Exercise and weight gain?

IndigoElectron

I know weight loss is never predictable, and I'm trying to lose 'the last 8 pounds' but I put on a pound this week and am so disappointed. I ate healthy food like I normally do (though since I joined this site I realised I was going over my calories so tried to cut back) and really upped my exercise - I've done 2 yoga classes, 1 aerobics class, 15 minutes of jogging on the spot and 15 minutes of stretching since last Wednesday, plus I did extra walking on 4 days. And I've been drinking lots of water.

The lady who runs my weight loss class said it could be my body adjusting to the increased exercise, and that my muscles may be holding on to water. Does this sound right, or am I fooling myself? I couldn't find anything about it on the net.

IndigoElectron

I know weight loss is never predictable, and I'm trying to lose 'the last 8 pounds' but I put on a pound this week and am so disappointed. I ate healthy food like I normally do (though since I joined this site I realised I was going over my calories so tried to cut back) and really upped my exercise - I've done 2 yoga classes, 1 aerobics class, 15 minutes of jogging on the spot and 15 minutes of stretching since last Wednesday, plus I did extra walking on 4 days. And I've been drinking lots of water.

The lady who runs my weight loss class said it could be my body adjusting to the increased exercise, and that my muscles may be holding on to water. Does this sound right, or am I fooling myself? I couldn't find anything about it on the net.

melissa73

I could be that you have gained muscle...or water retention. Is it close to TOM? Don't get discouraged. You have done great.... They say that it is a lot harder to loose the last 10 lbs. Just keep doing what you have been doing and make sure you eat your exercise calories. You do not want your body to go into starvation mode... Good luck... There is a lot of help here and you are asking the right questions...

IndigoElectron

No it's not TOM, but songbyrdsweet advised me that it might be water retention due to the sudden increase in exercise, so I feel a bit better. I will have a good week and hopefully see the benefits next week. Thanks for the motivation speak too

songbyrdsweet

Yup, like I said in the other post, you're actually quite right about the water.

With the exception of activity lasting <30 sec., all activity requires energy produced from glycolysis, and glycolysis requires glucose. Glucose is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen, and the more we exercise, the more glycogen we can --and will-- store. Since our muscle cells can't share glycogen, they each have to hoard their own little store of it, and if we begin to tax them more than usually, they all will hold more to prepare for it.

Each gram of glycogen bonds with three grams of water, so just one g of glycogen actually weighs 4g! We can each hold several hundreds of grams of glycogen, so as you can imagine, that weight really adds up. Similarly, when we lose weight very quickly (like a couple lbs in a couple days), it's generally due to the loss of water and glycogen...as the glycogen is used, the water it was bonded to has to exit the body.

Don't worry so much about scale weight...plenty of people have gained or maintained weight and lost body fat over a period of time through gaining muscle mass and losing body fat. While muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, it takes up much less space, leaving you looking smaller at the same weight.

kjllose

Yeah don't feel bad and don't worry about the scale so much. With me it's how the clothes fit. I have been in a holding pattern for quite awhile, it kinda bugs me but I know what I have and haven't been doing and the exercise has kinda gone downhill for awhile. So I say good for you for doing all the exercise and you should feel great because you are doing something healthy for yourself! You'll get those last 8 lbs don't you worry.

Hey songbird, long time no see. You amaze me girl, you are like a walking encyclopedia, how do you remember all that?

IndigoElectron

Thanks I think I should take my measurements tomorrow so I can monitor them too. And I shall try to stop worrying about the pound I gained! I'm off to bed now, so good night

songbyrdsweet

Yeah don't feel bad and don't worry about the scale so much. With me it's how the clothes fit. I have been in a holding pattern for quite awhile, it kinda bugs me but I know what I have and haven't been doing and the exercise has kinda gone downhill for awhile. So I say good for you for doing all the exercise and you should feel great because you are doing something healthy for yourself! You'll get those last 8 lbs don't you worry.

Hey songbird, long time no see. You amaze me girl, you are like a walking encyclopedia, how do you remember all that?

Hey, thank you! I was actually gone for a week, I had to go to camp school and become a certified climbing director for my job starting up in a couple weeks. Unfortunately I don't remember eeeeverything haha...some stuff sticks better than others. But I keep my books close by so I can refresh my memory! :happy:

melissalynnlarue

Does increased exercise seriously cause some water retention?? That would explain something here...

songbyrdsweet

Does increased exercise seriously cause some water retention?? That would explain something here...

Yes, I promise, it does. Athletes actually take advantage of the fact that recently-worked muscles will store more glycogen. They purposely use up their glycogen stores through intense exercise, then carb-load...the muscles with supercompensate, or hold more than their previous maximum amount of glycogen. With that comes some tremendous water weight gain and round, full muscles. Plus it supports some killer workouts afterwards. It's not unheard of for people to gain 3-10 lbs depending on their muscle size.

kjllose

congrats on the new job songbird, see ya in the posts!~Karen