Weight gain with weights

Febgirl

Hi there,

In the last 7 days I've started getting serious about exercising - I've been doing the 30-day shred on alternate days with a gym workout the other days (20 - 30 mins cardio, 15 - 20 mins free weights). I've been eating well, staying within my calorie allotment, but have noticed a small gain on the scales.

I'm not particularly worried as I'm pretty sure it's due to the exercise and weight training, but how long before the scales start to show the effects of gaining muscle/reducing fat? Should I expect a loss on the scale next weigh in day? (Friday)

Thanks!

hroush

You will lose more fat than gain muscle. Make sure you eat back all your exercise calories since you'll be working out so much.

NoAdditives

You won't gain much, if any new muscle tissue if you are eating at a calorie deficit.

rileysowner

Since you a just starting you will likely gain some weight because of this http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis

The effects of the working out will take a while, and especially if you were completely sedentary before starting this you can and will gain some muscle even at a calorie deficit because you are so untrained but it won't be a huge amount or come very quickly. I am guessing, other than diet which is 80% of weight loss, you should see results in a couple of weeks.

Febgirl

Thank you so much for that link. Now that I'm into my second week hopefully I'll see a loss weigh in day on Friday, and if not will give it another week before re-evaluating. I'm on 1500 calories (before exercise) and burn between 200 - 300 calories most days with exercise, and generally eat at least half of the exercise calories back ,so I'm not starving myself. I figure since I'm on the 1-pound/week plan, rather than the faster 2 pounds/week (around 1200 calories) I can afford to not always eat all my exercise calories if that makes any sense?

rileysowner

You are welcome.

Febgirl

Just an update - I gained 300g (that's less than 1 pound I think?) but have lost 6cm (2.3 inches) from my waist since I started working out a little under 2 weeks ago!

Hopefully next week will see the scales start to move down but even not, I can't complain if the inches are reducing!

chevy88grl

Hi there,

In the last 7 days I've started getting serious about exercising - I've been doing the 30-day shred on alternate days with a gym workout the other days (20 - 30 mins cardio, 15 - 20 mins free weights). I've been eating well, staying within my calorie allotment, but have noticed a small gain on the scales.

I'm not particularly worried as I'm pretty sure it's due to the exercise and weight training, but how long before the scales start to show the effects of gaining muscle/reducing fat? Should I expect a loss on the scale next weigh in day? (Friday)

Thanks!

Also muscle tends to hold onto water while it is healing itself. So, it's normal to see a weight increase for a few days after using weights.

BigBoneSista

Just an update - I gained 300g (that's less than 1 pound I think?) but have lost 6cm (2.3 inches) from my waist since I started working out a little under 2 weeks ago!

Hopefully next week will see the scales start to move down but even not, I can't complain if the inches are reducing!

The inches are what you want to see more than the scale move. It means you are losing fat. The scale doesn't know the difference between muscle lost and fat lost. So keep an eye on those measurements.