why am I gaining weight??

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Barbosas77
Barbosas77 Posts: 100 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I started lifting weights so I can burn fat about 4weeks ago and also started counting calories and I have been doing great. For some reason for have not lost inches, I see definition in my arms but its the same size and its not getting smaller and my scale keeps moving up. I don't know what I'm doing wrong? I drink plenty of water, eat complex carbs and have more protein in my diet. I only cheat on Saturdays. I lift 4 days a week and rest Saturday and Sunday. Please if someone can help me and tell me what am I doing wrong?
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Replies

  • macgurlnet
    macgurlnet Posts: 1,946 Member
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    Do you log that cheat day? Are you weighing all your solids in grams on a food scale? Are you eating at a deficit?

    ~Lyssa
  • soapsandropes
    soapsandropes Posts: 269 Member
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    When you start lifting weights your muscles will hang onto water to help them recover, so you won't lose weight right away. How do your cheat days work into your calories? I know that weight lifting makes me really hungry and it is easy to out eat any benefit from lifting (as far as creating a calorie deficit goes)
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    1. you are eating more calories then you think
    2. it is water retention from lifting..

    do you own a food scale?
    do you log everything that you eat?
    are you using correct entries from MFP database..

    FYI - lifting weights does not "burn fat," you will need a calorie deficit.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    1. you are eating more calories then you think
    2. it is water retention from lifting..

    do you own a food scale?
    do you log everything that you eat?
    are you using correct entries from MFP database..

    FYI - lifting weights does not "burn fat," you will need a calorie deficit.

    THIS.
  • ftrobbie
    ftrobbie Posts: 1,017 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    1. you are eating more calories then you think
    2. it is water retention from lifting..

    do you own a food scale?
    do you log everything that you eat?
    are you using correct entries from MFP database..

    FYI - lifting weights does not "burn fat," you will need a calorie deficit.

    And could be overestimating the calorie burn from exercise. Small margins will do it.

  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    http://scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

    Ive been using this, and it has me around 1900-2000 calories a day, even on rest days. I lift 3 days a week, and HIIT 2 days a week with sat and sun off. Give it a shot!
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    1. you are eating more calories then you think
    2. it is water retention from lifting..

    do you own a food scale?
    do you log everything that you eat?
    are you using correct entries from MFP database..

    FYI - lifting weights does not "burn fat," you will need a calorie deficit.

    All of this. Eating complex carbs and protein doesn't automatically make you lose weight.
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
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    I peaked at your diary. I guarantee you, you are not burning 600 calories doing strength training. Second, log that Saturday cheat meal.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    hollydubs85 wrote: »
    I peaked at your diary. I guarantee you, you are not burning 600 calories doing strength training. Second, log that Saturday cheat meal.

    All of this. I'd say, don't even log the strength training at all because it burns negligible calories. You're doing it to tone and maintain lean body mass, not to burn calories.


  • scottacular
    scottacular Posts: 597 Member
    edited May 2015
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    Cheat day or cheat meal? A cheat day to me is quite an epic thing (I used to do them a long time ago), so if your idea of a cheat day is the same as mine - that'd be what's responsible for your lack of progress. Calorie deficit is key, there's no way around that. If cheat meal, great - just record it for a while.
  • kami3006
    kami3006 Posts: 4,978 Member
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    Lots of cups and tablespoons in your diary too. That can lead to large underestimates in calories:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVjWPclrWVY
  • Barbosas77
    Barbosas77 Posts: 100 Member
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    I am counting all my calories which for my height and weight it gave me 1300 to eat but that's not including that I workout. So when I finish weight lifting it's giving me and extra 600 calories to eat but I can never eat over my 1300. On cheats days I don't count calories but I never eat as bad as a should.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I am counting all my calories which for my height and weight it gave me 1300 to eat but that's not including that I workout. So when I finish weight lifting it's giving me and extra 600 calories to eat but I can never eat over my 1300. On cheats days I don't count calories but I never eat as bad as a should.

    Ah, well, there you go. Get rid of the cheat days. Count everything you eat, every day. And like others have said, you're not burning 600 calories or anything even close to that when you lift weight.
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I am counting all my calories which for my height and weight it gave me 1300 to eat but that's not including that I workout. So when I finish weight lifting it's giving me and extra 600 calories to eat but I can never eat over my 1300. On cheats days I don't count calories but I never eat as bad as a should.

    How long are you lifting for?
  • erickirb
    erickirb Posts: 12,293 Member
    edited May 2015
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    60 minutes of strength training should only be burning 120-240 calories, not 600 as you show on your diary. It takes a lot of work (no resting, constant moving at a pretty high intensity) to burn 10 calories/minute.
  • beastmode_kitty
    beastmode_kitty Posts: 844 Member
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    erickirb wrote: »
    60 minutes of strength training should only be burning 120-240 calories, not 600 as you show on your diary. It takes a lot of work (no resting, constant moving at a pretty high intensity) to burn 10 calories/minute.

    I wore a HRM for my lifting sessions, and i do about 30-40 mins and im lucky if i squeeze out 150calories burnt.

  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
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    preciouskitten wrote: »
    I wore a HRM for my lifting sessions, and i do about 30-40 mins and im lucky if i squeeze out 150calories burnt.

    And even that's probably high, because HRMs aren't designed to accurately measure calories burned from strength training. They're accurate for steady-state cardio, and that's about it.

    As for 'cheat' days, the only person you're cheating is yourself.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Barbosas77 wrote: »
    I am counting all my calories which for my height and weight it gave me 1300 to eat but that's not including that I workout. So when I finish weight lifting it's giving me and extra 600 calories to eat but I can never eat over my 1300. On cheats days I don't count calories but I never eat as bad as a should.

    no way strength training is burning 600 calories...at the most it might be 100 to 200...unless you are doing circuit training, but even then 600 is a stretch...

    If you are not logging your cheat days then how can you be sure that you are not 1000 calories over for the day, which, in my experience, that is pretty easy to do.

    Do you use a food scale?
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    MrM27 wrote: »
    600 calories in 60 minutes of lifting? That is at least 3x higher than it should be logged as.

    +1

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