Question about creatine weight gain

gmhall2006

I've been trying to get healthier for the last 2 months or so, and have lost around 30 pounds. About a month ago I started taking creatine and my weight loss has absolutely stopped cold in the last 2-3 weeks even though I've changed nothing from what was having me click off around 5-6 pounds a week in the beginning.

I used to be an athelete, but haven't lifted in around 5 years or so, and I was wondering if it's possible that water-weight and muscle weight are camouflaging some of my losses. Even though I've lost some weight, I'm still above 400 pounds at 6'6", and I'm at a weight where fat loss should still be coming fairly easy. I've got 40% bodyfat, so it's not like I'm getting down too low or anything.

SonyaCele

creatine shouldn't affect fat loss, but it does cause water retention, and since you are on the bigger side, that means bigger muscles and that means a whole lot of pounds of water. If you are in a true calorie deficit, stick with it and the weight will come off. a stall in weight loss for a couple weeks isn't anything to worry about, if it goes on for a month or two, then you should reevaluate what you are eating.
Why are you taking creatine?

gmhall2006

SonyaCele wrote: »

creatine shouldn't affect fat loss, but it does cause water retention, and since you are on the bigger side, that means bigger muscles and that means a whole lot of pounds of water. If you are in a true calorie deficit, stick with it and the weight will come off. a stall in weight loss for a couple weeks isn't anything to worry about, if it goes on for a month or two, then you should reevaluate what you are eating.
Why are you taking creatine?

Hi, thanks for the response. I had my body fat tested hydrostatically before i started trying to get back into shape and had 260 pounds of LBM and 177 of fat. I know creatine helps promote lean muscle mass gain, so figured it would help me keep as much of the muscle as possible while I was losing weight

AnvilHead

Water weight gain from creatine, if you get it, should occur within the first couple weeks and you shouldn't gain any more water weight once your system is saturated with creatine. You said 2-3 weeks, so it's possible that it is contributing to part of it.

You didn't say when you re-started your lifting routine, but water retention from exercise is common in the first few weeks as your body adapts to the new strain imposed upon it, retaining water/glycogen in the muscles.

canadianlbs

creatine itself doesn't promote muscle gain, to be clear. it just supplements [something or other technical] that your muscles use to do work. that gives you the ability to do a little more work before you gas out, so indirectly i guess you could say it 'promotes' growth. but only if you're doing the actual work.

to address your actual question: i weigh 130-140 and am a woman in my early 50's. even so, any time i re-start creatine after forgetting it for a while, i expect a couple more pounds to show up on the scale.