Just started exercising yet I gained weight.. So discouraged.

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  • Ocrgrrrl
    Ocrgrrrl Posts: 189 Member
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    New exercise = water retained by muscles.

    Very common for weight to go up a bit when starting a new exercise regimen, but it's likely water weight, not fat.

    Yep. The body hoards water because that is the best environment for it to heal in. Think about blisters. When the skin is broken or damaged in some way, the body will create a blister (pocket of water) for the skin to heal in. It's the same for our muscles; even if you aren't weight training, doing repetitive or high impact moves that upset the body's homeostasis will cause this to happen and you will see a weight gain on the scale.

    This happens to me every 3 weeks because that's how often I change my strength training regimen (yes, my body adapts that quickly). I always know that I will see a gain, and I prepare myself for it. But knowledge is power. As long as you realize that your body will do this, and you keep logging faithfully, you will eventually see the fruits of your labor.

    Many times this is when people give up, and they prevent themselves from losing any additional weight. And if they stop and do continue to lose weight, they are disappointed with what they end up with.

    Stay the course!

  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
    edited May 2015
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    1014 is too low, if you don't have much to lose why not change settings to 1/2lb a week so your deficit is smaller and that way you'll be able to enjoy eating more cals. The more you exercise the more you will boost your metabolism, mine was rubbish but two yrs of consistent working out 6 days a week and my TDEE is now 2300 (and I'm small and ..middle aged)

    (for some reason my avatar is no longer showing my photo, I have no clue as to why that is the case)
  • latina0514
    latina0514 Posts: 27 Member
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    Do you 'eat' the extra calories given for exercise?
  • latina0514
    latina0514 Posts: 27 Member
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    pennystaplessnyder wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    New exercise = water retained by muscles.

    Very common for weight to go up a bit when starting a new exercise regimen, but it's likely water weight, not fat.

    Yep. The body hoards water because that is the best environment for it to heal in. Think about blisters. When the skin is broken or damaged in some way, the body will create a blister (pocket of water) for the skin to heal in. It's the same for our muscles; even if you aren't weight training, doing repetitive or high impact moves that upset the body's homeostasis will cause this to happen and you will see a weight gain on the scale.

    This happens to me every 3 weeks because that's how often I change my strength training regimen (yes, my body adapts that quickly). I always know that I will see a gain, and I prepare myself for it. But knowledge is power. As long as you realize that your body will do this, and you keep logging faithfully, you will eventually see the fruits of your labor.

    Many times this is when people give up, and they prevent themselves from losing any additional weight. And if they stop and do continue to lose weight, they are disappointed with what they end up with.

    Stay the course!

    So it's safe to eat the extra calories given for exercise?
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    @latina0514 yes eat back at least half of them :smile:
  • dalila747
    dalila747 Posts: 153 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    1014 is too low, if you don't have much to lose why not change settings to 1/2lb a week so your deficit is smaller and that way you'll be able to enjoy eating more cals. The more you exercise the more you will boost your metabolism, mine was rubbish but two yrs of consistent working out 6 days a week and my TDEE is now 2300 (and I'm small and ..middle aged)

    (for some reason my avatar is no longer showing my photo, I have no clue as to why that is the case)

    I'm doing 1200 right now so that has me at around 1/2 a week I belive. I justhave to start being very diligent about logging in evry single crumb. When you have such a low threshold it's so easy to go over, even if it's just a piece of chocolate.
    To the OP, I am not eating back my calories right now because I just don't trust the calorie counts. Once the scale starts moving I'll reevaluate.
  • latina0514
    latina0514 Posts: 27 Member
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    RunRutheeRun wrote: »
    @latina0514 yes eat back at least half of them :smile:
    Thanks!
  • dalila747
    dalila747 Posts: 153 Member
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    But I believe that standard practice around here is to eat back 50%,and see where that lands you and go from there.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    @latina0514 you're right not to trust some calorie counts so take care when logging. A lot of us input/create our own recipes in the recipe creator function then we know the calories are more accurate. Just be as diligent as you can be with weighing/measuring your foods and you'll see the scales start moving down again. :smile:
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    latina0514 wrote: »
    Do you 'eat' the extra calories given for exercise?

    In theory, yes.

    The problem is that it's difficult to accurately measure how many calories you burn doing exercise, so it's often recommended to only eat a portion of them back (rather than all of them) to account for errors in calculating.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,345 Member
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    ps the cardio is great for burning calories but introduce some weight lifting/strength training/interval training as when you build muscle the calorie burn lasts all day rather than just in the moment. Also any time I had a stall I did interval training again, tightened up the food logging and the scales moved in the right direction.
  • latina0514
    latina0514 Posts: 27 Member
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    ceoverturf wrote: »
    latina0514 wrote: »
    Do you 'eat' the extra calories given for exercise?

    In theory, yes.

    The problem is that it's difficult to accurately measure how many calories you burn doing exercise, so it's often recommended to only eat a portion of them back (rather than all of them) to account for errors in calculating.

    I've been eating most of them back so it's good to know. I also use a fitbit that does tracking but I'm not sold on how accurate it is. I will definitely be more cautious about eating the extra exercise calories. Thanks.
  • DarbiB
    DarbiB Posts: 88 Member
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    latina0514 wrote: »
    ceoverturf wrote: »
    latina0514 wrote: »
    Do you 'eat' the extra calories given for exercise?

    In theory, yes.

    The problem is that it's difficult to accurately measure how many calories you burn doing exercise, so it's often recommended to only eat a portion of them back (rather than all of them) to account for errors in calculating.

    I've been eating most of them back so it's good to know. I also use a fitbit that does tracking but I'm not sold on how accurate it is. I will definitely be more cautious about eating the extra exercise calories. Thanks.

    I think you're on the right track about being cautious with your fitbit extra calories. I've had mine since September (and I LOVE IT), but it can definitely be generous. I have a desk job and I'm very competitive, so for me, my fitbit is more of a motivational tool (ie I have to beat my friends in 7-day steps), rather than a truly accurate calculation tool.

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