a puzzling weight gain

T

tybie

0
hi all,

I've been running for a couple months now and as I increased the amount of calories burned per day, I lost a bit of weight naturally. For three weeks I concentrated on burning about 1500 calories a day, 6 days a week and really watched what I ate. I lost 2 lbs a week for a total of 6 lbs. The puzzling bit is that for spring break, I stopped running and gained all 6lbs back by the end of the week! I didn't change my diet any, just took a break from running and gained back 6 lbs that took me 3 weeks to lose! I really didn't think one could gain so much weight simply taking one week off and now I question whether or not it's even worth losing the weight again if it can come flooding back so effortlessly. Please help or provide some input on what I did wrong or how to correct this dilemma. Thanks!
 
based on the fact that your body can fluctuate as much as 5-10 lbs in a day, it's possible that you either didn't lose as much as you thought, or you weighed yourself at the wrong time this last week.
However, if you have been at your current weight for a long time, it takes a lot for your body to find a new weight zone. For the majority of people passed the age around 25 (and haven't been continually losing or gaining weight), your weight doesn't fluctuate all that much ... no matter how much activity or lack-thereof you do in a week because it's not consistant. Your body has a comfort zone where it likes to keep it's weight. You have to maintain a weight for a long period of time before your body says "hey, this weight is much better, i think i'll stay here" ... for me, I've been at 180lbs for about 5 yrs, but i've gone from 19% BF to 12% in the last 6 months ... i have had a couple weeks where i've been down to about 175, but, same as you, as soon as i drop my activity a bit, it goes right back to 180 ... it's a rollercoaster that is really hard to get off ...
 
You know, AllCdnBoy, that seems very true for me, as well.

I'm 6'1", with a pretty naturally big frame, and I've been as high as 235 pounds (24% BF then), but I started working out pretty seriously a year ago. I went as low as 210, but during the winter I focused on weight-training and now hover at 218 or so, even though my body fat % started at 17.5% this last September and I'm now at 14%.

It seems to me that the last 10 to 15 pounds of fat are the hardest to shake off. I'm 32 (that may explain some of my frustration with fat loss), so your description of age also seems to fit.

I've heard that is is really difficult on your body to try to lose fat while also putting on muscle? Is there any truth to the theory that you shouldn't try to do both at once, but instead focus on one or the other?
 
that is partially true .. partly because it's hard to gauge fat loss while your gaining muscle. but, there is also a bit of 'interference' as the requirements are different for gaining muscle then losing fat (i can't seem to word it any different, so i hope u know what i mean). But, if you aren't concerned about immediate results, but more long term goals, then continue with both ... it's more efficient to do them seperately and a lot easier to measure results seperately, but not crucial.
 
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