More muscle = weight gain?

Annadel

Hi Folks

My weight is going up by almost .5 lbs per week. I am doing a lot if Excercise. Nothing drastically diff. I do look a lot muscular than I used too. Am I gaining muscle or just getting fat again?

icculus19

more than likely youu are gaining muscle. whats your diet like? are you maintianing running a cal deficit or cal surplus? i ask because if you are running a cal surplus you may be adding fat but i doubt that. you are probably just adding more leaner muscle. if you are concerned about the weight gain simply lower the weight you are lifting and up the reps a bit

Nana_Booboo

I love the transformation of losing fat and gaining muscle.
fact is a pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle but a pound of fat is, if you can visualize 4 sticks of butter all in a blob and muscle is more like a small sweet potato so on your body you will look smaller even if the scale is going up or staying the same.
Use a measuring tape if you are exercising/weight lifting to see the change if you need too.

don't worry to much about that number on the scale, it's just a measure of your gravity

Keep up the good work.

jppd47

What exercises are you doing and are you eating a deficit. Whats your history with these exercises, are you new to it or been doing its while?

DopeItUp

You didn't post your diary and you didn't mention if you were eating above maintenance for the purpose of gaining muscle. I see you still have a little ways to go so I'm guessing you're eating at a deficit and I doubt you're gaining .5lbs of muscle a week (or any at all). That's pretty hard/impossible to do for a woman. Are you taking measurements? How do they look?

Annadel

Good idea. I just use dumbells. 8 lbs. not too much. But I do see women in my class using 10-12 lbs but still very lean?

Annadel

Well my diet is so clean now, I possible couldn't be adding fat? I do 30 min cardio everyday. 2-3 times yoga for an hr. 2 times strength training class.

wellbert

water retention. muscle? maybe .5 per month if obese and calorie cut isn't big.

jppd47

I ask only cause it is tough to add muscle eating a deficit, especially for females. And hypertrophy usually takes around 6-8 weeks. If your strength training is heavy for you and your adding weight overtime you will gain muscle with a good diet.

You could also be retaining more water if your doing tougher and new workouts. And if you've been eating more salt and carbs, you will probably retain more water as well

Annadel

Should I up cardio? I think am not doing enough cardio...

mustgetmuscles1

Should I up cardio? I think am not doing enough cardio...

Nobody can give you an accurate answer until we know how many calories you are taking in and how many you are burning. My guess is that you are in a calorie deficit so muscle or fat gain is highly unlikely. My guess is that what you are seeing is water weight do to an increase in exercise. Water helps muscles recover and it is normal to gain some.

You can still gain weight while eating so called "clean" foods. So if you are eating over your maintenance calories you could be gaining muscle and/or fat. Until we see your diary no one can really help you much.

Annadel

I eat about 1500 calories a day. I dont track them on here as often.,

mustgetmuscles1

I eat about 1500 calories a day. I dont track them on here as often.,

Well then it is not fat or muscle so it must just be some water weight. To know for sure though you would need to track actual calories eaten to actual calories burned.

Good luck.

Athena413

I love the transformation of losing fat and gaining muscle.
fact is a pound of fat weighs exactly the same as a pound of muscle but a pound of fat is, if you can visualize 4 sticks of butter all in a blob and muscle is more like a small sweet potato so on your body you will look smaller even if the scale is going up or staying the same.
Use a measuring tape if you are exercising/weight lifting to see the change if you need too.

don't worry to much about that number on the scale, it's just a measure of your gravity

Keep up the good work.

VERY well said!

Annadel

Any fitness instructors or diet experts on this forum who I can message my detail food and workout regime? I think am doing right things but some thing is amiss...

Annadel

Thank u for ur encouragement!

Athena413

Should I up cardio? I think am not doing enough cardio...

Too much cardio causes you to burn muscle and muscle is what burns fat...I wouldn't suggest overdoing the cardio.

glovepuppet

are you most interested in getting fit and healthy, or in reducing the number on your scales?

look at your body. does it look like it's toning up? does it feel stronger and healthier? can you feel less fat under the skin?

Athena413

Good idea. I just use dumbells. 8 lbs. not too much. But I do see women in my class using 10-12 lbs but still very lean?

More women need to learn to lift like a man...8 lbs, and even 12 lbs is WAY too light! Heavy lifting will build muscle, burn fat, and you will look a lot better in the end. You won't bulk up like men do - we can't - we don't have the right hormones to do so. Even most men have a hard time gaining muscle. I suggest doing more heavy lifting and cardio intervals, rather than steady-pace cardio.

qtiekiki

How many weeks had you been gaining 0.5lbs per week?

How tall are you and how you weigh would also be helpful in figuring out what is going on, so you can calculate you BMR.