scales shooting up?

becmarkwick

Hi There,

I'm on week two of stronglifts. I've eaten roughly 1500 calories a day - weigh my food etc, and jumped on the scale today to find it had gone up a kilo. Technically I realise this isn't possible unless I've either miraculously gained a kilo of muscle (body fat and lean muscle mass disagree), eaten 7000 calories more than my tdee (haven't pigged out on stuff so can't be possible), or I'm retaining water?

Is it normal for the scales to go up at first, and then to gradually either stay the same with body fat lowering, or to lower?

My clothes still fit nicely, and I feel I look better in them already - definately better posture at least.

I'm not sure if I should just ignore the scales for a month and keep logging my food to make sure I'm not falling into bad habits...and keep up with stronglifts?

Its such a shift from 1200 calories a day (which I never stuck to) and cardio (which I hated).

I'm 158cm tall and 68.5 kilos - so would like to shift a few kilos but not a tonne.

Thanks for your help.

hananah89

you're going to get some water weight with lifting. if you are counting and eating like you say you are then you'll be fine. It's only week 2. And if you only want to shift a few kilos you might consider eating a little more? The closer you are to goal the closer you should be eating at TDEE. Based on Scooby and your stats, you should eat around 2000 for a 10% reduction. Just a suggestion, so if it works for you now then stick at it. But congrats on starting!

Llamapants86

I notice a kilo or so gain after a particularly hard session as long as you aren't pigging out you should be fine. Also if you just went up from1200 cals you will gain some water weight from that because you are replenishing your glycogen stores.

jstout365

Lots of stuff can cause a kilo gain. Sodium, increased carbs, a heavy lifting session, PMS, and many other things. I would hold off on the scale for a few weeks if you can. Try and take photos and measurements as your progress.

becmarkwick

Thanks. Its as expected. Was good to hear sense from u guys though. I try to have some lower cal clean days ss I know I loosen the reigns on the weekends. I still log it though.

I had tacos for dinner so pretty salty.

sbarella

Lots of stuff can cause a kilo gain. Sodium, increased carbs, a heavy lifting session, PMS, and many other things. I would hold off on the scale for a few weeks if you can. Try and take photos and measurements as your progress.

This!
Once you start lifting, pics and measurements become the best gauge of your progress.

DianeinCA

I was so frustrated the first few months after I started: trying to find a calorie level where I'd lose consistently, beginning a workout plan, and sticking to both of them.

Now I realize that my slowish loss at first was more than likely water weight, as I'm averaging a whole bunch more calories now than I was then.

Keep at it, and take pix.