Big weight difference

[MSgherzi]

Last year, around Easter, I weighed the lowest I've ever weighed, 178lbs. Well, from October to the end of December, I was doing a calorie deficit plan to drop some weight. I kinda let that go once January came because my mileage increased A LOT. I'm training for a marathon right now and I finally weighed myself this morning after flushing out my liquids and what-not before-hand, and it said I weight 205. I tried two different scales several times over.

I kind of ate a lot of carb rich foods last night due to my long run and didn't drink that much water yesterday to flush out the salt/water weight, because I was drinking mainly diet sodas and some sports drinks. I ran 19.5 miles yesterday so I figured that today would be an opportune time to weight myself. The reason I'm posting is because maybe someone can point something out to me because I look better and more leaner now than I did last year, but I weigh a lot more. I haven't been lifting weights but a couple times a month.

It's a little frustrating because I didn't want to be this heavy for my marathon next month, and I haven't been in the 200s in probably about 2-3 years. I'm a firm believer of not always going by what the scale says, but this weight difference is so big, it doesn't really make any sense. If I, for example, put on 10 pounds of fat, that'd still be only about 190. Could I have gained THAT much muscle? :confused:

It's difficult to know unless you knew exactly what I've been doing, but maybe someone can point something out to me that I may not be seeing.

[Sterling]

Last year, around Easter, I weighed the lowest I've ever weighed, 178lbs. Well, from October to the end of December, I was doing a calorie deficit plan to drop some weight. I kinda let that go once January came because my mileage increased A LOT. I'm training for a marathon right now and I finally weighed myself this morning after flushing out my liquids and what-not before-hand, and it said I weight 205. I tried two different scales several times over.

I kind of ate a lot of carb rich foods last night due to my long run and didn't drink that much water yesterday to flush out the salt/water weight, because I was drinking mainly diet sodas and some sports drinks. I ran 19.5 miles yesterday so I figured that today would be an opportune time to weight myself. The reason I'm posting is because maybe someone can point something out to me because I look better and more leaner now than I did last year, but I weigh a lot more. I haven't been lifting weights but a couple times a month.

It's a little frustrating because I didn't want to be this heavy for my marathon next month, and I haven't been in the 200s in probably about 2-3 years. I'm a firm believer of not always going by what the scale says, but this weight difference is so big, it doesn't really make any sense. If I, for example, put on 10 pounds of fat, that'd still be only about 190. Could I have gained THAT much muscle? :confused:

It's difficult to know unless you knew exactly what I've been doing, but maybe someone can point something out to me that I may not be seeing.

It could have simply been your carb fest the night before you weighed. You can gain 5-10 lbs after eating a ton of carbs, but it's mostly water weight. With the amount of running that you've been doing, it would not be muscle. As you know, muscle is extremely hard to gain even when you are specifically trying to gain muscle. The one time that easiest to gain muscle is when you embark on a weight lifting program for the first time, i.e. when you're young and untrained.

I don't think it's the healthiest thing to do, but if you're training for a marathon you need to keep your carbs relatively high to fuel your runs. I'd also keep your protein high, i.e. 2 grams protein/ lean body mass lb to preserve as much muscle as possible.

If you are overly concerned about gaining weight, then I'd count calories; that's the only way to ensure that you know exactly how many calories your eating. Measure and weight everything that you eat or drink. But since you're training for a marathon, I wouldn't sweat it; you're burning a lot of calories.

[Dave]

That seems weird, but it is not necessarily uncommon. Some people do gain weight when they train. There are a bunch of theories for why this happens. I have come to believe that it is due to the typical endurance diet of starchy carbs and the well accepted premise in the endurance world that you can simply eat as much pasta as you want because: (1) you need the carbs; and (2) you'll burn it off. I don't agree with that. In addition, most sports drinks and sodas are highly acidic and contain sugar and/or artificial sweetners that just push us backwards.

If you run over to this post you'll see two videos: http://www.thefitclubnetwork.com/community/showthread.php?176-Healthy-Eating-Tips-for-Success. The first one relates to your body's insulin response to carbs. There's really only so much room in your muscles and liver for glycogen. I'm not saying you shouldn't have carbs before long workouts. I certainly do that and it does help. Excess carbs just end up in your fat cells. In addition, you can get a lot of carbs from fruits and veggies and for whatever reason the endurance world picks grains and starches as its preferred method. Instead of being high in micronutrients, they are typically have things like gluten in them that are considered by some to be anti-nutrients. The second video addresses how your body responds to an acidic diet and the potential impacts of that. That's an important issue that does not get nearly enough attention.

Making some small changes in your diet, without necessarily changing the proportions of carbs/protein/fats could make a huge difference. I know it did for me. I've managed to avoid the weight gains that have previously accompanied my endurance efforts by focusing on getting my carbs from foods like fruits and veggies and only eating starchy carbs before long efforts where I know I'm going to exhaust the glycogen in my muscles. I've also increased my fat consumption and believe that my fat cells are becomming an important source of energy for my body. As a result, I have much more energy and feel stronger.

Dave

[MSgherzi]

Thanks for the great replies!

Dave,

One thing that I remember reading is that when you train for endurance sports, especially marathons, that your body begins to store and use glycogen more properly because it realizes how far you're running/training. Just a thought.

Sterling,

10 pounds just from carbing? That's a lot! But I believe you. When you add in the carbs, sodium, and water that I'm taking in, it makes sense. Since you seem to know more about this than I do, can you tell me something: what can I do to eliminate as many variables from my weigh in as possible? In other words, what should I be eating/drinking and doing the days leading up to a weigh in, in order to make it as accurate as possible?

Thanks again!

[Sterling]

Thanks for the great replies!

Dave,

One thing that I remember reading is that when you train for endurance sports, especially marathons, that your body begins to store and use glycogen more properly because it realizes how far you're running/training. Just a thought.

Sterling,

10 pounds just from carbing? That's a lot! But I believe you. When you add in the carbs, sodium, and water that I'm taking in, it makes sense. Since you seem to know more about this than I do, can you tell me something: what can I do to eliminate as many variables from my weigh in as possible? In other words, what should I be eating/drinking and doing the days leading up to a weigh in, in order to make it as accurate as possible?

Thanks again!

Yes, amazingly, you can 'gain' up to 10 lbs after a carb up. However, body weight should normalize within a couple of days of returning to your normal diet (granted it's not a high carb diet). Keep reading below...

The 'ideal situation' that would allow such a scenario would be if you had been extremely low-carbing and low-calorieing (probably not a word) for at least 4 days. If on that 5th day (or 6th, 7th, etc.) you carb cycle properly (3-6 grams of carbs/lb of lean body mass AND comprised of mostly starchy carbs, some fruit, very low processed sugar, & low fat), you can gain 5-10 lbs (maybe more if you do it wrong).

The reason for this is because you have been in a low-carb/low-calorie state for at least 4 days your hormone levels are not normalized (leptin, ghrelin, insulin, etc.) and most of your body's water is outside of the muscle. When you have a carb up, the muscles draw the water inside of the muscle (reason #1 for weight gain) and your insulin levels (which are now high) cause you to retain more water (reason #2 for weight gain). If you are relatively lean (15% or lower for men, 20% or lower for women), then you will look leaner and more cut. That's a fairly pedestrian explanation, but that's the gist of it.

As far as what to eat/drink in the days leading up to weigh in...if you are wanting to rid your body of excess water...Then you should do 2 things: 1) lower your salt intake significantly and 2) drink a ton of water, i.e. 4-8 liters/day (approx. 1-2 galllon) for 5-7 days. This will flush out any sodium that is not allowing you to look as lean.

Hope that helps and makes sense.

[MSgherzi]

Thanks again.

Do you feel that something like that will be necessary to do before I weigh myself before I begin P90X in April, or is it a little bit overkill?

[Sterling]

No need. Just do whatever you would normally do as far as eating, activity, etc. before you start P90X, then you'll have a 'true' baseline of your weight.

Typically you wouldn't enlist a carb cycling regimen until you are around 15% body fat or less and really trying to lean down, although it's never a bad idea to eat more on your big muscle days (chest, back, legs) and less on your minor muscles and cardio days.

[MSgherzi]

No need. Just do whatever you would normally do as far as eating, activity, etc. before you start P90X, then you'll have a 'true' baseline of your weight.

Typically you wouldn't enlist a carb cycling regimen until you are around 15% body fat or less and really trying to lean down, although it's never a bad idea to eat more on your big muscle days (chest, back, legs) and less on your minor muscles and cardio days.


Sounds good.

At this point, I'm at or around 12.5% body fat. When I start P90X and really get serious about it, I'll post back here and ask some more questions.

For now, thanks again!

[Sterling]

Let me know. I'll help you get there.