Exercising making my weight go up?

Toyya

So it seems really strange, but I've been exercising about 5-6 days a week and have been at about the same weight for like 2-3 months. It seems anytime I go a day or two without working out (like the last few days), my weight DROPS, by like .5-1lb/day. Then when I start working out again my weight goes back up to what it was before. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. It may just be a water weight thing, maybe I drink more water or my body retains more when I'm working out, but it just seems bizarre that my body seems so closely ties to my weight that it fluctuates by so much and so rapidly.

Any comments are welcome!

Thanks

ppiinnkkmmoonn

that just for a short time it will even itself out! promise went though the same thing when i started lifting weight and after the first week i went back to my weight and started dropping again. also you make sure you are not out eating your cal defecit either.

jetscreaminagain

Just speaking from my experience, not with any expertise or anything. When I JUST exercise and decide that I already eat healthy, so I'll continue to eat healthy and just add the exercise, I don't lose weight. When I exercise and at least keep track of what I eat, as I'm doing now, I'm losing weight.

This is what I think I'm doing when it is just exercise: I'm overestimating how much I'm burning with exercising and plain eating more. Oh, I ran for a mile or two, I can have seconds on whatever. Oh, I lifted weights, I can afford this candy bar. Its like getting a raise and spending it before you realize how much of it is gonna be taken out in taxes and benefits.

Right now, as I'm tracking food and exercise, I've learned that my ability to estimate a reasonable portion size for soup or ice cream or slice of meatloaf or lasagna has been WRONG. Quite the eye opener.

So for me, and maybe not you, when I was exercising and not losing weight it was because the exercise made me more hungry and gave me an excuse to eat more of the healthy food AND gave me a pass to eat poor quality food at the gas station or check out aisle or coffee house.

paulcoia

Exercising tones your muscles, and toned muscles have greater density than those that are untoned and therefore weigh more. Instead of thinking about weight exclusively, think of your ratio of fat to muscle as well. Toned athletes will look slim but may weigh much more than you do.

ppiinnkkmmoonn

by the way a pound is a pound point is mucle looks better i never get where people think muscle weighs more than fat it dosent t it just looks better and packed tighter but a pound is a pound.

dlcam61

by the way a pound is a pound point is mucle looks better i never get where people think muscle weighs more than fat it dosent t it just looks better and packed tighter but a pound is a pound.

Muscle is more dense. It is firmly packed where adipose tissue (fat cells) are not. My gym has one of those models of what 5 lbs of fat looks like, and one that is 5lbs of muscle. The fat is twice as big! So no a pound of muscle may not weigh more than a pound of fat, but when you start gaining muscle you don't always gain it at the same rate as you burn fat. So if you were to add an inch to your biceps of muscle tissue and lose an inch of fat, that is not the same weight ratio. So technically you would be gaining weight, but not fat weight.

Bottom line, muscle consumes more energy hanging out than fat does. Build that beautiful muscle and start taking measurements. That fat will start to come off faster down the road when that new muscle starts kicking up your metabolism. Just don't forget to add heart healthy cardio. That's been my secret weapon! Oh, and I have the same issue as you, so I wait a day or the morning of my next lifting day to weigh in. Usually I notice a gain because of post weight training fluid retention. Maybe you are the same :flowerforyou:

Toyya

Thanks for the responses! I actually don't use the exercise calorie credit to determine how much I should eat. I just eat less than a certain amount everyday if I exercise or not. So I'm not sure if that's the issue, I thought about the muscle mass issue, but I do I REALLY lose and gain a pound or 2 muscle mass within a day or two. Its not that I lose or gain weight, its that its so drastic is such a short amount of time. Maybe I'll speak with a nutritionist or something to see what could be causing this.

kwardklinck

When I had that problem before, I decreased my exercise to 3 times a week. The weight came off pretty quickly. As I got more used to the exercise, I slowly added days back on. Keep track of inches rather than pounds. My first two months on MFP, the scale showed no weight loss but I dropped a pant size.

BellaReina617

The best thing would be to have your measurements taken, is the best way to see where your losing and if your gaining muscle, I have the trainer at my gym help me once a month and also calculate my body fat %. It si so incouraging to see that I am making progress even if my weigh is not changing significantly

midwesthiker

I agree, take measurements. I wasn't for many months and could tell my clothes fit different but hardly any weight loss. I started measuring and have lost inches. Still only a few pounds, but I figure sooner or later the pounds will come off too. Don't get discouraged.