Help! Spontaneuous Weight-Gain!

 Help! Okay, so this week, I've been slowly increasing my intake up to 600 cal. ( I know it's low ), and I've been accidentally losing weight, so I increased it just the tiniest bit more, hoping to maintain- and then I gained a pound! I figured it was too much, so I went back down, and now I'm gaining a pound a day. I don't get it, and I'm eating less then when I was losing weight and I excercise enough to keep starvation mode from taking effect! I drink ATLEAST a healthy 10 glasses of water a day, exercise AT NIGHT, and eat a light dinner. I'm not bloated, so I don't think it is water retension.

Also, I've began to take a calcium supplement (tums) this week. And the one day I had alot of salad- can lots of fiber and extra calcium contribute to weight gain? What's going on?!? And now I'm going on vacation and not getting the same amount of exercise, am I just going to continue to gain weight?! This sucks! Please answer!

Respectfully, there's a difference between being "low" on calories and starving your body. In order for your organs to function properly you need at least 1200. This is ignoring any activity you do. Vitamins cannot replace that, nor can water.

The weight you were losing accidentally before was more than likely muscle mass. And the reason you are gaining weight now is that your body is in starvation mode whether you're exercising significantly or not.

Starvation mode has less to do with how much you exercise and more to do with:

• how much you're actually eating all together (not nearly enough) and
• what your calorie deficit is (according to the people around here, it should be between 500 and 1000 cals, for a weight loss of between one and two pounds respectively per week).

Exercising at night can actually cause a little fake weight gain because your muscles end up storing a bit of water (and you probably drink more water later, too). It's best to do it earlier in the day, if possible. It might not show as bloating because it's in your muscles, not in your skin/blood as much.

Fiber will not cause weight gain although a sudden increase in fiber can cause very temporary apparent weight gain because it increases the bulk and water content in your intestines.

Hi Noel-zelda-star!

I see that you are fairly new to CC so welcome! 

600 calories and anything under is way too low for one to function on.  Since you do not have your profile filled out... can you tell us a little about yourself?  (Age, Height, Weight, Gender)

Since you are eating so few calories while exercising, I would strongly suggest visiting your doctor and discussing what your current eating/activity habits are and find out what works best for you.  In the meantime, I would work on raising your calories in a healthy manner.  The weight gain may be due to the fact that your body is finally getting some of the proper nutrition that it is needing to function on a daily basis.  As I said earlier though, 600 calories is not enough but I think it is great that you are working on increasing your calories but keep increasing them until you reach a healthy 1200 calories a day or more. 

Generally, the diet you're on, ends in defeat. You can't be healthy with that low of calorie intake, you will lose a significant amount of muscle and you will be prone to gaining fat weight VERY easily. This is starvation mode, your body eats muscle in order to lower it's metabolism, and it also savors every calorie it can get. How to ramp up your metabolism again? Sadly, you might gain weight, but you have to start eating more, at least 1200 a day. You may gain a couple pounds, but that's FINE! It's better than gaining it ALL back later, right? And once your metabolism rights itself again, which takes about a month or so according to most crash diet recoverees, you will stop gaining and can continue losing again, this time in a much healthier manner.