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

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.

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

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.

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?

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??

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.

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.

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.

This happens to me during weeks where I decide to increase my exercise but I have learned to add a light week (2-3 days with less weight training) immediately after a heavy week (5-6 days and intense weight training on 3-4 days) and I see steady (although not big numbers) weight loss with this approach.

Glad to stumble upon this, i was coming to post my frustrations!

I have lost 35 lbs so far without exercise, not really trying too hard, just cutting out certain things. Almost 2 weeks ago i joined the Gym. I have been going 5 days minimum and plan to continue that. 1-2 hours a day, doing weight machines every other day. 1400-1800 calories a day, track using an online tool but the scale is stuck! I even moved it to another room to try it!

I decided to order a measuring tape and took photos. I know i have to worry less about what the scale says and concentrate more on how i feel. Easier said than done.

I wont lie though, if theres no change in a few weeks i know i will be pretty PO'd!

[QUOTE=Meg;1142256]We see this question pop up over and over again here at 3FC - I started working out and eating healthy, so why am I gaining weight? So when I read this Q & A at msnbc.com, I knew it was worth passing along:



I totally agree that it all boils down to calories in versus calories out, so it's necessary for most of us to track our calories to have an idea of how much we're eating. I know that I personally could eat DOUBLE what I should, all of healthy food. I'm also glad to see the author acknowledge how hard it is to gain even a few pounds of muscle, so the common excuse of 'you're building muscle' or worse, 'muscle weighs more than fat' (of course it doesn't) is misguided.



When people first begin an exercise program most will gain a little weight. The way to track your success is to look at inches lost--and not the scale. That is lean muscle mass replacing fat--resulting in inches lost. The fat is fighting back--it's used to all this bulge and it's not ready to give up on it yet. After a month to six weeks the scale will start to cooperate with you.
IF

You're not consuming more calories because you're exercising--which is a real possibility when exercising. Physically you do get hungrier (at first). This is your body again fighting back--it's not used to all this new exercise and it thinks you're trying to kill yourself with exercise--so it says "feed me" so I can fight off what you're doing to me ha.ha. So some burn off 300 calories in a work-out but end up eating or drinking an additional 600 calories to feed this new found appetite. Definitely watch what you're drinking when you workout. All the sports drinks--energy drinks are loaded with calories and sugar. The best thing to drink is water. It's a challenge to stay on course and count the calories--but eventually when your body gets used to your new lifestyle change and your stomach shrinks to accommodate what you're doing--you will be well on your way to a new skinnier you.

Everybody who works gains weight and losses energy, but the simple formula for losing wait is to eat less. Therefore, I suggest to eat less because when I was gaining weight, I was eating much but when I did diet than my weight lost and now I am completely recovered.

Yes, and let's not forget that muscle takes up 1/3 rd the space fat does, so you're losing inches, not necessarily weight.

This is my problem before. I thought I am losing weight that time but when I weigh myself I gain. I felt sad that's why I decided to count the calorie I'm taking and do some cardio workouts in the morning. I make sure that I am taking the right calories per day.