Working Out — And Gaining Weight?

[FattyFatFat]

Great article!!! It's very in depth, which I did NOT expect it to be. :-)

[anne1140]

I don't think that's entirely accurate. The gaining 10 lbs in such a short time, probably, but I do think there's something to say about gaining muscle while losing fat.

I have been working out now for about 8 weeks (6 days a week, 30-45 min. per day). I've only lost 3 pounds, but I've also gone down a full size to size and a half, depending on where I shop, all my pants are very baggy, and people have been commenting. That cannot be from 3 pounds, so the only explanation to me is that I am gaining muscle while losing fat. And looking good, to me, matters more than what the scale is showing.

[sacha]

A woman can generally gain about 5-7lbs of lean mass (ie. muscle) per year while eating above maintenance calories and lifting heavy weights. That is the general guidelines we use in female body building (and the same intensity/effort as body building).

Gaining weight when working out is either due to water retention (beginners), eating excess calories due to hunger (common for beginners and everyone else), and over the long-term (ie. years) can be from building lean muscle mass

[SarahD140]

this is sooo helpful. I was really scared to start working out just yet. I'm addicted to moving the numbers on the scale in the right direction. I cant get over how awesome 3FC has been for me!! Thank you alll sooo much.

[H82Sweat]

I followed a link posted earlier ( the internetfitness.com/calculators/bmr.htm one) and this is what I got with my inputs:

1517 BMR
3095Total energy requirement (with my current 60min per day of treadmill)
2993 Total energy requirement (if I stop the treadmill)

Those numbers do not make sense to me! I would think that 1 hr of fast walking on a treadmill would burn more than 100 calories, wouldn't it? And don't the numbers seem very high to begin with? I am 5'3 and around 175 (gotta get a scale) so it seems like my BMR would be lower and those numbers with daily activity and with structured exercise seem ridiculous!

Plus, Medifast, which I am starting tomorrow because the package arrives today, is around 1000 calorie per day right?

I need help figuring this out. I want to lose weight and I wouldn't mind losing 4-5lbs per week as is possible with Medifast, just for the first month though, but I want to lose sensibly and sustainably.

My day is only moderately active without the treadmill ( 2 kids and 1 dog still at home so I keep up with them plus housework) and I have read I am supposed to cut down the treadmill severely the first few weeks. I worry about that. I also worry that I will cut too many calories and end up sabotaging myself.

Any advice?

[coffeebean267]

I just started couch25K and have also experienced a slight weight gain. I am currently on WW and am still eating within my daily points, so I'm not eating more. Any advice??

[jttw18]

When I started working out, I also gained weight. I find it to be a normal process because the muscles are being worked more than usual. I increased my weight by about two to three pounds when I started weight training back in August.

I don't look too much into it and I suggest that the same for everyone. Just don't start food binging like crazy because building muscles isn't preventing the body from gaining pounds.

[madbomber009]

I used to move furniture for a living for 10 years. That's a lot of heavy lifting 5 to 6 days a week. I used to weigh more when I did that than I do now because of all the muscle I had built up over time. Now I work in an office and don't weigh as much as I used to when I had all that daily exercise. I really can't speak to the science of why people gain weight when they first start weight training, but I have that experience to help me through it. Hopefully, this info will help people not get discouraged from doing their weight training.

[AlmostMe]

I started doing Bikram yoga about 5 weeks ago. I weighed myself on day 2 or 3 of that. I weighed myself again almost four weeks later. I had GAINED OVER 10 lbs!! I freaked. I knew I was smaller in size. I knew I had been eating better (but still too much!). I upped my hyrdration and electrolyte supplements (your body can hang on to too much water if you're leaching out too much via sweat) and lost 6 pounds over a weekend. I've lost another 2lb since, but I'm still 2lbs up from my original weigh-in. And there's no doubt that I'm smaller! My yoga teacher even said yesterday that my weight loss was incredible. it's not always straightforward.

However, I do want to add that I gain muscle mass MUCH easier than most women do.