lifting and gaining inches :(

lin7604

i started lifting 6 weeks ago doing chalean extreme, the 1st 30 days i stayed the same measurement wise and weight but seen very very subtle changes. This month i am lifting a lot heavier and after i completed 2 weeks i re measured and i gained 0.5 inch on each thigh and my waist i guess the thighs would be ok if it's all muscle but my waist why? why is my waist getting wider? i started lifting to lose inches/ body fat not gain it.. * sigh* any suggestions as to why my waist is getting wider?

jimmmer

i started lifting 6 weeks ago doing chalean extreme, the 1st 30 days i stayed the same measurement wise and weight but seen very very subtle changes. This month i am lifting a lot heavier and after i completed 2 weeks i re measured and i gained 0.5 inch on each thigh and my waist i guess the thighs would be ok if it's all muscle but my waist why? why is my waist getting wider? i started lifting to lose inches/ body fat not gain it.. * sigh* any suggestions as to why my waist is getting wider?

What's your diet like? If you're eating over your TDEE and trying to gain muscle, you'll put on a bit of fat with it. It's normal and easy to shredd off afterwards.....

If you're trying to eat under your TDEE and lose fat, then you may possibly be overestimating the amount you're burning exercising, or underestimating the amount you are eating.

lin7604

thx. i am eating under my tdee to still lose fat and i know i am not over estimating what i am burning b/c i have it set to lighlty active but i may underestimate what i am eating... maybe i need to eat more?

mmddwechanged

Sometimes I have gained an inch in my waist, depends on when I measure in my cycle. A way to avoid this is to only measure about once a month.

grantdumas7

Your waist measurement can change during the day, so that's why it's best to measure it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. My waist will increase about 1 to 1.5" during the day due to water and my stomach being full.

jimmmer

thx. i am eating under my tdee to still lose fat and i know i am not over estimating what i am burning b/c i have it set to lighlty active but i may underestimate what i am eating... maybe i need to eat more?

It's impossible to know without more info.

How are you measuring what you're eating, for instance? What is your TDEE and how far below it are you eating? Are you consistent with your logging, or do you kinda wing it. Do you eat things that you don't log? Do you have drinks that contain cals, but not log them?

Do you log your exercise cals and eat them back. Or do you factor your exercise into your activity level and do TDEE -10% or 20%?

You need to examine each part of it and if any of it's adrift, sharpen it up.

Lyadeia

Maybe it's water retention, especially considering you are lifting a lot heavier now?

Many women don't actually lose what they expect to lose on Chalean Extreme or P90X until the last month. Chalene herself talks about this and even says that it is mostly water weight due to DOMS and the repairing of your muscles. Tony H. mentions that his program needs to be called P120X for women since our changes are later in the program, but it's for the same reasons as Chalean Extreme.

mdoyle28

I have the same issue with my thighs since I implemented strengthening exercises about a month ago.....I can surely tell that they are getting more muscle to them but they also grew initially and now just don't move one way or another. It is a huge frustration but as I was reading online I came across a site to determine the type of thighs you have which are....fatty, muscular or skinny...turns out mine are muscular based on info given and it states that woman will try to lose inches on thighs but they actually will grow due to building muscle vs shrinking. There are certain exercises you can do to shrink the size but strengthening is not one of them if you have muscular thighs....I honestly don't know if there is truth to this, but it does make sense. It also states that females thighs are a last place to shrink and typically doesn't start to happen until you are 18% body fat or lower. You could maybe google it as I don't recall the actual site, I believe I saw it on pinterest.

lin7604

thx. i am eating under my tdee to still lose fat and i know i am not over estimating what i am burning b/c i have it set to lighlty active but i may underestimate what i am eating... maybe i need to eat more?

It's impossible to know without more info.

How are you measuring what you're eating, for instance? What is your TDEE and how far below it are you eating? Are you consistent with your logging, or do you kinda wing it. Do you eat things that you don't log? Do you have drinks that contain cals, but not log them?

Do you log your exercise cals and eat them back. Or do you factor your exercise into your activity level and do TDEE -10% or 20%?

You need to examine each part of it and if any of it's adrift, sharpen it up.

thx for all that. i do measure everything, and weigh it on a food scale. I log ALL cals and only drink water and occasionally tea. I was going by my 1766 tdee - 10-15% which gave be between 15-1600 cal i don't eat the cals back, b/c it's figured out into my tdee. which was set to lightly active b/c many sites i looked at said 1-3 hrs exercise a week is lightly active which is what i do 3 hrs a week. i only do about 30 min a day.

lin7604

Maybe it's water retention, especially considering you are lifting a lot heavier now?

Many women don't actually lose what they expect to lose on Chalean Extreme or P90X until the last month. Chalene herself talks about this and even says that it is mostly water weight due to DOMS and the repairing of your muscles. Tony H. mentions that his program needs to be called P120X for women since our changes are later in the program, but it's for the same reasons as Chalean Extreme.

ahh yes that is true. i was not expecting to lose weight on this program, only inches. my only goal was to lose body fat! It's just frustrating when you see so many others before and afters on that did the program and you SEEN major changes every 30 days till they were done. I know i can't compare myself to others, but i don't know why it's been so hard to lose body fat for me? My whole back side i am completely happy with it's the front side * sigh*..

jimmmer

thx. i am eating under my tdee to still lose fat and i know i am not over estimating what i am burning b/c i have it set to lighlty active but i may underestimate what i am eating... maybe i need to eat more?

It's impossible to know without more info.

How are you measuring what you're eating, for instance? What is your TDEE and how far below it are you eating? Are you consistent with your logging, or do you kinda wing it. Do you eat things that you don't log? Do you have drinks that contain cals, but not log them?

Do you log your exercise cals and eat them back. Or do you factor your exercise into your activity level and do TDEE -10% or 20%?

You need to examine each part of it and if any of it's adrift, sharpen it up.

thx for all that. i do measure everything, and weigh it on a food scale. I log ALL cals and only drink water and occasionally tea. I was going by my 1766 tdee - 10-15% which gave be between 15-1600 cal i don't eat the cals back, b/c it's figured out into my tdee. which was set to lightly active b/c many sites i looked at said 1-3 hrs exercise a week is lightly active which is what i do 3 hrs a week. i only do about 30 min a day.

You are doing basically what I do. It's a sound way to go about things when you're mostly lifting weights.

I note in your next post, you say that the "backside" is going in the right direction, but not the "front side" - could be that's your more stubborn aspect. For me it's the old love handles! Everyone has a bit they're most concerned with and it's always the last to go....

It's genetics as to where you lose from first and you'll find things start to reduce on your stubborn bits once the "easy" bits have gone down a bit. It's sad to say, but that's the way it is when you're trying to get ripped - there's no way around it!

A previous poster mentioned measuring yourself at a consistent time of the day and this could be a factor, too.

Also, as others have mentioned, a new (to you) hardcore programme can do strange things to your body in the short (1-2 months) term. But application, consistency and good old fashioned gumption will see you right in the end! Just keep upping those weights on a regular basis and keep on top of the nutrition and you'll probably be shocked at the difference in your photos between starting and finishing.

lin7604

awesome, thanks so much for that. good to know i am goign in the right direction and if i continue with it, hopefully i can finally say that i got to where i hoped to be. this weight loss was a lot harder then i ever imagined it would be. i never thought it woudl take a whole year just to lose 20 lbs. then every time i was at my new mini goal, i had to keep going b/c i didn't look like i wanted yet and i didn't want to keep losing weight and look sickly but yet pudgy... so i was hoping that this new program was going to get me where i wanted to be.

dixiewhiskey

I am sure you are fine.. it happens. When I started serious dedication to lifting back in March, I gained inches and the scale didn't budge.. eventually it tapered off and I ate more so instead of 1600 like is recommended for my weight, I ate 2200. Sometimes our bodies just hold onto water, etc, cause we are not fueling our bodies enough..

You haven't shared enough info like your age and what not but I don't think it should really take a year to lose 20.. it CAN take awhile though. You've been given a lot of info in this thread, stick with it and hopefully things start moving in the right direction for you again

lin7604

ya, it sure did take a full year unfortunately and i have been learning so much as i go. i did start off with the basic 1200 as mfp gave me and learnt a few months after to up it. I do have a thyroid condition and my dr wouldn't up my meds for a very long time, which made it that much harder for me to lose weight for years... then i finally convinced he rto do so and VIOLA! it started coming off.... i still never lost more then 1.5 lbs a month but it was consistent each month. I watched my cals, measured everything and weighted my food, cut out bad items that i loved like pop and chips, etc i did a 360 but it was still hard to lose it... it was so slow coming off.... i am 36 and i am only 5.2 ft and my tdee is 1766, so anything over that i start to gain and FAST! I did only have 20-25 lbs to lose and everyone kept telling me that b/c i didn't have a lot to lose it was going to be slower....

lin7604

question: how do you know what you burn when lifting? how am i sure that i am eating enough when lifting?

jimmmer

question: how do you know what you burn when lifting? how am i sure that i am eating enough when lifting?

Factor it into your activity level, that way it's already accounted for. It's hard to know for sure because a lot of the metabolic demands of lifting happen after you finish.....

lin7604

ya, but i am not sure if i should bump myself up to active from lightly active so it's factored in. That has always confused me. I don't want to eat too much of course but i don't want to stall my results from not eating enough

jimmmer

ya, but i am not sure if i should bump myself up to active from lightly active so it's factored in. That has always confused me. I don't want to eat too much of course but i don't want to stall my results from not eating enough

You're probably not going to like this answer, but you're just going to have to run the programme with the numbers you have calculated for the TDEE (less whatever you want to take off, of course) and then after 3-4 weeks re-evaluate. If you think things are happening too quickly, increase by a 100-200 a day, or if not happening at all, decrease by 100-200 a day. Run for a few more weeks and evaluate again.

Be mindful that fat loss is not always linear though and things can be at a standstill for weeks on end. You need to track and adjust and zone in on you ideal number. It takes a bit of time and patience..........

bcattoes

i started lifting 6 weeks ago doing chalean extreme, the 1st 30 days i stayed the same measurement wise and weight but seen very very subtle changes. This month i am lifting a lot heavier and after i completed 2 weeks i re measured and i gained 0.5 inch on each thigh and my waist i guess the thighs would be ok if it's all muscle but my waist why? why is my waist getting wider? i started lifting to lose inches/ body fat not gain it.. * sigh* any suggestions as to why my waist is getting wider?

You can gain muscle in your waist too. Especially in the side core muscles.

kitka82

ya, but i am not sure if i should bump myself up to active from lightly active so it's factored in. That has always confused me. I don't want to eat too much of course but i don't want to stall my results from not eating enough

You're probably not going to like this answer, but you're just going to have to run the programme with the numbers you have calculated for the TDEE (less whatever you want to take off, of course) and then after 3-4 weeks re-evaluate. If you think things are happening too quickly, increase by a 100-200 a day, or if not happening at all, decrease by 100-200 a day. Run for a few more weeks and evaluate again.

Be mindful that fat loss is not always linear though and things can be at a standstill for weeks on end. You need to track and adjust and zone in on you ideal number. It takes a bit of time and patience..........

Are you doing any cardio?

I'm also doing Chalean Extreme (in a hybrid with Turbofire) and my butt and thighs have gotten bigger. My non-stretchy pants don't fit anymore But I'm tightening up too, and my back fat is smoothing out. It's only been 2 weeks so I guess it will take time to adjust.

kitka82

Maybe it's water retention, especially considering you are lifting a lot heavier now?

Many women don't actually lose what they expect to lose on Chalean Extreme or P90X until the last month. Chalene herself talks about this and even says that it is mostly water weight due to DOMS and the repairing of your muscles. Tony H. mentions that his program needs to be called P120X for women since our changes are later in the program, but it's for the same reasons as Chalean Extreme.

It's probably honestly water retention. If you're in the Push Phase, the rep range is 6 to 8 right?

bcattoes

I'm also doing Chalean Extreme (in a hybrid with Turbofire) and my butt and thighs have gotten bigger. My non-stretchy pants don't fit anymore But I'm tightening up too, and my back fat is smoothing out. It's only been 2 weeks so I guess it will take time to adjust.

Oh, I hate to hear this. Are you eating a surplus and trying to put on muscle. I was thinking of starting the CE/TF hybrid but the last thing I want is my thighs to get bigger, even if it is muscle. I put leg muscle on very easy and do not need any more.

Sarag105

I am also doing ChaLean Extreme and just started into the Push phase. I have been mixing it with a Zumba class 2 nights a week so sometimes I have completed the full week of CLX and others I used Zumba as the cardio portion. During the first phase I lost roughly an inch on my chest hips and waist the rest stayed the same was only down 1 lb. Not sure what to expect going heavier. All I can say is what I am trying to tell myself stick with it and see how everything is in the end. I am not expecting a big loss due to the addition of muscle but I am trying to work harder on nutrition so hopefully due to that I can see a loss. Good luck on your journey and hang in there it will all come in time .

lin7604

thx again everyone, i am not doing any additional cardio, only what the program gives. but i do it 6 days instead of 5 as i threw in 1 extra day of burn it off in. I was pretty much at my goal,and just wanted to lose BF, so after the burn phase everything was the same, measurements and weight, which i was fine with. yes the push phase is 6-8 reps... well i am not giving up, i am carrying this out for 4 months and see where things are then. I just never know if i am eating too much or not enough... as i never know how to calculate my activity. I guess i will stick to what i am doing at 15-1600, min 1400 and see what my results are in another week and a half when i am done the push phase, when i compare pics again.. then i will decide i guess what to do?

Sarag105

How is your ChaLean Extreme going? I am in the push phase and in the last 3 weeks have started seeing a loss, I am down 3.2 lbs in 3 weeks. My diet could be better but it isn't terrible. I am also really starting to notice the muscle building. Just wanted to check in and see how you were doing. I have one more week of Push then I start the Lean phase. Hope you are hanging in there and seeing results .

lin7604

nope no results yet at all. i took my pics on the weekend after i finished push and no change i am on circuit 2 of lean today, so i really hope that when everyone says the lean phase is where you get the most/ best results, are correct. I am bummed right now!