WHY am I gaining?!

[rvrubbish]

After a year long, 85 pound weight loss I leveled out at 165 pounds (I'm 5'8") and haven't been able to lose anymore. I am getting way leaner than ever before, still losing inches as I gain lean muscle mass. I lift daily, with a little cardio thrown in occasionally (lift faster!)

So...has my body just gotten used to my current way of eating? Am I really putting on that much muscle mass? WTF?! I have not lost a pound in about two months and have actually gained 3-4 pounds depending on the day. I'm currently consuming about 1500-1800 calories a day, eating at least 150 grams of protein, less than 75 grams of carbs, drinking water, lots of greens, fish, chicken, etc. I eat NO wheat, oats or grains (well, black rice sometimes and rice cakes).



Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I still have body fat to lose and while I don't want to be a slave to the scale, after watching the number fall for a year, watching it climb while I still have fat to lose is really pissing me off! I know I need to add some ACTUAL cardio but there's more to it than that...help!

 

[The Rockette]

When is the last time you took a diet break?
How are you tracking your food? Digital scale?
Once we get closer to our goal weight it becomes harder to cut the fat, and we need less calories to maintain (or lose) than when we were larger. 15-1800 sounds about right though at your stats, if you were really eating that you'd still be losing. My guess? Tracking error.
Take a couple weeks and bring calories up to maintenance (2200-2400, estimate). Also, when was the last time you took a week either fully off from the gym or scaled way back?

 

[GiantSlayer]

If your not changing, then it's time to make a change. Change your food selections, or macros, or calories, or cardio or or or..... Change one thing and track it's effect.

 

[rvrubbish]

When is the last time you took a diet break?
How are you tracking your food? Digital scale?
Once we get closer to our goal weight it becomes harder to cut the fat, and we need less calories to maintain (or lose) than when we were larger. 15-1800 sounds about right though at your stats, if you were really eating that you'd still be losing. My guess? Tracking error.
Take a couple weeks and bring calories up to maintenance (2200-2400, estimate). Also, when was the last time you took a week either fully off from the gym or scaled way back?

Tracking error sounds plausible for sure! I added a food tracker app to my phone (now if I can only use it!) Maybe I'll be surprised at the actual numbers in a typical day. I do weigh my food on a digital scale when I'm at home or it's already pre-portioned (I own a restaurant, so that's handy). Haven't really ever taken a diet break in a year and the only gym break (in five months of going) was a week when I had the flu. I guess it might be time? Geez...it makes me almost hyperventilate just thinking about doing either! I don't know if I can! ;-)

 

[The Rockette]

Rest is just as important, if not more than what you do in the gym.
Apps like MFP suck, we'll not entirely. They're great for keeping track of the foods YOU enter into their database but NEVER trust the info put in by other people. It's almost always wrong. Even most pre portioned foods need to be weighed on that scale. That slice of bread may weigh more than the serving size suggests. Calorieking is probably one of the better sites for tracking.
You won't gain any fat in the maintenance weeks (I'd do 2-3 weeks), def a little water weight from the added calories but it'll flush out once you get back into a deficit. This will get the metabolism up to speed again and make fat loss easier.

 

[sassy69]

Don't rely just on the scale to determine "progress". For your height, I'd guess your body is at a comfortable set point that it can maintain so it may be happy there. That said, you mention that you continue to lose inches - so that just screams body composition changing. I'd not worry about 1-4 lb weight oscillations day to day because that is water weight. However IMO you need to look at alll the right indicators if you're going to get worried about "progress". The scale is NOT the definitive indicator. I've started contest prep from an off season and dropped 8% bodyfat and 2 lb. So if I gauged progress by the scale I would've just given up. Generally I tell people to throw their scale out and focus on how their clothes fit.

After losing 85 lb, it takes time for BODY COMPOSITION to find a baseline. I would also suggest tweaking your diet - whatever it is that you are doing now - to give your body something to shock it into responding again. Everythign you do should be cycled to allow your body to keep optimizing itself. This includes stress, diet, recovery, training, cardio.

 

[monsoon]

. I lift daily, with a little cardio thrown in occasionally (lift faster!) help!

Heres an idea, how about more than occasional cardio if you're trying to lose?

 

[rvrubbish]

Thank you all! Great info, great ideas...I appreciate your input and thoughtful responses! Working to incorporate many of those suggestions...I'll keep you posted.

 

[mickhew]

I would stay off the scales for a while. It's not good to get disappointed when you put on weight, if it's muscle. I take photos of myself once a week, I can tell by looking if I'm heading in the right direction.

 

[myherbalife]

We would remain off the skin scales for a short time. It is not excellent to have unhappy when you don excess weight, if it's muscle mass. I take images of me once per week, I will inform by simply looking in case Now i am planning in the proper path.