Frustrated! Does exercise make you gain weight??
Gozomalta28
Posts: 18 Member
Sorry in advance for the long post. I am struggling to loose about 5-10 lbs, I weigh between 129-133 would love to be between 121-125. Height, 5ft - reason to loose, I just feel better a little smaller. I am a runner but recently (Summer) got injured and was on crutches for a couple of months. Of course no exercise. My diet did not change much at the time, kept eating almost as much as I did when I ran; I eat TONS of fresh produce. During that time the weight came off and I lost the lbs; I am back into running a little bit (not as much as before) and working out 6 days a week and the weight came back on! I am about to quit working out, but it is such a mental stress reliever for me. I burn about 1900 - 2300 calories per day. Below is what I usually eat on a daily basis
wake up 4:30am
workout
breakfast - half cup fiber one cereal with 1 cup strawberries
lunch - handful carrots, mini peppers, couple of tomatoes, 2 oz turkey and 3 light wasa crackers
snack - handful almonds and apple
dinner - 3 oz chicken, tons of fresh produce (squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, kale salad, cherry tomatoes) and half a pita. With tbls olive oil and some goat cheese.
- glass wine
AND one night a week I eat 3 slices of pizza, VERY light on the cheese/tons of veggies
- dessert - nuts, greek yogurt, small piece of chocolate, maybe one small cookie
Would love it if anyone can give me their input. My nutritionist had said before that i need to eat about 1850 on exercise days; 1350 non exercise days.
I am just very shocked that the weight came off when i stopped exercise. Apologies again for the long post but would love to see if anyone else has experienced this. TIA.
wake up 4:30am
workout
breakfast - half cup fiber one cereal with 1 cup strawberries
lunch - handful carrots, mini peppers, couple of tomatoes, 2 oz turkey and 3 light wasa crackers
snack - handful almonds and apple
dinner - 3 oz chicken, tons of fresh produce (squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, kale salad, cherry tomatoes) and half a pita. With tbls olive oil and some goat cheese.
- glass wine
AND one night a week I eat 3 slices of pizza, VERY light on the cheese/tons of veggies
- dessert - nuts, greek yogurt, small piece of chocolate, maybe one small cookie
Would love it if anyone can give me their input. My nutritionist had said before that i need to eat about 1850 on exercise days; 1350 non exercise days.
I am just very shocked that the weight came off when i stopped exercise. Apologies again for the long post but would love to see if anyone else has experienced this. TIA.
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Replies
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If you begin a new workout routine, or start working out again after time off, you can see temporary weight gain in the form of water retention.
I'm more concerned about your diet. That doesn't look like 1350-1850 calories and looks pretty low on protein. Also, how are you measuring your intake? Do you weigh your food on a scale?4 -
can you open your diary please? it will help with more specificities rather than the generic you gave0
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Yes will open my food diary but have not tracked the last couple of weeks
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Gozomalta28 wrote: »Yes will open my food diary but have not tracked the last couple of weeks
So you've gained weight the past few weeks when you haven't been tracking? I don't think it's the exercise...16 -
Gozomalta28 wrote: »Yes will open my food diary but have not tracked the last couple of weeks
You need to start tracking your portions of nuts, oil, greek yogurt (full fat or low fat), chocolate, and cookies in addition the pizza. With such a small deficit accuracy is critical for you. Furthermore a "small cookie" will look different to different people. It needs to be a quantifiable measurement such as grams or ounces.
How much weight did you gain exactly?3 -
Gozomalta28 wrote: »Yes will open my food diary but have not tracked the last couple of weeks
you just answered your own question..
start logging everything you eat for three to four weeks and then report back.
if you dont use a food scale then get one of those and use it.6 -
I have not logged because I gained weight right after I started exercise. My log is pretty accurate in regards to how much I am taking - example non fat greek yogurt, 1 oz nuts etc. I am not super accurate on the non starchy vegetables. And i do use cups and a food scale. I gained my 5 lbs back. When I was injured I weighed between 126 - 128 after I started working out again I am now back to 129 - 132 - so frustrating!!!
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Are you able to compare days before your injury to days while you where on crutches?
The reason I am asking is if I wonder you subconsciously ate less, causing you to lose weight, then when you started exercising again started eating more, causing the weight gain.
How tall are you by the way?0 -
I'm not an expert by any means, but I have had similar experiences. When I do a heavy leg workout I'll weigh 2-3lbs more for the next 2-3 days. Not working out means this water retention doesn't happen. I've been dealing with multiple joint injuries so I will work out regular for a couple weeks, then have to take a couple weeks off because some joint is injured. I do seem to "lose" faster when I don't work out, however this is probably because I don't have the water retention from my workouts (which leads to my second point below). You might be experiencing some of this.
Also, how often do you weigh yourself? This time I only need to lose 7lbs that had creeped on over 6 years and it's been SLOW. I have to weigh myself every day and use the weekly average to figure out my loss because with so little to lose it's going to come off in really small increments that are masked by daily weight fluctuations. I had two weeks where on both Tuesdays I weight 137 but when I used the weekly average weight I had a 1.5 lb loss. If I was only weighing on Tuesdays I would have assumed I lost nothing. Tracking my weight daily for a few months and making notes about workouts, type of working out, eating out, or drinking alcohol let me figure out what actions lead to weight fluctuations. I'm at goal but I want to lose 3 pounds to give my self a cushion for shifting to maintenance. I'll track my weight daily until then then go back to twice a week.
And pay attention to food tracking. When I run I tend to snack a little more because I'm a little more hungry and sometimes I don't track all my extra nibbles. They can add up, probably not enough to cause a gain but enough to stall or slow your loss.1 -
Are you able to compare days before your injury to days while you where on crutches?
The reason I am asking is if I wonder you subconsciously ate less, causing you to lose weight, then when you started exercising again started eating more, causing the weight gain.
How tall are you by the way?
I am 5ft 5. I did eat maybe a little less vegetables but really not much and I really don't think that will make the differencecrooked_left_hook wrote: »I'm not an expert by any means, but I have had similar experiences. When I do a heavy leg workout I'll weigh 2-3lbs more for the next 2-3 days. Not working out means this water retention doesn't happen. I've been dealing with multiple joint injuries so I will work out regular for a couple weeks, then have to take a couple weeks off because some joint is injured. I do seem to "lose" faster when I don't work out, however this is probably because I don't have the water retention from my workouts (which leads to my second point below). You might be experiencing some of this.
Also, how often do you weigh yourself? This time I only need to lose 7lbs that had creeped on over 6 years and it's been SLOW. I have to weigh myself every day and use the weekly average to figure out my loss because with so little to lose it's going to come off in really small increments that are masked by daily weight fluctuations. I had two weeks where on both Tuesdays I weight 137 but when I used the weekly average weight I had a 1.5 lb loss. If I was only weighing on Tuesdays I would have assumed I lost nothing. Tracking my weight daily for a few months and making notes about workouts, type of working out, eating out, or drinking alcohol let me figure out what actions lead to weight fluctuations. I'm at goal but I want to lose 3 pounds to give my self a cushion for shifting to maintenance. I'll track my weight daily until then then go back to twice a week.
And pay attention to food tracking. When I run I tend to snack a little more because I'm a little more hungry and sometimes I don't track all my extra nibbles. They can add up, probably not enough to cause a gain but enough to stall or slow your loss.
Love this! Thank you!! I do think maybe it is the water retention. I am trying really hard to give myself a day or two off sometimes. I do more cardio then strength training. I am in your same boat with very little too loose and I do think every bite counts. I only weigh myself once a week but not on a regular basis. I tend to feel very down if I gain a couple of lbs, which brings me to your other point. My weight fluctuates SO SO MUCH!!! I will follow your advice and start weighing daily. Is your diary open? I would love to take a look. Thanks again for all your help
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Depending on how long you were not exercising you may have lost some muscle. You started exercising again and you gained it back, plus you gained water from the exercise. Weight isn't just fat. Lots of things contribute to your weight.2
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Gozomalta28 wrote: »Are you able to compare days before your injury to days while you where on crutches?
The reason I am asking is if I wonder you subconsciously ate less, causing you to lose weight, then when you started exercising again started eating more, causing the weight gain.
How tall are you by the way?
I am 5ft 5. I did eat maybe a little less vegetables but really not much and I really don't think that will make the differencecrooked_left_hook wrote: »I'm not an expert by any means, but I have had similar experiences. When I do a heavy leg workout I'll weigh 2-3lbs more for the next 2-3 days. Not working out means this water retention doesn't happen. I've been dealing with multiple joint injuries so I will work out regular for a couple weeks, then have to take a couple weeks off because some joint is injured. I do seem to "lose" faster when I don't work out, however this is probably because I don't have the water retention from my workouts (which leads to my second point below). You might be experiencing some of this.
Also, how often do you weigh yourself? This time I only need to lose 7lbs that had creeped on over 6 years and it's been SLOW. I have to weigh myself every day and use the weekly average to figure out my loss because with so little to lose it's going to come off in really small increments that are masked by daily weight fluctuations. I had two weeks where on both Tuesdays I weight 137 but when I used the weekly average weight I had a 1.5 lb loss. If I was only weighing on Tuesdays I would have assumed I lost nothing. Tracking my weight daily for a few months and making notes about workouts, type of working out, eating out, or drinking alcohol let me figure out what actions lead to weight fluctuations. I'm at goal but I want to lose 3 pounds to give my self a cushion for shifting to maintenance. I'll track my weight daily until then then go back to twice a week.
And pay attention to food tracking. When I run I tend to snack a little more because I'm a little more hungry and sometimes I don't track all my extra nibbles. They can add up, probably not enough to cause a gain but enough to stall or slow your loss.
Love this! Thank you!! I do think maybe it is the water retention. I am trying really hard to give myself a day or two off sometimes. I do more cardio then strength training. I am in your same boat with very little too loose and I do think every bite counts. I only weigh myself once a week but not on a regular basis. I tend to feel very down if I gain a couple of lbs, which brings me to your other point. My weight fluctuates SO SO MUCH!!! I will follow your advice and start weighing daily. Is your diary open? I would love to take a look. Thanks again for all your help
My diary is open but I don't track my daily weight in MFP (I just have it in my notes on my phone). All of my food is there. Please don't judge yesterday's food...the PMS craves hit me hard yesterday and I had some serious munchies
I'm also happy to share recipes! 1 -
Gozomalta28 wrote: »
My weight fluctuates SO SO MUCH!!! I will follow your advice and start weighing daily. Is your diary open? I would love to take a look. Thanks again for all your help
There are a couple of good apps for capturing your weight trends...Happy Scale (ios) and Libra (Android) or trendweight.com (links to a fitbit account I believe). I personally use Libra and love it.
Good luck!
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Gozomalta28 wrote: »Sorry in advance for the long post. I am struggling to loose about 5-10 lbs, I weigh between 129-133 would love to be between 121-125. Height, 5ft - reason to loose, I just feel better a little smaller. I am a runner but recently (Summer) got injured and was on crutches for a couple of months. Of course no exercise. My diet did not change much at the time, kept eating almost as much as I did when I ran; I eat TONS of fresh produce. During that time the weight came off and I lost the lbs; I am back into running a little bit (not as much as before) and working out 6 days a week and the weight came back on! I am about to quit working out, but it is such a mental stress reliever for me. I burn about 1900 - 2300 calories per day. Below is what I usually eat on a daily basis
wake up 4:30am
workout
breakfast - half cup fiber one cereal with 1 cup strawberries
lunch - handful carrots, mini peppers, couple of tomatoes, 2 oz turkey and 3 light wasa crackers
snack - handful almonds and apple
dinner - 3 oz chicken, tons of fresh produce (squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, kale salad, cherry tomatoes) and half a pita. With tbls olive oil and some goat cheese.
- glass wine
AND one night a week I eat 3 slices of pizza, VERY light on the cheese/tons of veggies
- dessert - nuts, greek yogurt, small piece of chocolate, maybe one small cookie
Would love it if anyone can give me their input. My nutritionist had said before that i need to eat about 1850 on exercise days; 1350 non exercise days.
I am just very shocked that the weight came off when i stopped exercise. Apologies again for the long post but would love to see if anyone else has experienced this. TIA.
I actually do lose weight, if I go for more than a couple of weeks without exercise. That rarely happens (that I go that long), but it has a couple of times. I have assumed that it was muscle loss. It always came back, with exercise.0 -
Gozomalta28 wrote: »
My weight fluctuates SO SO MUCH!!! I will follow your advice and start weighing daily. Is your diary open? I would love to take a look. Thanks again for all your help
There are a couple of good apps for capturing your weight trends...Happy Scale (ios) and Libra (Android) or trendweight.com (links to a fitbit account I believe). I personally use Libra and love it.
Good luck!
Not familiar at all, what does it do? Tracks weight?
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My weight fluctuates massively - 3 to 4 pounds at random day to day, up to 6lb after heavy exercise. You just need to get used to this. Attaching drama to it and using it as a reason to stop logging will not help you. It just is what it is.5
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I note mine in my phone then transfer to an excel sheet once a week that has my calories, macros, weight, workouts, and has space for me to take notes. Then I make a graph in excel. I'm a bit of a nerd I was also working with a nutrition coach at one point and it was just easier to share the excel sheet with them than to verbally recount everything. 1
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CattOfTheGarage wrote: »My weight fluctuates massively - 3 to 4 pounds at random day to day, up to 6lb after heavy exercise. You just need to get used to this. Attaching drama to it and using it as a reason to stop logging will not help you. It just is what it is.
It was a hard pill to swallow at first, but once I learned my pattern of fluctuation and learned the triggers it's not so traumatizing to see a couple extra pounds. Seriously, if I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee the scale will be up 1lb the next morning! It's time for Aunt Flo to visit so I'm going to be up several pounds for the next week...then like nothing, it will all disappear + some. Those days make up for the crappy ones 1 -
crooked_left_hook wrote: »I note mine in my phone then transfer to an excel sheet once a week that has my calories, macros, weight, workouts, and has space for me to take notes. Then I make a graph in excel. I'm a bit of a nerd I was also working with a nutrition coach at one point and it was just easier to share the excel sheet with them than to verbally recount everything.
you would love the excel spreadsheet my RD gave me then - it has like 10 different tabs looking at correlations between carbs/protein/fat and overall weight; sleep and weight; salt intake and weight; steps and weight0 -
deannalfisher wrote: »crooked_left_hook wrote: »I note mine in my phone then transfer to an excel sheet once a week that has my calories, macros, weight, workouts, and has space for me to take notes. Then I make a graph in excel. I'm a bit of a nerd I was also working with a nutrition coach at one point and it was just easier to share the excel sheet with them than to verbally recount everything.
you would love the excel spreadsheet my RD gave me then - it has like 10 different tabs looking at correlations between carbs/protein/fat and overall weight; sleep and weight; salt intake and weight; steps and weight
Are you sure you're not my boyfriend lurking on MFP? That sounds like the excel sheet he has for tracking weight. You should see the one he built for his finances! Some girls like guys with big trucks...I like guys with big spread sheets
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Thank you all - so inspiring! I am going to log and weigh myself every day all March and check back in the end of the month! here we go.....1
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crooked_left_hook wrote: ». Seriously, if I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee the scale will be up 1lb the next morning! It's time for Aunt Flo to visit so I'm going to be up several pounds for the next week...then like nothing, it will all disappear + some. Those days make up for the crappy ones
?? Whether I get up in the middle of the night, or pee first thing in the morning - I think it would be the same. I always weigh right AFTER, in the morning.0 -
fitmom4lifemfp wrote: »crooked_left_hook wrote: ». Seriously, if I don't get up in the middle of the night to pee the scale will be up 1lb the next morning! It's time for Aunt Flo to visit so I'm going to be up several pounds for the next week...then like nothing, it will all disappear + some. Those days make up for the crappy ones
?? Whether I get up in the middle of the night, or pee first thing in the morning - I think it would be the same. I always weigh right AFTER, in the morning.
I always weight first thing in the morning right after I go to the bathroom. However, if I pee in the middle of the night there is less water in my system than if I don't (I'm more dehydrated), therefore causing me to weigh less. I know it's weird, but being someone who rarely makes it through the night without 1 or 2 trips to the bathroom it's one of the things I noticed. It just further makes the point that a million seemingly random things can cause your weight to fluctuate.
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Gozomalta28 wrote: »Sorry in advance for the long post. I am struggling to loose about 5-10 lbs, I weigh between 129-133 would love to be between 121-125. Height, 5ft - reason to loose, I just feel better a little smaller. I am a runner but recently (Summer) got injured and was on crutches for a couple of months. Of course no exercise. My diet did not change much at the time, kept eating almost as much as I did when I ran; I eat TONS of fresh produce. During that time the weight came off and I lost the lbs; I am back into running a little bit (not as much as before) and working out 6 days a week and the weight came back on! I am about to quit working out, but it is such a mental stress reliever for me. I burn about 1900 - 2300 calories per day. Below is what I usually eat on a daily basis
wake up 4:30am
workout
breakfast - half cup fiber one cereal with 1 cup strawberries
lunch - handful carrots, mini peppers, couple of tomatoes, 2 oz turkey and 3 light wasa crackers
snack - handful almonds and apple
dinner - 3 oz chicken, tons of fresh produce (squash, cauliflower, mushrooms, kale salad, cherry tomatoes) and half a pita. With tbls olive oil and some goat cheese.
- glass wine
AND one night a week I eat 3 slices of pizza, VERY light on the cheese/tons of veggies
- dessert - nuts, greek yogurt, small piece of chocolate, maybe one small cookie
Would love it if anyone can give me their input. My nutritionist had said before that i need to eat about 1850 on exercise days; 1350 non exercise days.
I am just very shocked that the weight came off when i stopped exercise. Apologies again for the long post but would love to see if anyone else has experienced this. TIA.
I would say eat more! It worked for me! If you are working out that much you need more food. I learned that the hard way. It sounds crazy, but it really is that simple. I know tiny woman that eat a ton to stay fit and healthy0 -
Gozomalta28 wrote: »Gozomalta28 wrote: »
My weight fluctuates SO SO MUCH!!! I will follow your advice and start weighing daily. Is your diary open? I would love to take a look. Thanks again for all your help
There are a couple of good apps for capturing your weight trends...Happy Scale (ios) and Libra (Android) or trendweight.com (links to a fitbit account I believe). I personally use Libra and love it.
Good luck!
Not familiar at all, what does it do? Tracks weight?
You can input your weight on a daily basis and it will track the overall trend. So even on days that I go up in weight, I can see that my overall trend is still going down. I went up in weight today and my trend still says I am losing 0.9lbs/week and shows it on a pretty graph 1 -
Just to quickly share my experience, I didn't exercise for about 3-4 weeks because first I was sick, then on vacation for 2 weeks, then came home and was sick again. I did maintain my weight during those weeks (I'm in maintenance) and I was surprised about that because my eating wasn't great. Well I started back up with exercise and immediately put on a couple pounds. It was discouraging but I also know that it was water weight from the new routine.
Unfortunately I couldn't shake those pounds though! After a few weeks of being back in my normal routine, I was still above my maintenance range. I decided I better buckle down on my eating. My tracking had been pretty lax. Once I started logging more accurately, I was able to take off a few pounds and get back into my maintenance range.
So tldr: Yes a new exercise routine can cause some water weight gain but it should be temporary and if it's not, you need to eat less.1 -
The weeks I walk more than usual I don't lose weight even though calories in are the same, so I quit my extra walks to drop fat. Excerise is for health0
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your problem is in the lack of weighing - your first post talks about "one handful", "small cookie", "one cup" - you need to weigh stuff, not eyeball it!0
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