HUH? I'm gaining weight on my CUT :(

[dtg]

On October 18th, I started my cut.

I was at 175lbs and a whopping 19.2%bf

On October 24th, I was 173.5lbs and 17.4%bf so I made a lot of progress in just one week.

Well, this morning (6 days later), I'm the same bf% but 175lbs! Maybe I gained muscle, but I'm at a significant caloric deficit that would make that very near impossible.

My caloric intake has not changed at all on a weekly basis. I cycle carbs and calories daily and I even throw in one high calorie day a week.

Here's my daily intake (prot/carb/fat)

Breakfast: Whey, 1/2 whole wheat bagel, 1T jelly (25/34/2)

Mid morning: XTEND, slice whole wheat toast, ff cream cheese (7/10/1)

Lunch: 2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 can tuna, 1T light mayo, 1 cup Greek yogurt (43/24/7)

Pre Workout: XTEND, oatmeal, 1 brown pear (5/37/3)

PWO: 2 scoops whey, 2T honey (40/34/0)

Mid-Afternoon: same as Mid morning (7/10/2)

Dinner: 8oz lean meat, 3oz broccoli, 1/2T olive oil, 1/2T flax oil, green salad, Healthy Choice low fat low carb fudge bar (57/14/23)

Bedtime: XTEND, 1 cup Greek yogurt, 1/2T flax oil (15/7/6)

Total Daily intake is ~2,000 calories with 199g protein, 170g carbs, 42g fat

This is way less than my maintenance which is north of 2,700 calories based on my activity level.

I also cycle my carbs and calories as follows:

Sun (morning cardio): 1700 cal, 100g carbs

Mon (weights): 2000 cal, 170g carbs

Tue (HIIT & abs): 2300 cal, 150g carbs

Wed (weights): 2000 cal, 170g carbs

Thur (HIIT & abs): 1600 cal, 100g carbs

Fri (weights): 2000 cal, 170g carbs

Sat (morning cardio) 1700 cal, 100g carbs

So, why am I gaining weight???

[misterjaydubyoo]

Weight fluctuates daily. Water intake, bowels, etc are all factors. Take an average.

[Venom]

You probably are not in a caloric deficit.

Make sure you weigh your food so that you know your calories are entirely accurate. Otherwise, this is why I say the calorie formulas are pretty much worthless. Someone at the same weight, size, and muscle mass could lose weight at 3000 cals, and another person may need to eat half that amount.

I also agree with the above comments. I advise weighing yourself once a week for that reason, and try and emulate similar conditions each time you weigh yourself.

[rootb33r]

I would say that the sample diet you listed is way more than 2000 calories.

[dtg]

Thanks for your feedback but the sample diet I provided is exactly 1935 calories as measured on the nutrition label of each product I am eating. I weigh each and every meal down to the gram and I eat exactly what I listed... no more and no less.

I have put together a full Excel program with a linked database of all the nutritional values that I have compiled from all the nutrition labels. I measure exact amount ... even the amount of oil I use to cook my food (it's all in there).

As for conditions... I weigh myself at the same exact time and I have only been weighing myself weekly (well, six days).

For fat%, I'm using the military method of weight, neck measurement and abdomen measurement.

Trust me when I say I have eliminated almost all food-related variances.

The only remaining variance is maybe water retention but nothing else.

Is it possible that I'm gaining muscle and dropping fat at the same time and due to densities, I'm gaining net weight?

Can you gain muscle on a caloric deficit?

[rootb33r]

I think it's possible for some people to gain muscle if they surround their workouts with the proper food, but I wouldn't say that is your problem.

Another thought is that you lowered your calories too fast and your body is shocked.

Another thought is that you are eating too many carbs. Personally, I only eat carbs at breakfast, pre-lifting, and post-lifting meal. Seems like you're eating a lot of carbs. Then again, everyone is different- I know I am very sensitive to carbs.

[dtg]

Originally Posted by rootb33r

I think it's possible for some people to gain muscle if they surround their workouts with the proper food, but I wouldn't say that is your problem.

Another thought is that you lowered your calories too fast and your body is shocked.

Another thought is that you are eating too many carbs. Personally, I only eat carbs at breakfast, pre-lifting, and post-lifting meal. Seems like you're eating a lot of carbs. Then again, everyone is different- I know I am very sensitive to carbs.

What do you define as "alot"? I eat only 1g/lbs of bodyweight on my HIGH CARB days... otherwise, it's less than 100g of carbs... most would classify those as low.

Also, I only eat carbs at breakfast and within two hours of workouts.

Also, I thought that you should have some carbs with XTEND? I could always take out the bread with XTEND and just have almonds.

[Venom]

The carbs is a subjective deal. There are definitely individual differences in carb sensitivity. Jeremy got shredded for a comp and was consuming 400 g of carbs on his high days I believe.

You are going low carb as defined in the literature; but you may have to go very low carb to see results (<100 carbs). Just play around with it, man.

[Revival]

Originally Posted by dtg

Can you gain muscle on a caloric deficit?

That would be impossible, but as Misterjay said, it's likely different variables that account for the 2 lbs. It's a very small number, so I wouldn't worry about the fluctuations until you look at it after several weeks. It's also possible that you're at a maintenance stage and my need to adjust your caloric deficit slightly (appx. 200 calories a week lower).

[dtg]

Originally Posted by Venom

The carbs is a subjective deal. There are definitely individual differences in carb sensitivity. Jeremy got shredded for a comp and was consuming 400 g of carbs on his high days I believe.

You are going low carb as defined in the literature; but you may have to go very low carb to see results (<100 carbs). Just play around with it, man.

But is it really possible to gain weight with a caloric deficit? I mean, I bust my a$$ in the gym so I know I'm burning a ton of calories and I know I'm consuming about 500-700 less than my maintenance (assuming the BMR calculators are somewhat accurate).

Would adding a couple of more measurements to my weekly measure be another data point that I could look at... for instance, I measure neck and waist for the bf% calc, so I could also measure legs, arms and chest to see if I'm actually putting on muscle. Those area of my body are very lean anyway so if those measurements go up then I know for sure I'm adding muscle not fat.