Losing muscle, Gaining Fat

[minirunner]

I became a vegan several years ago and during that transition I lost fat, gained muscle and looked really good. I am 4 ft. 10 in. tall and at that time weighed 98 lbs. For health reasons I decided to change to a raw vegan diet and the health benefits were amazing!

 

I felt so good on raw I started training for a half marathon. I started in January running 1/2 mile and lifting for 30 minutes. By May I was running 6 miles a day and lifting 45-60 min. In may I started gaining weight and I assumed it was muscle. It was not. I went from a 25 1/2 inch waist to 27 1/2 inch waist. There is a lot of fat that I have to press through now to feel any muscle on my abs. I've gained an inch on my hips and they hang over my pants now. I have heard of this happening to MANY raw women and lately I have started eating some sprouted grain breads, tempeh and other cooked low fat foods to help with the weight gain.

 

My clothes do not fit and I've noticed a lot of extra fat on my body, In fact I've gained nearly 10 lbs this year. Her is a sample of my daily diet.

 

green smoothie- water, mango, banana, hemp protein, spinach

 

Bannana, sprouted oats, raisins, almond milk

 

lunch Big salad, or sprouted grain bread, avocado, tomato, romaine sandwich.

 

Dinner- salad, portobello burgers, couscous.

 

Snacks are generally fruit or a slice of sprouted grain toast.

 

I am trying to figure out my weight problem. Most people tell me to eat less than I am. I tried for three days to only have my green smoothie in the morning without the banana, oats etc.. and I was STARVING!!

 

I am hoping someone here can give me some helpful hints on how to lose weight and gain more muscle. I usually workout 50-75 minutes a day.

 

HELP!

[9nines]

Actually, you might be eating too little. I think some have reported, here, that they gained fat, when cutting calories drastically.

 

You are burning a lot of energy. So, you might be burning muscle, for fuel, and slowing your metabolism, causing your body to store fat more easily.

[FormicaLinoleum]

Brendan Brazier also said in Thrive that if you train a lot and increase the stress you put on your body, it can raise cortisol levels and lead to weight and fat gain. Perhaps that is what has happened to you if you are/were running and weight training every day?

 

I doubt that eating less would be the answer. Maybe eating more or easing up on exercise a little.

[Guest]

I don't necessarily think you should eat more or less but I think you should eat more often...I also think you might benefit from 2 workouts a day spaced out more...maybe lift in the morning since it burns more calories thoughout the day and run at night or much later in the day...this will keep your body burning calories...how is your actual running going though??? You could be gaining fat for good reason if your not getting slower. Women carry fat much better than men do, and I think women are better at using fat for fuel which is why there are elite marathoners of many shapes and sizes but all the men tend to be extremely thin or the ones that do have any size at all are super lean

[minirunner]

Thanks for the replies. I am actually suffering from IT band syndrome and recovering from shin splints so I have been biking on a stationary trainer and hour a day or weight lifting instead.

 

I guess I'll keep experiementing with things until I find something that works. Thanks for your helpful replies.

 

My running went so well, my speed continued to increase as well as my miles steadily until my trainer had me continue hard training after my first 10 miler then I became injured.

 

my weight actually went up sharply after I became injured and started lower impact aerobics instead.

[Guest]

That could have been your body just recovering...gymnasts tend to gain a lot of weight weeks after they retire since they never rest when they train...then when they do rest they don't eat less and they pack on pounds