5x5 strong lift, cardio, deficit and logging.....help?

JTick

I'm also doing 5x5, and feel your pain about the scale. I started when I weighed about 194, and had just broken under 200 for the first time in years. My weight plateaued for at least a month while doing some crazy fluctuations...193, up to 195, to 192, to 198. It was very frustrating especially since I never wanted to see 200 again. I stuck with it, kept lifting, and stayed in a deficit. All of a sudden, boom, 188 and dropping. Hang in there, it really is just your muscles trying to adjust, and you should probably expect it to be that way for about a month.

DavPul

is there anything I can do about the water retention other than drinking lots of water?

Why do you care? Do you have to weigh in for a wrestling or boxing match or something? If you didn't gain 7lbs of fat then you haven't reversed a month's worth of weight loss. If anything, the extra water retention in your muscles gives them a larger appearance, improving your aesthetics.

i care because I cannot see any other results. measurements havent changed. Even after losing the 30lbs before starting the weights my measurements havent changed. The scale has been the only number to change. So now that that is going in the wrong direction, I have no other matrix to mark improvement.

Results? It's been a week. You're not supposed to be seeing any results

peeaanuut

2,632 is what the BMR calculator on MFP has. I have it set to sedentary as I sit at a desk all day. I do go to the gym about 6 days a week, but that is my only workout time as of now.

I just redid the numbers and it says 2290 now and set at 2 lbs a week loss.

For cardio, I burn between 400 and 1000 depending on the day. For example. I rode my bike to the gym last night. 4.5 miles and my HRM said 603 calories burned for 35 minutes or riding. I know that that is probably a little bit high, but it was a tough ride for me on the mountian bike. Other workouts like swimming for 45 minutes says about 800 calories at a pretty steady consistance rate. Others would be walking on the treadmill, rowing or biking in the gym.

DopeItUp

is there anything I can do about the water retention other than drinking lots of water?

Why do you care? Do you have to weigh in for a wrestling or boxing match or something? If you didn't gain 7lbs of fat then you haven't reversed a month's worth of weight loss. If anything, the extra water retention in your muscles gives them a larger appearance, improving your aesthetics.

i care because I cannot see any other results. measurements havent changed. Even after losing the 30lbs before starting the weights my measurements havent changed. The scale has been the only number to change. So now that that is going in the wrong direction, I have no other matrix to mark improvement.

Take measurements in 2 months from now and see how you feel about the results. A week is a drop in the bucket - not much, if anything is going to happen in that time period.

peeaanuut

is there anything I can do about the water retention other than drinking lots of water?

Why do you care? Do you have to weigh in for a wrestling or boxing match or something? If you didn't gain 7lbs of fat then you haven't reversed a month's worth of weight loss. If anything, the extra water retention in your muscles gives them a larger appearance, improving your aesthetics.

i care because I cannot see any other results. measurements havent changed. Even after losing the 30lbs before starting the weights my measurements havent changed. The scale has been the only number to change. So now that that is going in the wrong direction, I have no other matrix to mark improvement.

Results? It's been a week. You're not supposed to be seeing any results

I worded it incorrectly. I know the numbers isnt going to go down dramatically, im worried because the number is going up. If I stayed stagnant or went up a lb I would be fine, but 7lbs is significant in 4-5 days.

peeaanuut

I'm also doing 5x5, and feel your pain about the scale. I started when I weighed about 194, and had just broken under 200 for the first time in years. My weight plateaued for at least a month while doing some crazy fluctuations...193, up to 195, to 192, to 198. It was very frustrating especially since I never wanted to see 200 again. I stuck with it, kept lifting, and stayed in a deficit. All of a sudden, boom, 188 and dropping. Hang in there, it really is just your muscles trying to adjust, and you should probably expect it to be that way for about a month.

pretty much what is going to have to happen for now. Im just gonna have to ride it out I guess. But if I hit 400lbs again, im gonna jump off a bridge or you know, eat a few hamburgers.

jofjltncb6

I'm also doing 5x5, and feel your pain about the scale. I started when I weighed about 194, and had just broken under 200 for the first time in years. My weight plateaued for at least a month while doing some crazy fluctuations...193, up to 195, to 192, to 198. It was very frustrating especially since I never wanted to see 200 again. I stuck with it, kept lifting, and stayed in a deficit. All of a sudden, boom, 188 and dropping. Hang in there, it really is just your muscles trying to adjust, and you should probably expect it to be that way for about a month.

pretty much what is going to have to happen for now. Im just gonna have to ride it out I guess. But if I hit 400lbs again, im gonna jump off a bridge or you know, eat a few hamburgers.

+1 for patience.

And for what it's worth, I'm a relatively lean guy and my weight has fluctuated as much as six pounds in a 24 hour period. Scale weight it ridiculously volatile. Don't put so much reliance on that number and give what sounds like a reasonably solid approach a chance to work its magic. Months, not weeks and especially not days.

BeachGingerOnTheRocks

I have to chime in with the time thing and the necessity for the water retention.

You want the water retention right now. Repeat. You WANT the water retention right now. You want your muscles to repair. You want to develop/hold on to that lean mass. You want strength gains. You want to gain 7-10 pounds of water weight on the scale because it means your muscles are doing what they should be doing and that you are serious with your workouts.

A month from now, you'll start having the losses kick in. It might be a pound here or there, or you might drop 10 pounds in 2 days and have it not come back.

Being slow, methodical, and comprehending what the combination of strength and cardio is going to do for you is far more important than an immediate decrease in the scale.

If you keep eating at 2240 plus cardio, and be consistent, there is no way you're going to see that scale keep crawling up after this initial month. The key is consistency.

Lock your scale in the trunk of your car until September 15.

ArroganceInStep

2,632 is what the BMR calculator on MFP has. I have it set to sedentary as I sit at a desk all day. I do go to the gym about 6 days a week, but that is my only workout time as of now.

I just redid the numbers and it says 2290 now and set at 2 lbs a week loss.

For cardio, I burn between 400 and 1000 depending on the day. For example. I rode my bike to the gym last night. 4.5 miles and my HRM said 603 calories burned for 35 minutes or riding. I know that that is probably a little bit high, but it was a tough ride for me on the mountian bike. Other workouts like swimming for 45 minutes says about 800 calories at a pretty steady consistance rate. Others would be walking on the treadmill, rowing or biking in the gym.

Stick with what you're doing for 3 more weeks. If you see no changes try changing your activity level to moderate activity and not eating back your exercise calories.

Wait the full 3 weeks though.

khloee1

Hang in there! I too started strong 5x5 about 4 weeks ago. And at first...the damn scale said I gained weight! So I got upset, frustrated and was lacking motivation. But I stuck it out and guess what.....I see muscle! My clothes fit better, I feel better and the scale dropped a few pounds. Not as much as I would like but I look leaner (which is what matters). I do step on the scale every day (bad habit) but I don't let it run or ruin my journey. Lifting ROCKS!! I love it! I know I will be Strong, Fit and Healthy...Even if the scale says otherwise. Just hang in there! :drinker:

Ta11asan

I'm also doing 5x5, and feel your pain about the scale. I started when I weighed about 194, and had just broken under 200 for the first time in years. My weight plateaued for at least a month while doing some crazy fluctuations...193, up to 195, to 192, to 198. It was very frustrating especially since I never wanted to see 200 again. I stuck with it, kept lifting, and stayed in a deficit. All of a sudden, boom, 188 and dropping. Hang in there, it really is just your muscles trying to adjust, and you should probably expect it to be that way for about a month.

Happened the exact same way for me.

EricCowperthwaite

Hey OP, hang tough! Seriously, keep up the cardio and lifting, both. I am much smaller than you, about 5'8" and 195. I started lifting 2 weeks ago. Actually, changed my entire routine from what had been 5x week high intensity (Insanity, Focus T25, that kinda thing) to lifting 3x week, walking 5x week, sprints 1x week. I'm using New Rules of Lifting, not SL5x5, but that doesn't really matter. Point is, in my first week of that new regimen I gained 5 lbs. I was eating at a 400 cal/daily deficit and only eating back half my walking calories.

Physiologically it is impossible to gain 5 lbs of muscle and fat in one week. That would require that I ate roughly 15,000 calories in surplus. Instead, as folks have noted, you are seeing your body retain water.

This week I have now lost all those 5 lbs. I really should have never looked at the scale.

Here's what I learned:

- Eat carbs 30 min before lifting, preferably fruits and berries, gives you a boost of glycogen/glucose for best lifting energy
- Eat protein within 30-60 min after lifting, some sort of protein shake is probably the easiest/best choice. But chicken breast would be just fine too. This really helps with starting the muscle recovery.
- Increase your water and sodium intake, helps with not retaining so much water.
- eat consistently (that appears to be the case already for you)
- Be patient, you are doing the right things and they WILL have an effect

The comments made by others about water retention, glycogen storage, and muscle recovery are right on. That is almost certainly where the weight gain came from.

I learned my lesson, I'm staying off the scale until the end of NRoL Break-In. Will weigh and measure during rest week, then stay off the scale in the next phase, weigh and measure during rest week, etc.

bwright9752

Anything worth doing takes longer than a week. Good luck.

I can think of at least one thing that is worth doing that doesn't take a week ;-)

OP - One more bit of advice. Now that you started lifting and will officially become a beast, you may have to change your camera goal. It will help with the motivation.

FattieBabs

I can understand your worry. I started lifting seriously about 4 months ago. During that time the scales have only dropped about 5 pounds, but, I have dropped inches and a dress size. I have had a lot of compliments re how I look now and cant wait to start the next stage. If your concern is purely the scales than give up the lifting and drop 2 pounds a week. BUT, you will have a lot of lose skin if you do this. I find it very frustrating that the scales are slow to shift and I drink masses of water. But, I feel a lot better. Stick at it for a month and see if you get results..... Good luck!

peeaanuut

alright, im just gonna have to ride it out. At least today is a rest day and I can do some riding and swimming.

Thank you all for the tips and sorry about the rage. I just get so frustrated seeing lbs adding up after I worked so hard to get them off.

PikaKnight

is there anything I can do about the water retention other than drinking lots of water?

Why do you care? Do you have to weigh in for a wrestling or boxing match or something? If you didn't gain 7lbs of fat then you haven't reversed a month's worth of weight loss. If anything, the extra water retention in your muscles gives them a larger appearance, improving your aesthetics.

i care because I cannot see any other results. measurements havent changed. Even after losing the 30lbs before starting the weights my measurements havent changed. The scale has been the only number to change. So now that that is going in the wrong direction, I have no other matrix to mark improvement.

It's been 7 days! Changes in routine and diet take about 4-6 weeks for your body to adjust to. And QUIT relying on the scale so much! It's been said a hundred thousand times and it's fact. the scale is so unreliable when it comes to tracking progress.

PikaKnight

alright, im just gonna have to ride it out. At least today is a rest day and I can do some riding and swimming.

Thank you all for the tips and sorry about the rage. I just get so frustrated seeing lbs adding up after I worked so hard to get them off.

Is today an off day (non-lifting but still workout day)? Or a rest day? For rest days....REST. You can do active rest days where you go on a walk or do yoga..but riding and swimming doesn't sound like a rest day..more an off day where you focus on cardio versus strength. If so..just make sure you do get in a rest day a week.

peeaanuut

yeah, its an off day. I have a full rest day usually on saturday where i get in about a 1 mile walk and thats it. Schedule has been looking like this

Sunday - Lift (5x5 and lats)
Monday - Rowfit Class
Tuesday - Swim or Bike or both
Wednesday - lift (5x5 and lats)
Thursday - Bike or Swim or Walk or whatever my fancy
Friday - lift (5x5 and lats)
Saturday - rest

Im doing the lats because i want to do a pullup finally.

stevesilk

I know you dare. You wouldn't be opening yourself up like this if you weren't and I compliment you on that. Here's a couple of points

1. Sodium is not your friend. It works against you because you retain water with too much.

2. Water is your friend because it helps you wash out waste products. And for Fat loss, you need to be drinking plenty (figure .5 oz per lb of weight).

3. Weightlifting, especially heavy lifting, will supercharge your results. If you can maintain muscle lass while you are losing, you'll be significantly ahead when you get down.

4. Weightlifting will not cause you to put on weight quickly. That's water more than likely. And as long as you are tracking well, and it sounds like you are, you'll see that come off quickly. Remember that this is a long process, and reality is 1-2 pounds per week.

5. I would recommend measurements as well as weight measuring. I know you are going by the scale, but your weight can be impacted even by what time of day you measure. I always weigh myself in the AM. No exceptions because I know that later will be a different overall measurement.

6. Lastly, whether you have gone to the bathroom has an impact, especially when you are early into a new eating regimen. I know this is a gross subject, but this makes a difference. If I haven't gone for a day or two, that can add ## to my numbers.

In any event, don't give up. Patience and persistence are the keys right now. Sounds like you're doing the right things in a lot of areas. Don't let short term issues sidetrack you from your goal.

stevesilk

Oh and one other point. Your goal now is weight loss. You are lifting to prevent further muscle loss, so increasing your protein intake (cut some carbs out) to assist that. Protein after your workout and before bed, assuming you have the extra calories in your plan.

As you lose fat, your lifting will help prevent your body using your muscles as fuel, and that will help your metabolism as you get leaner over the next several months.

ScubyUK

When lifting... your preserving muscle and burning off fat... go with tape measure... not scales...

THIS in big flashing neon lights!