weird. maybe ill get used to it like u guys said and my weight will start to maintain. Cuz of wrestling my metabolism is a little too weird right now.

I have a question though, how much cals do you guys think im burning with my current routine? Again, it four days a week of 60-80min. heavy lifting and 30min runs, three days rest. 5 5, 145lbs now, 19 male. I know there are calculators but i want some other opinions.

Well, it depends on how fast you run. But my guess is that you burn about 450 calories weight lifting and anywhere from 300-700 calories running. 

you can get a relatively inexpensive heart montior at wal mart and it has a calorie burning function on it. of course, it isn't perfect -- we're all guessing really, aren't we? but you put in your weight and age and take your heart rate 5 or six times during your workout and it will tell you approx how many cals you burned.

good luck!

Well its been almost two weeks since I've upped, and guess what...my weight has stabilized haha. I was 142.1 the monday before I upped, and then it went up last week...and now its back down to 142.1 today (even after the weekend, when i dont exercise and eat more than usual).

Wow i feel a lot better now. im guessing it just jumped up because it was more food than usual and now my body is a little used to it.