Gaining muscle or fat?

kayleyfc

Thanks for the replies, everyone!

Alright, I think we're at a consensus that I didn't gain muscle. :P The definition I noticed must have been from before I started doing this. I've never had problems exercising; I've been going to the gym (both cardio and weight-training) 3-4 times a week for the past five years until this January, when a string of crimes in the area made me feel too unsafe to go there. I'm also an avid tennis player, but unfortunately the rain in Seattle doesn't let me play often around this time of year.

As for why I cycle so much: the exercise bike has replaced my chair, so if I want to do work at my desk, I need to be sitting in the exercise bike. I bought the bike because I have three main occupations: student, desk receptionist, and writer. All three occupations require copious amounts of sitting. I heard that sitting so much can be detrimental to future health, so I wanted to get the bike in order to reduce the risk of diseases later in life.

Because it's replaced my chair, I have to sit in it in order to use my desk, which I reorganized to be used with the exercise bike. And when I'm on the exercise bike, it's more comfortable for me to cycle than to not cycle.

I do both the low-intensity while-I'm-working-on-other-things cycling and the high-intensity workout cycling. The high-intensity workouts include weight training intervals for my arms using dumbbells. I've been counting both styles since that's what the machine says, but maybe I should only count it if I do the high-intensity workouts? The low-intensity burns about 1,000 calories in 5 hours, while the high-intensity burns about 1,000 calories in an hour and a half. These differences are taken into account when I record calories, but perhaps that's not enough to be accurate.

I think I might switch to the 1,260 calorie plan on here to account for this difference. That way, if I'm only burning 500 calories even though the machine says 1,000, it won't cause me to gain weight. I've also devised a plan to reduce sugar intake which I will put into place starting tomorrow. Honestly, eating has always been my biggest enemy when it comes to weight gain.

Part of me is also worried about hormones. I gained this weight concurrently with my development of hypothyroidism. I'm currently on medication for it, but I'm still experiencing other symptoms of hypothyroidism, so perhaps there is still something wrong. In that case, it may also impact my weight because hypothyroidism causes weight gain. I also have fibromyalgia, which causes even more complications, although they aren't directly related to weight gain, just fatigue and pain. Stupid health problems. >_< I guess I should just be glad I don't have anything worse, though.

Anyway, it seems like the best option is to just stay the course for the most part, since a lot of you said it's too early to tell if it's working.

I'll start measuring myself with a measuring tape. I'll also try to play tennis more when it's sunny to differentiate my workouts, but it's hard to know when it'll be sunny here. :P I can't run because I have bad knees and because I don't feel safe in my neighborhood when it's dark (which is the only time I would be able to run.) My apartment is too small to do any home workouts aside from on my bike; I literally have a space about 3-feet wide to maneuver in and that's it (it's a ridiculously small studio.) And as I said above, I don't feel safe going to the gym anymore, since I'd have to go when it's dark.

Again, thanks for the replies everyone! I'll wait and see how my progress is over the next few weeks.

kris_root_2014

Definitely measure!! Be consistent. Always the same time. I've been advised to only weigh and measure a max of once a week. You'll get yourself stressed over it and that does NOT help you lose weight. You might even gain. Anyway, pick a day to measure and weigh. I weigh and measure every Sunday morning as soon as I get up and use the restroom. I measure my Neck, Waist, Hips, Chest, Arms (L) & (R), Thighs (L) & (R). I've even added those into MFP under weigh-in to keep track of them. I've recently found out how to calculate my BMI so I have also added that to my list. So now every Sunday I can find out where I'm at. There have been many days at the beginning where I was discouraged because the weight wasn't coming off. Was told to measure and I found a huge difference when the weight wasn't coming off! Hope this helps! Good luck to you!!

Kris

stephaniemejia1671

Definitely measure!! Be consistent. Always the same time. I've been advised to only weigh and measure a max of once a week. You'll get yourself stressed over it and that does NOT help you lose weight. You might even gain. Anyway, pick a day to measure and weigh. I weigh and measure every Sunday morning as soon as I get up and use the restroom. I measure my Neck, Waist, Hips, Chest, Arms (L) & (R), Thighs (L) & (R). I've even added those into MFP under weigh-in to keep track of them. I've recently found out how to calculate my BMI so I have also added that to my list. So now every Sunday I can find out where I'm at. There have been many days at the beginning where I was discouraged because the weight wasn't coming off. Was told to measure and I found a huge difference when the weight wasn't coming off! Hope this helps! Good luck to you!!

Kris

Same issue myself. The scale has yet to move for me but when I took my measurements I had slimmed down. I'm this point forward relying on measurements. So I will join the rest of the crowd and tell you to breakout the measuring tape once a week.

bpotts44

I do a lot of cycling and I do NOT use MFPs calories it calculates. It probably doubles them. Outside a good rule of thumb is 25 calories per mile on an average ride.

rosiereally2

I learned the hard way that I'm unlikely to have an accurate answer to my fat/muscle ratio by using any methods at my fingertips. I was using the tape measure to track my measurements and enter them into an online calculator, which incorrectly told me I had gained muscle and lost quite a bit of fat in the past 7 weeks. So now I'm just primarily focusing on inches lost and leaving it at that.