I quit losing weight and started gaining!

c_l_phillips72

Hello. I've been following the MFP plan now for 4 weeks. The first 3 weeks I lifted weights 4 times a week and did 30 minutes of cardio on the Arc trainer 7 days a week, and every day had around 500 calories left over that I never ate (basically my exercise calories). In those 3 weeks, I lost 16 lbs and thought things were going pretty well, but wanted to increase my cardio workout.

For the past week and a half, I've continued with lifting weights 4 times a week, do the Arc trainer for 30 minutes, ride the exercise bike for another 30 minutes, then run on the treadmill at 4.7 mph for 1.5 miles at a 1% incline. This cardio workout usually burns over 1,000 calories. I've continued with not eating my exercise calories (even though I read on this website that you're supposed to eat them) since I had been successful losing weight without eating them before.

The problem is that now that I have literraly tripled the amount of cardio exercise that I was doing before, I have not lost a single pound, in fact I've been teetering back and forth on 2 lbs.

What's going on???

courtney_love2001

"I've continued with not eating my exercise calories (even though I read on this website that you're supposed to eat them)"

I think you just answered your own question. Your metabolism is slowing and you need to be taking in more calories to support your strenuous exercise. You should go back to the newbie thread and read why you should eat your exercise cals (at least some of them). I think if you eat some of them, you will find that scale heading back in the downward way! :flowerforyou:

jdelot

Eat your exercise calories. You said that every day you would have 500 calories left over. So, if you set your profile up to lose 1 lb/week, you actually had a 1000 calorie deficit each day...now you've increased you cardio, and calories burned, but not your intake. Your body needs fuel. Feed it.

LittleSpy

Well, either exactly what Courtney said, or maybe overtraining.
Your muscles are retaining water becuase they're not used to all the exercise. Either keep it up and wait it out (most likely your muscles will get used to the exercise and release any extra water they're retaining) or back off some on the exercise.

Or both.

MercuryBlue

Eat your exercise calories. At least, eat most of them. Please.

Also, from my blog (have posted this before. Yes, hate typing the same thing out a bunch of times. Am lazy.)

" See, I weigh myself every morning, at the same time, under the same circumstances. I think this is important to do because I'm still learning about my body, eating well, exercising, and healthy living in general. I think it's good to see weight fluctuations and learn to understand them. What causes them, what's natural, etc. For example, if I eat a salty meal one night, the scale will go up the next day without fail. I drink a bunch of water, it goes back down. From that, I learn about how sodium affects water retention.

Because I weigh myself so often, I have noticed that, in the days following a lot of exercise, I always seem to weigh more. I wasn't sure if it was my imagination, so I actually posted a question about weight gain after exercise to the board yesterday. When I didn't get a response, I researched it online. This is what I came across:

-An intense workout, especially one with weight-lifting, can cause the body to retain water because water is attending to those muscles that are working overtime. Strengthening muscles or muscles that have been pulled or torn are areas where water travels to in order to heal.

-If you did not previously have a routine workout and then started a high-intensity workout, your body can go into a sort of shock-like state. This extra stress has your body collecting nutrients and water to protect it. When you keep a routine workout, the body will get used to this sort of exercising and adjust.

(From: http://www.ehow.com/facts_5579501_do-retain-water-after-exercise_.html) "

cherie2304

It's probably because your body needs more food. When you were doing your old routine it wasn't as intense as your new routine. Your body needs to recover those lost calories. I don't eat all of my exercise calories but I do eat about 2/3 of them. Good luck with your journey.