Growing appetite on maintenance dose with exercise

[IwanttoWFH]

Hi everyone. Hoping someone is in the same position and can advise. (Sorry for the long post!)

I’ve been using MJ for 20 months. I’ve lost nearly four stone. I’ve been weight training the whole way through. My end weight was 8st 12 and my weight has been very stable since I went into maintenance in May last year.

I was on 7.5mg but dropped down to 5mg, which I have been taking for 10 months now (since I moved to maintenance). This has been working well for me. I like having an appetite and enjoying food again, without being too restrictive/having to calorie count.
Food is generally homemade and we have a takeaway treat at the weekend etc. I have the odd snack etc.

In the last six weeks or so, I sacked off my personal trainer (too expensive and getting boring) and decided to go to the gym by myself, which I am loving. I was seeing my PT twice a week and it was very same-y. I am going to the gym three times a week, one bodypump class (which I love), one gym session (full body workout) and one Pilates class (killer). I am still increasing my strength, progressing and doing new exercises with more sets etc.

I got a shock when I weighed myself a couple of weeks ago and the scales showed a 2lb gain. Thought it might be to do with my period, so left it a week and weighed myself again and still 2lbs heavier. Left it another week and another 2lb gain (so, 4lb in total!) This has reduced slightly by two pounds now. My husband seems to think it’s muscle gain as he has watched me in the gym and says I work with high intensity and have been doing new exercises/work outs etc.

I have noticed I am hungrier (stomach rumbling coming up to meals) and eating more than I usually would. For example, I’d have had a big meal for lunch before and then not want dinner but now I am hungry for dinner.

I’m worrying about gaining weight and wondering if I need to move up to 7.5mg again. It baffles me how anyone could be ravenous on 5mg of MJ?! The only thing that’s changed is my exercise. But I don’t want to kid myself it’s muscle gain, in case it isn’t.
I’ve used the scales in the gym and they show I have a good amount of muscle (40KG of my 56KG weight is muscle).

Is anyone else experiencing this or has any advice?

why not try and record what you are eating for a couple of weeks ? You would have had to eat an extra 3.5k calories a week to put one one pound!

If you don’t mind me saying, you sound quite obsessive. There’s no way you can be overweight at that weight, so I’d try to relax over it. Maybe give yourself a half stone leeway.
With regards to 5mg, it was my least effective dose! I honestly might as well have injected water. Constant hunger.

it's not muscle gain, more likely water/inflammation for muscle repair.

So, the more you push it with weight lifting and stress your muscles (which is what you want), the more likely you will have small gains. This is the norm.

If your focus now is body recomposition, then don't let the small gains in weight derail you because you've got to stress/tear the muscles so rebuilds itself to build muscle - so you will often experience a lot of water retention

I don’t know it is a typo, but I don’t think it is possible to be 70% muscle.

I'm a similiar to weight to you and my weight fluctuates by up to 5lb. I strength train 5 days a day a week.. I also track calories every day, I'm eating between 1900 to 2500 a day with a focus on hitting protein and carbs macros. It will not be muscle gain but will be water weight, glycogen stores in muscles, inflammation from repairing muscles etc. As someone else said, when you are slim, working out, and tracking calories you can't let natural fluctuatuations derail you. Its normal for weight to fluctuate like this anyway. You have to trust your body and your appetite somewhat. I know when I step on the scales and there's a 5lb gain there's not a world that exists where this is 5lb of fat, because I know and trust my body now. My TDEE is about 1900, I eat in a slight surplus as I do want to gain muscle. I've gained 1.4kg of muscle since Novemember. It's really hard to gain muscle and a very slow process. Calculate your TDEE, track your calories, eat to maintenance, and don't let natural fluctuations derail you.

Thanks for your response. I have downloaded a calorie counting app to keep an eye on it and it’s around 1700 cals a day, which is what I should be eating roughly to maintain my weight. There is no way I’m eating an extra 3,500 calories for a pound of fat gain!

Tape measure not scales! Measure neck and waist. If building muscle, they will stay the same or even shrink, even though you might be a bit heavier.

Hi. I don’t mind you saying at all! I have found myself obsessing over this, which isn’t healthy!
I was giving myself a few pounds “buffer” but when I saw the scales at 9st 2lbs, it was a shock.
I am scared it will continue to go up. MJ is the only thing that has worked for me (I tried everything before) so I think I’ve spiralled a bit.
Perhaps I do need to give myself a bit more of a buffer.
I was on 5mg for around nine weeks when I was losing weight, then moved up to 7.5mg, which I stayed on for about seven months and got me to my target. I had to reduce down as wanted to maintain, and my weight loss was continuing. 7.5 was my magic dose 😀

Thank you! I didn’t think of inflammation, that’s a good point. I am definitely giving it some welly in the gym now, so that makes sense.

It's not muscle. Also what do you mean you're 40kg muscle? That's impossible at your weight. You must be eating more than you think. I get hungry on my current dose of Mj which is 11.75 and I could eat more if I didn't plan and track. 5mg is not a high dose. If you want to go up a little you can - you can try 6mg rather than straight to 7.5. Maintenance isn't an exact science and might need tweaking.

I use the Bodytrax app and that’s what it tells me. I did think it was high! I’ve added a pic

Thank you, really good advice! I probably do need to keep an eye on my protein intake (I’d say it’s reasonable but could probably be improved). I was trusting my body but this has put me in a bit of a spiral. I will try to continue and relax a bit!

Thank you. I do measure myself. My waist has stayed the same, so I’m trying not to be ridiculous!

I’ve put a picture on of the app I use. I did think it was really high! You’re right, I may need to tweak my maintenance dose.

If your waist is the same, you’re probably fine. I lose 1cm off my waist for every kilo I lose (and presumably the reverse) and I’m much taller than you. So I think you’d gain noticeably on the waist if you had gained a kilo of fat.

Your bones, blood and organs weigh a significant amount and added to body fat absolutely weigh more than 30% of your total body weight. Those scales aren't very accurate.

I was going to ask how tall OP is.
Looked at all her posts and can’t see.
How tall is she?

This!

I am scanning posts for height and can’t see it!

it could be the change in exercise that’s driving your appetite.

Don’t know, but I’m assuming she’s quite a bit smaller than me because I’d be very underweight at 56kg!

I’m 5ft 2

op, two pounds which is rhe net gain is very minor and it’s quite disordered to be panicking about 2lbs.

however, I’m also on 5mg,maintaining for about a year, and I tweak it up if I have gains, not for two pounds, but if for example when I went on holiday for a two weeks all inclusive, I tweak my dose up for a couple of weeks after, drop back to original weight and then move back to 5mg,

id really not advise starting this for 2lbs, you will end up maintaining on 15mg, but use it as reassurance, thay if any gains continue you can just tweak up