All I keep hearing that it's muscle, which is good. Will I start losing again though? I calorie count, but I know I'm not eating enough calories, which is probably the problem. Not that I'm doing it intentionally. Most of the foods I buy is foods like cottage cheese that make you feel fuller. At least I am losing inches which I am so proud of. I work my *** off in that gym!!!

also does anyone know a website that tells what your daily calorie inatke should be? I used some, but they vary greatly

Why I love the gym? Because I know that I am burning calories & doing wonderful things for my heart and lungs and everything else.

Why I hate the gym? Because after a great workout I get on the scale the next morning and see a GAIN! My body loves to hold onto water for a day or so after working out. Probably because it is helping to heal my muscles.

I still weigh myself everyday but I take whatever number is thrown at me with a grain of salt. I am letting my clothes do the talking. :-)

I hope someone posts with a good link to that calorie intake calculator. I'd like to get my hands on a good one too.

Oh...and ps... you WILL start seeing the number on the scale go down again. :-)

you are definitely going to keep losing. don't worry about it, girl!

oh, and i use this website because they give you several different options and show how to calorie cycle: http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm

The one I use is caloriecount.about, try googling it. I absolutely love it, and I've tried a few counters before this.

Try low-carb, hun

I also use caloriecount.about.com. It's made my calorie counting much easier.

I also gain when I'm working out strenuously (lifting) but I don't really care, I honestly don't care what the scale says if I look and feel good because to me that's what really matters. I would be 100% happy if I weighed 200 lbs. and were a size 6

Basically what I'm saying is, don't worry about the scale, it's a fairly arbitrary number. And it will catch up over the long haul.

I tend to use calorieking.com, but I'm not married to it or anything.

There are other sites available that are just as good.

Your weight gain is most certainly not the result of too few calories. I've read this idea on this website repeatedly. Weight loss can temporarily stall due to too few calories and excessive exercise but that is something that typically happens to people attempting to acheive very low body fat percentages. This is not what is happening to you.

Your "plight", if you want to call it that, is simple. You are experiencing what are referred to as "newbie" gains. The simple fact that you have lost inches yet gained weight means you have both lost fat and gained muscle. Formerly sedentary people who start working out hard can gain muscle fast dispite being in a caloric deficit. Yes, even females. Depending on your genetics this process of losing fat while gaining muscle could go on for a while.

Fear not! If you're in a caloric deficit your muscle gains will slow and your fat loss will likely accelerate as your new larger muscles demand more energy to power your workouts and your workout capacity increases allowing you to increase intensity in the gym. I understand the obesession with the scale but losing seven inches in a month is fantastic news!

My suggestion would be to do nothing different and certainly don't increase calories. If you're not already doing so I would suggest you weigh your food so you know exactly how much you're ingesting. It may be you discover you're ingesting more than you thought.

johnp, i love your posts. you're like a shining beacon of clarity. thank you!

Wow this made my day! Thank YOU