Gaining weight after exercising? Help?

horseryder77

So, last week I started Jillian's ripped in 30. The week before that I did a few days of the 30 day shred (I didn't go all the way through with it because I have had the DVD for 3 years, and was getting really bored..)

I did three days straight, and then took Saturday/Sunday off. I was still active-worked at the barn/rode horses, and also helped my friend move out of her 3rd story apartment in 90 degree weather for about 3 hours. Needless to say, I was sweating a LOT this weekend.
I did day 4 of the ripped in 30 today, and it kicked my BUTT!!

Anyway, I've been working out 4-6 days a week for almost 3 weeks now.. and for some reason, I've put on about 5-7 lbs.. and my clothes are sorta tighter (around my stomach and thighs..)

Is this water weight?

I've been in good shape before-ran a half marathon last year- so the only thing I can think of is that maybe the muscle is building back up, but the fat isn't burning as quickly?
I'm going for a run tomorrow to amp up the cardio (it was too hot to do that today), and I do watch what I eat. I have a similar diet now to what I had when I was training for my half.

Thoughts? Last night the scale tipped at 140. About 2 weeks ago I was 135..

Help?

diannethegeek

My understanding is that it's not uncommon to put on a couple of pounds when we start a new exercise routine because the body floods sore muscles with excess water to cushion them and help them heal. Drink lots of fluids to help flush out the excess and the scale will eventually move in the right direction.

AmyRhubarb

How was your water intake over the weekend? A new workout will often push me up a couple of pounds, I believe it's due to sore muscles which hold onto water. And if you had a hot & sweaty weekend & didn't hydrate enough, your body could be retaining what water it did get.

Either way, drink plenty of water & keep up the workouts, I bet you'll see the scale drop again.

horseryder77

Hmmm- makes sense with the water around the sore muscles. I did try to take in as much water as possible-but maybe I didn't take in enough?
kwk- that definitely is helpful! But it's less of the scale I'm worried about than the fact that my pants are tighter after a week of working out...
I do track my calories too! And I'm very often under my calories! I make sure to get over 1200. I've done the weight loss thing before-but I've never had weight gain when I started to work out.

So should I just keep drinking lots of water?