Working so hard... GAINED 6lbs in a week.

Jorra

It is impossible to gain 6 pounds of muscle in one week. It is nearly impossible to gain any muscle at all on a calorie deficit.

TeresaC79

So, it might be because I'm using a different scale, but I just bought a new scale that says I've gained 6lbs... This is my first week with MFP, my first week really changing my diet and working out.

Today is day 4 of doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and I've been really pushing it and I was super pumped for my weigh in day because my clothes are fitting better.... and I've GAINED 6lbs!! In a week!!

I'm super discouraged and don't know what's going on.

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

no no no.

muscle does NOT weight more then fat.

a pound is a pound is a pound. muscle is denser. but a pound of fat is the same as a pound of muscle.

vettle

you didn't gain 6 pounds. think about how many extra calories that would be.

scales are relative. You have to pick one and stay with it. if you got a new one and will be sticking with it, sorry to say but you gotta enter your new weight and go with it. If it really bothers you, then adjust your starting weight on here so it will show you have lost the same amount of pounds.

MandyMarie01

water weight is most likely the culprit.

i bought a new scale and said i was 4 pounds less so i returned it (wow i know)

you will gain weight when you start a new exercise program just stick with it, and find you a good measuring tape

vettle

I'm pretty sure you didn't gain it in fat, so don't stress . To gain 6 lbs of fat in a week, you would have had to have eaten about 21000 calories more than your maintenance calories over the course of the week or 3000 per day over all of the calories you burned through BMR, normal daily activity and exercise.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Even with eating my earned calories (and I don't even eat near them all) I'm still less than my BMR...

I can't check on my other scale until tomorrow night. I've never owned a scale of my own so I've been using my mom's up until today. But I'm not expecting it to be much different if any... I'll stick it out for another couple weeks, hopefully things will change. It made me feel like all this work was for nothing.

By the way - never EVER eat below your BMR...EVER!!! that's eating less than your body needs when it's in a coma laying in bed all day. and that's just silly. you want to eat below your AMR, which is your BMR+ the calories you burn doing daily activities, PLUS your exercise calories that you have earned (as MFP doesn't build that into your daily goals)

redlion45

I'm pretty sure you didn't gain it in fat, so don't stress . To gain 6 lbs of fat in a week, you would have had to have eaten about 21000 calories more than your maintenance calories over the course of the week or 3000 per day over all of the calories you burned through BMR, normal daily activity and exercise.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Even with eating my earned calories (and I don't even eat near them all) I'm still less than my BMR...

I can't check on my other scale until tomorrow night. I've never owned a scale of my own so I've been using my mom's up until today. But I'm not expecting it to be much different if any... I'll stick it out for another couple weeks, hopefully things will change. It made me feel like all this work was for nothing.

You answered your own question. Scale differences aside- and there can be big diferences - keep in mind that scales are helpful tools, but they don't tell you everything. If you know you didn't over eat by 3500 x whatever the scale said, it's not added fat. Working muscles take in water to repair themselves; digestive and female changes add water weight that isn't really weight gain.

Muscle can be added that is actually heavier than fat, so you can shrink in size but not weight. There are lots of reasons not to get hung up on the scale.

Stay the course if you think you are on track and you will get results! Good luck! :bigsmile:

Kellysmom78

It's enough to drive you mad and it almost had me totally discouraged today! In two months all I have lost is 3 lbs, (ands that's working at the gym, 5 days a week for 2 hrs) but that doesn't count the 4lbs I added back, about to take a hammer to the scales! Thanks for posting this because I needed to read all of it also! Keep at it!

ElHombre23

My scale is up a bit but I lost another half an inch from my stomach keep trucking forward you'll get there...BTW I use to stress over scale readings I'm learning to just understand fluctuations...

devonette

I don't know if it's true of all scales, but I think most are still adjustable. If you want to weigh yourself based on what you've been weighing on Mom's scale, you need to get your scale synched with hers. If possible, weigh yourself on your mother's scale just before you go back to your own house (if she lives relatively nearby). Then weigh yourself on your own scale when you get home. Most importantly, don't eat or drink anything, don't use the bathroom, and make sure you are wearing the exact same clothing at both weigh ins. If the weight is different on your new scale, then either a) use the adjustment feature on your scale to make the weights agree if it has one, b) just manually subtract the difference each time you get weighed (the difference between the scales will always be the same), or c) accept the weight on your new scale as it is for a new starting point and don't use your mom's scale going forward.

majordlite

Hang in there...it sounds as if you're making great headway. Forget the scale and concentrate on how your clothes are fitting better!

jenj1313

It's got to be the scale. Ignore it for now, drive on, and weigh in next week. If your clothes are fitting more loosely, then it's doubtful you gained.

coolb

The engineer in me wants to clear something up - 1lb of muscle is only the same as 1lb of fat on the scales. Of course they weigh the same but they will be vastly different in size. Muscle is more dense that fat so 1 lb of muscle is smaller in size than 1lb of fat. ie. a cup of fat will weigh less than a cup of muscle. This explains why you might not see the scale move in the right direction for the first few weeks of an exercise/diet plan yet clothes will start to fit better.

jetscreaminagain

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

You've seriously been here since 2009 and you posted that? What are you thinking? You KNOW she doesn't actually think the unit of measurement changes. You KNOW she's actually talking about density. Eleventy bazillion threads since the time you started on muscle weighs more than fat/a pound is a pound is a pound. But you did this anyway? Seriously? Since 2009, and it is still an unsettled matter for you? And now we're gonna down this road for the rest of the thread. Dear. Lord.

Sarauk2sf

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

Actually, in this context she is not right on the rest. You do not gain 6lb of muscle in a week.

DrBorkBork

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

Actually, in this context she is not right on the rest. You do not gain 6lb of muscle in a week.

I was saying she was right on the rest "Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! "
who the heck gains 6 lbs of muscle in a week? I'd like to know what they're doing if they do it!

DrBorkBork

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

You've seriously been here since 2009 and you posted that? What are you thinking? You KNOW she doesn't actually think the unit of measurement changes. You KNOW she's actually talking about density. Eleventy bazillion threads since the time you started on muscle weighs more than fat/a pound is a pound is a pound. But you did this anyway? Seriously? Since 2009, and it is still an unsettled matter for you? And now we're gonna down this road for the rest of the thread. Dear. Lord.

Maybe they didn't realize it.
SMH that you're flipping out over something so trivial :P

ladyraven68

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

You've seriously been here since 2009 and you posted that? What are you thinking? You KNOW she doesn't actually think the unit of measurement changes. You KNOW she's actually talking about density. Eleventy bazillion threads since the time you started on muscle weighs more than fat/a pound is a pound is a pound. But you did this anyway? Seriously? Since 2009, and it is still an unsettled matter for you? And now we're gonna down this road for the rest of the thread. Dear. Lord.

I love it when someone responds with , "No, muscle just takes up less space", when actually, an inch of fat takes up just as much space as an inch of muscle.

Everyone knows, or should know by now, that when people say muscles weigh more, they mean by volume, I have never ever seen anyone actually state that 1lb of muscle weighs more than 1lb of fat, but that's the bit pedants try to refute - Madness!

DrBorkBork

Y'can kinda see where the whole thought came from, though. When people are slender and toned, they are obviously smaller and weigh less than someone who is morbidly obese and sedentary.
Please someone tell me you understand what I'm trying to say here. I'm not always the best at explaining my thought process. (Thank heavens for my husband who I can make a random noise at and he knows it means cookie, lol)

TeresaC79

You have to remember that muscle weighs more. If you are exercising hard and your clothes fit you better....................... that is not weight gain............... it is muscle. Muscle raises your metabolism which is half the battle. With a new scale, you need to forget what you weighed prior. Today is a new day. Do not get discouraged! You are doing GREAT!!!! :bigsmile:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. That's like saying 1 lb of bricks weighs more than 1 lb of feathers. A pound is a pound. Muscle takes up less space. You're right on with the rest. The fact that the OP is still trucking along despite a discouraging week proves that she's pretty fabulous

You've seriously been here since 2009 and you posted that? What are you thinking? You KNOW she doesn't actually think the unit of measurement changes. You KNOW she's actually talking about density. Eleventy bazillion threads since the time you started on muscle weighs more than fat/a pound is a pound is a pound. But you did this anyway? Seriously? Since 2009, and it is still an unsettled matter for you? And now we're gonna down this road for the rest of the thread. Dear. Lord.

over reaction much?

darrcn5

It's the scale. When I replaced mine, I gained 4 pounds overnight. Apparently my old one was weighing in low!