I started weight training in September and since then have only gained weight. I know I'm not doing as much cardio, but why am I gaining so much weight! I was 160lbs when I started weight training and now I'm at 187lbs. Does gaining muscle weight prevent you from losing fat? Has anyone else experienced this?
I know for sure it's fat gain. I'm eating the same way that I used to eat. I found that the only thing that helps me lose weight is if i restrict calories to 700-800 calories. Before I started weight training I ate about 1200 and did cardio 3 times a week. Now I weight train and was training for a 5k where I did cardio 2-3 times a week (race was a month ago). I stopped doing cardio since the 5K, but starting today I'm going to start again. I think part of the problem is also that I have a more sedentary job now whereas before I walked a lot. I think I need to make up for that by adding more cardio.
If I'm being frank, it sounds like either something is "off" relative to the accuracy of your calorie intake estimates or something is medically wrong, at which point it'd be worth engaging your primary care physician to get the ball rolling in terms of getting blood panels and the like.
More often than not though, it's the case of the former - calorie intake and expenditure estimates being grossly inaccurate.
So how many calories are you eating now? 1200? If you gained 17 lbs while eating 1200 calories/day, I'd agree that either you are miscalculating or there is something medically wrong.
Edited to add: As I was doing my own workout, I thought of something. How intense are your weight workouts and how frequently are you doing them? If you are doing a light weight workout, a couple times per week, have a sedentary job and are eating 1200 calories/day, then it is possible that your workouts aren't intense or frequent enough and you need to increase your activity.
I do a body pump class and a chisel class at my gym, so only 2- 1 hour classes per week. I know I have a good diet, because I've always kept that under control (I have cheat days, but I always make up for them). I did go to the doctor a few years ago and he put me on metformin because of insulin resistance, but I stopped taking them because my new doctor did a blood test (this was 2 years ago) and said my insulin is fine. I haven't gone back since then for blood tests. I don't want to blame my weight gain on medical issues though. I know that I need more cardio, I think i'm just making excuses at this point.
Reading your replies got me thinking, since when I eat under 1200 I lose weight, it means that I'm not burning as much anymore and that's why i have to eat less to lose some, because with my old job I walked A LOT, so going from that to sitting down for 8 hours and not getting enough cardio is bound to make me gain weight no matter how well I eat. Today during lunchtime I went on a 1-hour walk and besides being all sweaty coming back to the office, it was nice to do something active during the day.
I just joined this forum, but I'm really glad I did because it really gets me thinking about my weight issues and how to tackle them. It gives me the motivation I need.
Barring serious medical conditions... calories in/calories out.
It's really really hard to out exercise a bad diet. Do you have a food scale? I can gain weight on a "good" diet too... just too much of it. It's easy to underestimate portions if you're not weighing your food.
Also, gaining muscle weight is extremely difficult for women. Your muscles may be retaining water, but actual muscle mass takes a lot of effort to build.
Yeah, this definitely seems to be a case of eating too many calories for your activity level.
I'd encourage you to track your calories closely for a couple weeks, including cheats, and see if you can find any surprises. If possible, use a scale to measure your food as well.
Also, unless body pump is a different class than I'm thinking of, it is actually a cardio class that uses weights to increase your heart rate rather than other means. Those types of classes generally use a lower amount of weight than you'd use in weight training and a higher amount of reps. I could be mistaken though.
Gained weight while weight training
