Going to the gym and gaining weight

MiaAria00
MiaAria00 Posts: 3 Member
edited October 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi! I am 188 pounds now. 2 weeks ago I was 184 and also 2 weeks ago is when I started to go to the gym. I do cardio on the treadmill for 15 mins and then lift weights for 20 mins. I go to the gym 5x a week. After I get home from the gym. I am so hungry. I end up eating way more that my MFP calories of 1460. Before I was going to the gym I wasn’t eating dinner since I wasn’t that hungry. Is there any advice? I’m just worried that I’ll keep gaining the weight. Should I stop the gym?
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Replies

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Two things (or a few more)
    * on MFP you're supposed to eat your exercise calories back. You don't do a lot in the gym, so maybe.. 100-150 calories extra? No way of knowing exactly, but that you eat more is not bad as such.
    * how often do you weigh yourself, and how much weight have you gained in what period of time? Exercising leads to holding onto more water due to healing your muscles. This is normal, and it's not bodyfat, which is what you want to lose. So don't panic there. Also, what about a menstrual cycle? Various points in the cycle lead to holding onto more water than normal. Thus for that purpose 2 weeks are not enough. Wait it out for at least a whole menstrual cycle and compare to before.
    * oh yes, one more thing: are you weighing all your food on a food scale or how do you measure your food intake?
  • MiaAria00
    MiaAria00 Posts: 3 Member
    yirara wrote: »
    Two things (or a few more)
    * on MFP you're supposed to eat your exercise calories back. You don't do a lot in the gym, so maybe.. 100-150 calories extra? No way of knowing exactly, but that you eat more is not bad as such.
    * how often do you weigh yourself, and how much weight have you gained in what period of time? Exercising leads to holding onto more water due to healing your muscles. This is normal, and it's not bodyfat, which is what you want to lose. So don't panic there. Also, what about a menstrual cycle? Various points in the cycle lead to holding onto more water than normal. Thus for that purpose 2 weeks are not enough. Wait it out for at least a whole menstrual cycle and compare to before.
    * oh yes, one more thing: are you weighing all your food on a food scale or how do you measure your food intake?


    So, I weigh my self daily. I put all my weight into the app happy scale. Last saturday, i really noticed a jump on the scale and that was a full week of the gym and post eating. Okay I might wait for the menstrual cycle since it’s coming up soon.

    I do weigh my food although I mostly eat from places that that have calories so I can be lazy in my counting. Like starbucks, sweetgreen, or packaged foods.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,943 Member
    Ok, can I suggest you weigh yourself in the morning, naked, after going on the loo? This might give you better weight measurements because if you weight at various times of the day then how much food is still in your stomach starts to play a role, clothes do, and does hydration. Hey, weight yourself, then drink a big glass of water with a known weight and weight again. If your scale is fairly precise your weight will have gone up by that glass of water :)

    Also one thing to take into account: most places that post calories will actually give you a lot more food than what you should be getting to prevent people from complaining. Also, the guys preparing the food mostly just estimate, and they suffer from portion creep like all of us. Thus you might be eating a lot more than you think. But that's just something to check once you've come full (menstrual) cycle and can really compare your weight to the month before.

    On that note: I started strength training again 1.5 weeks ago. I only lost the excess water this morning (well, last night actually, featuring several nightly trips to the loo). Mind you, for me water weight from flying is even more sticky. Fly on vacation, hold only more water due to that, drop the weight maybe on the last vacation day two weeks later, fly home, rinse and repeat. yeah. That's bodies for you, and especially female bodies.
  • peggy_polenta
    peggy_polenta Posts: 325 Member
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,608 Member
    MiaAria00 wrote: »
    yirara wrote: »
    Two things (or a few more)
    * on MFP you're supposed to eat your exercise calories back. You don't do a lot in the gym, so maybe.. 100-150 calories extra? No way of knowing exactly, but that you eat more is not bad as such.
    * how often do you weigh yourself, and how much weight have you gained in what period of time? Exercising leads to holding onto more water due to healing your muscles. This is normal, and it's not bodyfat, which is what you want to lose. So don't panic there. Also, what about a menstrual cycle? Various points in the cycle lead to holding onto more water than normal. Thus for that purpose 2 weeks are not enough. Wait it out for at least a whole menstrual cycle and compare to before.
    * oh yes, one more thing: are you weighing all your food on a food scale or how do you measure your food intake?


    So, I weigh my self daily. I put all my weight into the app happy scale. Last saturday, i really noticed a jump on the scale and that was a full week of the gym and post eating. Okay I might wait for the menstrual cycle since it’s coming up soon.

    I do weigh my food although I mostly eat from places that that have calories so I can be lazy in my counting. Like starbucks, sweetgreen, or packaged foods.

    In addition to echoing what was said above about calories in bought meals, you might just need to play around with the timings of your food and your macros. Some people do find that exercise makes them really hungry (it’s one of the reasons some studies show that exercise can make you put on weight), so could you keep more calories back for straight after exercise? Make that your biggest meal? Some people also find protein and fat more filling, others carbs. Some people find carbs make them hungrier, whereas I get full and stay full on them. Could you keep a diary where you note how hungry you are and the macros you ate? You might star to see a pattern which could be easy to rectify.

    Again, think about which foods will fill you up after exercise. You can try to keep lower calorie food handy, as it’s easy to over-eat when you’re hungry and faced with temptation. Keep a diary and note which food is best for you ie is it a jacket potato or a chicken breast? Hunger is really individual and playing with your macros could make a big difference.

  • MiaAria00
    MiaAria00 Posts: 3 Member
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.

    Im curious as to how much time should i be doing cardio then? When i do 15 mins I do get tired and my heart rate goes up.

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,222 Member
    MiaAria00 wrote: »
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.

    Im curious as to how much time should i be doing cardio then? When i do 15 mins I do get tired and my heart rate goes up.

    If 15 minutes of cardio is tiring, then 15 minutes of cardio is reasonable. The way to increase fitness is to start with a manageable amount of challenge, then increase duration, intensity, or frequency as you get fitter (as that previous amount/intensity/frequency gets so easy it's not a challenge any more).

    There is no one right amount of exercise that applies to everyone. In the long run, most health authorities recommend aiming for at least 150 minutes weekly of moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise, or 75 minutes of more intense cardiovascular exercise, or a combination; plus at least two days of strength exercise weekly. But that's a thing to work up to, if just starting out, not a necessary starting point.

    I think what she's saying is just that that amount of exercise is not going to burn tremendous numbers of calories. That's not a big deal, as long as you don't dramatically overestimate the number of calories, and eat back the excess ones.

    I disagree with the PP that kind of exercise won't make a person hungry. Some people find that exercise makes them more hungry, and it seemingly can vary from one person to the next how much or what type of exercise causes that.

    I agree with claireychn074's suggestion that you experiment with food timing and types, and see if you can find a pattern that keeps you feeling more full most of the time. For some people, some carbs before or after exercise, or some protein after exercise, are things that help them feel more full. Those aren't universally the answer, but they're common enough experiences that they could be a good first thing to experiment with. At one point, I was taking a small snack in my gym bag to eat right after a workout, because I thought it helped me. (Later, I sort of evolved out of needing it.)

    Also, if you're just in the first month of your current eating and exercise routine, and haven't even been through a whole menstrual cycle, it's too soon to know your net results. Hormonal weight shifts over the full menstrual cycle can be pretty weird. Definitely weigh yourself at the same time daily (on getting out of bed, after the bathroom but before food/water is particularly good), rather than random times. Also, compare your weight at the same relative point in at least two different menstrual cycles to get a better idea of whether you're actually gaining or losing.

    However, if you're exceeding your calorie goal by lots on 5 days of the week, you may not be losing. By how much are you exceeding your calorie goal, and what weight loss rate did you tell MFP you wanted (pounds or kg per week)?

  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,985 Member
    It's NOT uncommon to gain weight the first couple of weeks of exercising if you didn't exercise before. Atrophied muscles are now "filling" up with water and glycogen in anticipation of continued workouts and also for muscle repair. If you continue consistently, the weight will start going down.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.

    I don't agree with this at all. I've been here 10 years and exercise a lot. I swim, walk, yoga, etc, so it's mixed up. However, when I go to the gym to do strength training, I'm ravenous all day after. It's not in my head. I have enough experience to know.

    I'm responding because some people may have this reaction and it's not just an excuse to overeat. So, be aware that it happens and prepare for it.
  • dragon_girl26
    dragon_girl26 Posts: 2,187 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.

    I don't agree with this at all. I've been here 10 years and exercise a lot. I swim, walk, yoga, etc, so it's mixed up. However, when I go to the gym to do strength training, I'm ravenous all day after. It's not in my head. I have enough experience to know.

    I'm responding because some people may have this reaction and it's not just an excuse to overeat. So, be aware that it happens and prepare for it.

    Same here. I've done a lot of cardio, but back when I was lifting regularly, I would be ravenous afterward.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited November 2022
    I used to think I was ravenous after swimming, but it turned out I was just thirsty. So I always had fluid on hand for immediately after swimming.

    When I had a gym membership, I used to bring a protein shake in a shaker cup and sip at it before, during, and afterwards. If I didn’t do that, I’d want to pick up a Boston cream donut at Dunkin’ Donuts as I drove home from the gym.

    But some forms of exercise really do increase my appetite. Specifically, snowshoeing.

    Oh, and I gained 7 pounds of water weight when I first started lifting weights. It came back off and kept going down within a few weeks.
  • Mardo2044
    Mardo2044 Posts: 4 Member
    I would suggest having a filling vegetable soup or something satisfying that you can eat first after you workout that will fill you up a little and then eat your lunch or dinner. It will give your body time to adjust and you to sense if you are needing more "fuel" or not. I have started drinking a full glass of water before eating even if I drank plenty before and during workout. Good luck, and it is great you are back at the gym!
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    edited November 2022
    peggy_polenta wrote: »
    15 min of cardio is nothing. maybe 150 calories if that but on a treadmill...more likely 100. 20 mins of weight training is not burning anything calorie wise. you shouldn't be 'so hungry' after that kind of work out. so i would think you are allowing your brain to convince you of something that is happening that is not and therefore allowing yourself to overeat because you have convinced yourself that the work out you are doing is significant so you consider if that is an excuse you are using to allow yourself overeat.

    THIS^^

    15 min of cardio on a treadmill, i would argue is not even 100 calories. i know this depends on speed and body composition though. i also think that 20 minutes of lifting would need to be significantly heavy weights to be impacting you the way you are describing as well. with very little time between sets, walking to find another machine, etc. i find it very difficult to believe that this kind of gym activity is burning so many calories that you are actually in need of more food. i think it sounds like a good exercise regiment for you though if you ARE able to stay within your calorie goal. try drinking a mug of hot water in the evenings.

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