Is it possible I'm a) eating too much or b) not lifting enough?

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  • JeromeBarry1
    JeromeBarry1 Posts: 10,182 Member
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    @Kiky40 about the 6 lb and the increased calories... The math has to win. If your excess calories per day is really 300 and your excess calories per week is really 2100, then 3 weeks of that is really 6300, which can only explain, possibly, less than 2 lb of fat gain. Your consistent and increasingly heavy lifting is burning some calories, but less than 2100 per week. So, your tummy expansion really is mostly water, which makes sense as your increasingly heavy lifting is known to promote water retention while your muscles repair and build stronger. Congratulations! Even your abdominal muscles are involved in the lifting, by the way.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Keladelphia wrote: »
    So since you've started lifting weights 3x a week you've increased your calories for the week by 2100 calories (300*7). I'm pretty doubtful that between three sessions of strong curves a week that you're burning an additional 2100 calories so it could indeed be that you are eating over your maintenance calories and gaining weight from it. I guess what i'm confused about are your goals since you seem concerned about the weight gain; are you trying to bulk or maintain?

    ummm this is the gaining section and OP is trying to bulk...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,868 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Kiky40 wrote: »
    I only do weights no cardio except daily dog walks. I have not been consistent with workouts until around 4 months ago. I now do 3 workouts per week using the strong curves, I'm in my third week, I have increased reps or weight each week.
    Prior to this I had been eating at maintenance which for me works out at around 1700kcal. I've increased kcals and I'm consuming around 2000. I have gained 6lbs I look noticeably bigger around my tummy.
    Has this happened to anyone when they increased kcals and did it settle out? I'm a bit worried about reducing my kcals because people seem to eat so much in order to bulk.
    My goal is to gain muscle, I'm 43 and have been lifting on and off for 4 years but never tried bulking before.

    Three weeks in, a big piece of that is water from starting a new lifting program...it is also possible that you have a larger surplus than you think you have.
  • Keladelphia
    Keladelphia Posts: 820 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    Keladelphia wrote: »
    So since you've started lifting weights 3x a week you've increased your calories for the week by 2100 calories (300*7). I'm pretty doubtful that between three sessions of strong curves a week that you're burning an additional 2100 calories so it could indeed be that you are eating over your maintenance calories and gaining weight from it. I guess what i'm confused about are your goals since you seem concerned about the weight gain; are you trying to bulk or maintain?

    ummm this is the gaining section and OP is trying to bulk...

    Clearly I missed that it was posted in the gaining section but I appreciate that the OP clarified immediately after I made my mistake. But ummmmmmmm thanks.
  • Kiky40
    Kiky40 Posts: 9 Member
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    Some of that gain has gone now 2lbs, so I can only put it down to water retention/hormones etc...
    It looks like I've have gained 4lbs in 4 weeks as I weigh 122lb now, at a surplus of 300kcals which is accurately tracked.
    I'm 5ft 1 and now 122lb.
    Thanks for your input, I'll just keep going and tweek as necessary. I was mainly worried that if you didn't lift heavy enough then the excess kcals would be surplus to requirements and therefore I'd just get over weight with no muscle gain, but @Wheelhouse15 cleared that up for me.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    Kiky40 wrote: »
    Some of that gain has gone now 2lbs, so I can only put it down to water retention/hormones etc...
    It looks like I've have gained 4lbs in 4 weeks as I weigh 122lb now, at a surplus of 300kcals which is accurately tracked.
    I'm 5ft 1 and now 122lb.
    Thanks for your input, I'll just keep going and tweek as necessary. I was mainly worried that if you didn't lift heavy enough then the excess kcals would be surplus to requirements and therefore I'd just get over weight with no muscle gain, but @Wheelhouse15 cleared that up for me.

    If you gained 4 lbs in 4 weeks, your actual surplus is 500 calories.

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