Frustrated With Strength Training

bringingsexyback2007

I've been losing weight since January. Every week when I weigh myself, I have always lost weight. A few weeks ago, I started adding in a very light amount of weights a few days a week and I haven't lost a single pound since. My eating is 100% the same as when I was losing and so is my exercise, other than adding weights. I haven't gained any weight, but that's all I have going for me at this point. It is super frustrating and really turning off my desire of using weights. Any advice?

flutatious1

Start taking measurements. When you start building muscle, you get smaller but may not lose as much weight because muscle is denser and weighs more than fat. I actually weigh more after a killer lifting session. After some time you'll see major changes and start feeling strong and awesome. Wait.... just wait.
Check out New Rules of Lifting for Women.

flutatious1

Plus building muscle ups your metabolism and burns more calories post lifting session.

mom22dogs

The lack of weightloss is actually most likely due to water weight. When you start weight lifting, you start retaining a lot of water to help repair your muscles. It will eventually even out and you'll see a loss if you keep up your deficit. You haven't gained any weight due to building muscle - it takes a long time to build muscle to actually add any real weight.

JusticejamesbMBA

@Flutatious1 and @mom22dogs hit it out of the park, those reasons are exactly why you're not losing weight. I would like to add, you can lift and maintain water weight if you're eating a high carb diet. Cut your carbs to < 100 daily, and that water weight will fall off. Plus, what type of weightlifting are you doing? Someone just starting should be focusing on squatting and deadlifts, trying to build your Gluteus Maximus, and doing full-body weight exercises.

ramskermfc

I'd agree with the comment about water weight. The lifting will make you retain some water and, especially if you are sore, your body is holding onto some fluid most likely. Give it some time to level out and see how it goes. Over a longer period of time as you start to build some muscle, you also may find that the weight loss plateaus as you get more lean.

I highly recommend taking measurements and especially progress pics. It's really hard to see changes week to week or month to month in a mirror. Comparing pictures and measurements really help to see where you are making progress, or not.

bbell1985

It can be frustrating. But trust me, it will pay off. Take pictures and measurements and be patient. Because I lift and am relatively lean, I can struggle to cut weight BUT...two pounds makes a big different when ya got muscle.

jenniferinfl

bringingsexyback2007 wrote: »

I've been losing weight since January. Every week when I weigh myself, I have always lost weight. A few weeks ago, I started adding in a very light amount of weights a few days a week and I haven't lost a single pound since. My eating is 100% the same as when I was losing and so is my exercise, other than adding weights. I haven't gained any weight, but that's all I have going for me at this point. It is super frustrating and really turning off my desire of using weights. Any advice?

There are a bunch of things that could be at play here. If you are only weighing weekly, are you weighing the day after your weight training? I really only experienced fluid retention the day after and usually just leg day. I don't know what it is about leg day, but, they sure like to hold water for a day or so after.

Another option, do you log your strength training and eat back those calories? If you do, try switching it up and just eating half those calories back if you are eating them. If you aren't eating them, no reason to start.

Have you lost around or more than 10% of your starting body weight? Some people experience a bit of a metabolic slowdown right after that particular landmark. It's usually not too much, just a couple hundred calories or so, but if that coincides with around the time you started strength training than it could be a combination of the two. For me it tends to happen right around the 10% mark, but, easy enough to counteract either with a bit more activity or a smidgen less food.

Did you change a food you eat? I know you said it's the same, but, sometimes food products have inaccurate label information. If you switched brands of a food you eat regularly, that could be the case. (Had it happen to me with some frozen chicken I was eating, should have been suspicious that it was magically 50 calories less than similar stuff)

Light strength training really shouldn't cause much water retention at all. However, strength training may mean that you are retaining lean tissue you might have lost otherwise. Lean tissue is what uses most of the calories, so you want to keep as much of it as possible. You usually can't add new muscle at a deficit, but, you can keep more of what you do have. If you sacrifice a couple weeks of weight loss to start a new habit that causes you to retain more lean tissue, then, it's really a win in the longterm. A lot of people don't realize that when you lose weight for awhile, you typically lose some muscle mass along with fat and water weight.

Don't try to change too much at once. I would give it another week at what you've been doing to eliminate the likelihood that it's just water retention. After that, I would be tempted to cut a couple hundred more calories or add another couple hundred calories of activity, whichever works best for you and see what happens.

Of course, all of this is a shot in the dark as I have no idea what you are eating or how low your calories are already set.

sardelsa

Sounds like water retention in the muscles due to weight training. This happened to me when I changed lifting programs, my weight shot up 2 lbs and it didn't start to come down until 6-7 weeks after. But during that time I just kept going... I tracked measurements, took progress photos which indicated I was making progress despite what the scale said.

Whatever you do, try not to get discouraged and don't stop lifting.. believe me, so so soooo worth it in the end.