first weight gain of the year......could it be muscle?

wannehunter85

So I have been losing weight for a while and am finally close to being where I want to be. I really dedicated myself over the last 6 months to logging everything into MFP and since october have lost about 25 pounds. This week I gained almost 2 pounds but with the way my clothes are sagging and the extra definition I see in my body, I have a feeling that this could be due to muscle exchange. How have people dealt with seeing the number go up on the scale?

I am not really disappointed because this is the first gain I've experienced this year other than at the very beginning of the year when I went on vacation, but dropped those 2 pounds quickly when I returned to my normal eating routine. But I am thinking about beginning to measure as well as record my weight to track my progress.

How often is it suggested that I measure. I weigh myself once per week in the morning, but I figure that may be too often for measuring.

Thanks in advance for any tips on this!

byersphyllis28

Measuring should only be done once or twice a month. Curves only measures once a month and weighs once a month. If your clothes are sagging and you gained it could be muscle. You should also think about what you had to eat that week. Was it healthy or did you cheat some? If you cheated, just cut back on calories for a couple of days and then go back to what you were doing that is getting the weight off of you. Sometimes it's just water gain. Usually nothing to worry about if it only happens once in a while. Congrats on how well you have been doing.

Francl27

Water weight. You can't build 2 lbs of muscle eating at a deficit. It will go away in a few days. Totally normal.

wannehunter85

It could be the weekend since I went camping and ate a lot of bbq meat. More meat than is normally in my diet. I am back to normal now so I will see how the next few weeks go. Thanks for the tip.

Mr_Knight

It's not muscle.

But adding measuring to the routine is a good idea anyway.

wannehunter85

okay I understand the idea of not gaining on a deficit, but why couldn't it be an exchange of muscle? Like body re-composition? I am still new to these kind of topics so any light shed would be very helpful! Thanks.

Aaron_K123

You can gain muscle with loss of fat at a calorie deficit but it would never show up as a gain in scale weight. Also if you manage to put on 1 pound in muscle in 1 month you are doing very very well, putting on several pounds of muscle over a period of days is just not possible. Muscle is a slow gain you can lose fat much quicker. Chances are the BBQ you had had a lot of salt and as a result you retained a lot of water which you eventually flushed.

wannehunter85

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense to my confused brain!

Mischievous_Rascal

Let me get this straight. That was your first BBQ in six months?!? I would well and truly go mad without grilled meat on a regular, weekly basis...

memabetts

Since winter is almost over and if you have increased your activities, it could be that you are gaining muscle. Muscle does weight more then fat the scale will balance out. Stay on track. I had a knee replacement in 11/13 and my activities. I have increased during the last 4 weeks the scale has stayed the same for two weeks. However, the clothes are loser. Clothes don't lie.
I asked my physical therapist about it. She said: think of your muscles as a lose yarn.... as you roll the yarn into a ball it gets tighter and firmer... that is what is happening to our muscles when you increase activity. The scale is not our friend it is only a tool to help us along the way... judge on how you are feeling and your pants sagging in the butt..

wannehunter85

Thanks! hahhahahaa. Yeah I haven't had a bbq since maybe october? But now that Taiwan is getting warm again I will be grilling more chicken in the coming weeks.

wannehunter85

I will just make sure to up my water this week. Which isn't hard since its getting warmer