im gaining weight!!!! WTF!!!!

carbons2k

Ok so I started "dieting" and working out 9 days ago. With the exception of last weekend ive eaten really well and have been drinking a lot of water. I weigh myself everyday, which I shouldnt but I cant help it, its there. I weigh myself 1st thing in the morning after my morning routine. I have no idea why im going up in weight... even if it is only 1/2 a pound. I worked out a little harder yesterday too and I still went up 1/2. I feel like I should be further along than 5lbs down in 9 days. Please check out my diary too, let me know what you think. Ive come up short of calories everyday too! UGH this is so frustrating! I feel like Im gonna have to live in the gym 6hrs a day. These are my #'s since day 1

07/21/11 244.4
07/20/11 243.8
07/19/11 244.4
07/18/11 245.2
07/16/11 243.3
07/15/11 245.8
07/14/11 248.8
07/13/11 249.1

jkleman79

Man ya cant get all wrapped up in the weight thing especially if you are lifting at the gym. You are gonna fluctuate constantly. Its not a steady all down trip. I used to fluctuate up to 4 or 5 pounds weekly and then went over a month and never lost an ounce. Then in 3 weeks dropped 9 pounds all at one time. Its a big roller coaster that your body is going through to change. Its not all outside appearance that changes you could be having a lot of internal changes as well.

Its all good...take some stress away and weigh yourself once a week.

thetrishwarp

Maybe even if you feel the need to weigh every day, only record it once a week (the same day each week). I can be anywhere from 157-160 depending on the day/time of day...

lynnmarie60

I have a bad habit of weighing alot during the week to and the best time I found to weight yourself is a hour after you wake up on an empty bladder and stomach.

After I work out, I ususally weight more, probably from all the water I drink while doing so.

Also, in the beginning of my dieting I started gaining muscle weight but losing inches; did you do pre measurements?

mommyJto3

5 lbs in 9 days is great! you want to aim for 1-2 lbs a week.

you are also not eating enough. Men should be getting at least 1500 cals a day. i would add 2 snacks to your day that include lots of protein.

michelleion

Looking at your diary, it doesn't look like you're eating enough, you have hundreds of calories left over everyday. Try to eat at least your recommended calorie intake for the day, and some of your exercise calories if you feel you have accurately calculated them and you feel comfortable doing that (I eat most of mine every day). You seem to be eating good things, but not enough of it, your body needs to know you're not starving it so it can safely let go of that extra fat, otherwise it's just going to retain it all for later. Once you make sure you do this, keep logging and stick at it for just a bit longer (9 days isn't very long ) you'll see results to your liking.

ambie35

Its true,men especially of your size should be eating at least 1500 calories,and more when you exercise. Aside from the definite importance of more protein,have you tried tracking your sodium and water as these things can effect water weight. Also if you worked out "extra hard" and then weight yourself your muscles are definetly retaining fluid.

Biggipooh

My guess is, since you just started to work out, that your body retains a lot of water. You should weigh in on a fat, water, muscle, scale, to see were your gain mainly is.

brittanybee07

First of all, do not weight yourself more than once a week. It will drive you crazy. Your weight can fluctuate up to 5-8 pounds throughout the day. Due to the fact that you worked out hard yesterday, it is likely that your muscles are retaining water. This is normal and will cause you to see a higher number on the scale. the best time to weight yourself is the day after a "rest day" and right away in the morning after you use the bathroom. That will be your most accurate weight.

Hope this helps, don't get discouraged! You are doing great!

getfitdiva

Choose just 1 morning a week (the same time) to weigh yourself. Your body may fluctuate day by day because of previous high sodium day. I would also track my sodium and sugar on my diary.

lauriearias

I've found that once I start exercising and eating well it takes about two weeks to see any loss. I re-started my program about 4 weeks ago and it was very frustrating to not see immediate results - but now I see results every day. My husband and I just had this conversation about 10 minutes ago -he said the exact same thing - two weeks until anything started happening. I know it can make you want to quit, but hang in there!

laddyboy

Dude, you eat like a woman. No offense meant. Eat a little more...go up like 100-150 calories a day and see what that does.

Also, make you larger meals earlier in the day. Do resistance training if you're not already.

AZackery

Hi Carbons2k,

Don't focus on the scale weight and please stop weighing yourself everyday. That will only hurt you.

When a person weighs themselves everyday and see the numbers go up or down, it's water. A person can't lose fat or gain muscle in a day.

I weigh myself and take my measurements once a month. I don't focus on the scale weight. I focus on my body fat percentage and inches. I'm not aiming to lose scale weight. I'm aiming to lose pounds of fat. There's a difference between losing scale weight and pounds of fat.

kriscoates

If you are going to the gym a lot you are probably gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. Measure your body and see if you are getting smaller. Don't give up!

MrsTits

It won't be a "gain" gain. You need to eat an extra 3500kcals on top of your normal BMR intake to gain 1lb of fat. So any gain can't realistically be fat, it will be fluid.

Try weighing in before your work out for a start, straight out of bed and on the scales.

Also, if you're working out lots AND not eating your full allocation of cals, you're going to be seriously low on energy as whatever you're working off will come off your intake and your net cals will be really low.
I'm finding out the hard way that if you don't eat enough then your body won't lose, it will start storing and holding on to the weight to protect itself against being starved.

5lbs in 9 days is a great loss but you will start to struggle a lot if you don't eat more.

melcowenfitness

There's a couple of things you can do:

First, stop weighing yourself every day! You're just going to drive yourself crazy. If you really feel like you have to weigh yourself, only do it once a week. The scale can be so deceiving. You can be maintaining (or even gaining a little) weight but if your clothes are looser and you're looking more tone, does what the scale say really matter?

Second, eat the amount of calories you're supposed to every day. I quickly went through your diary over the last several days and it looks like you're eating about 1/2 the calories you're supposed to on most days. The harder you work out, the more your body is going to need those calories. If you don't give your body the fuel it needs, it's going to find it by using muscle as fuel. So, you're going to end up holding onto fat and weight while losing muscle mass. I had a hard time with this when I first started out. I, like most people, thought I had to cut down on how many calories I was taking in to see results. I actually found that when I did that, I was tired all the time and I stopped losing weight. I went from eating 1300 calories/day up to 1900 calories/day and started feeling so much better and began losing weight again. I'm a 5'3" female so 1900 calories is quite a bit. It's almost a year later, and I still eat very close to that amount (sometimes a little over), and I've been able to maintain my 28 pound weight loss.

Results come from two sources: working out and nutrition. If you're only doing the 1st part but ignoring the 2nd, you're not going to get the results you want. So here's my suggestion, up your calories for the next week and see what happens. Make sure to eat as cleanly as possible.

Keep me posted on how the next week goes. I bet you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Mel

carbons2k

Im cut down to 1840cals per day which i think is ok. The last few days ive eaten light bc i have been out of the office and didnt have time for break but I alwyas have my water with me. I feel like if I eat more, Im indulging and not "eating properly" If I work out and burn 400 calories, Should I eat 400 more or just eat my 1800 and thats it?

jkleman79

Yea man I know women that eat more than you do.. If you are trying to put on any muscle at all you need to up your food. At your size and at 1200 calories a day you are going to put yourself into Ketosis and you will get no where at all. You should NET a minimum of 1500 a day for a guy. When I had mine figured out my resting rate was 1950 calories a day if I slept on the couch all day long. Eat more for sure!!

carbons2k

ill try it for the rest of the week and weekend and see what happens. Ill weigh in again on monday. Funny think is I dont feel hungry...

AZackery

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. Well, let me say this, the only time that muscle weighs more than fat is if the pounds of muscles is higher than the pounds of fat. Muscle is heavier than fat. Heavier doesn't mean weighs more.

5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle will weigh the same. 5 pounds.

Just because a person has been working out and see a number increase on the scale, it doesn't mean they have gained muscle. It could be fat. That's why people need to track their body fat percentage and work the formula each time they weigh themselves.

Losing scale weight can mean you are losing muscle. Gaining scale weight can mean you are gaining fat.