Excercising and gaining weight!
Okay, I looked this up and it makes sense now. I started excercising about three weeks ago, cardio and weight lifting. When I got on the scale yesterday it showed that I GAINED three pounds! I was like WTF! Why am I working so hard then?
However, I did notice last night while at the gym that I could do push ups at a 30 degree angle, and I couldn't have done that before (My arms are very flabby and weak), and the lunges are getting easier to do. I also do 45 min of cardio three times a week. My pants are not getting any tighter, nor any looser, so I think I am just gaining muscle mass. What a panic though. I spent months at the same weight, overweight, but neither gaining nor loosing, so I started excercising to loose weight, and then I gain. But despite that, I think I am actually making progress....I think.
Anybody else have this happen?
My husband is a very, very thin man (5'6" 115 lb). The only way he has been able to gain weight is by doing strength training. So yes, building muscle can cause weight gain (very muscular people will often have BMIs that are technically in the "overweight" category when they are nothing of the sort - BMI best used for epidemiological purposes and is horribly applied to individuals). Nothing to worry about. It's less about the scale and more about how you feel. If you are getting better at the exercises then yay!
Okay, I looked this up and it makes sense now. I started excercising about three weeks ago, cardio and weight lifting. When I got on the scale yesterday it showed that I GAINED three pounds! I was like WTF! Why am I working so hard then?
However, I did notice last night while at the gym that I could do push ups at a 30 degree angle, and I couldn't have done that before (My arms are very flabby and weak), and the lunges are getting easier to do. I also do 45 min of cardio three times a week. My pants are not getting any tighter, nor any looser, so I think I am just gaining muscle mass. What a panic though. I spent months at the same weight, overweight, but neither gaining nor loosing, so I started excercising to loose weight, and then I gain. But despite that, I think I am actually making progress....I think.
Anybody else have this happen?
I haven't had this happen to me, personally, but muscle does weigh more than fat. As long as you are starting to feel like exercise is getting easier that is all that matters. That means it's working! You should definitely just work out for heath, not necessarily focusing on the weight loss. It will come eventually. Plus when you gain more muscle, you will innately burn more calories (which is why men lose weight faster than women...damned female metabolism!)
I find it to be a more accurate picture to measure inches, rather than lbs. I measure around each thigh, upper arm, waist hip and butt. Then re check no more than every week, assuming you work out every day. I measure about once a month. I don't actually have a scale at home, I can gain and loose 5 to 10 lbs just around my period cycle, so a few up or down isn't a big worry on the short term. Eating a lot of salt also can cause water retention.
I also have a pair of pants that have been loose, and then tight. I put them on and see how they feel/ look. Then take them off and stick to my regimen for the month and re try. that is the best measure for me.
Definitely you will gain weight if you're doing muscle building exercises. Probably the best measure for someone doing strength training is one of those fat measuring scales, the ones that send a small charge through your body. It's also not a good idea to work too hard at fat loss while you're building muscle - your muscles need some extra energy to grow. Check out some pictures of body builders during the off season and you'll see they gain some fat to help their muscle building progress.