weight gain and lost inches.. 2 questions

Megdmcda
Megdmcda Posts: 273 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
ok so i have two questions...i know a little about the first question but wanted to find out more. so ok i started a new workout a couple months ago and i gained about 4lbs. i read the article about it being water retention for cushioning the damaged muscles but that it was suppose to go away after a week or two... its been about two months and i stay at 196-197. i have lost about an inch since then and also i did up my calories from 1642 to 1977 because of all the extra work i was doing. i was feeling sick after each workout at 1642. now i don't. feel quite good except the scale won't change. i know ur not suppost to put much stock into it but i'm wondering why it went up and stopped.
my second questions is "is it wierd/bad that i'm losing inches only in my waist and hips? my legs, arms neck have not changed at all since i started measuring back in march" lol that's a just wondering question...... any info would be a great help thanx

Replies

  • SaraBrown12
    SaraBrown12 Posts: 277 Member
    bumping to read responses later.
  • PaBirdie1
    PaBirdie1 Posts: 9
    When you work out, you build some muscle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you will see weight gain. You are probably burning fat in those areas, so you will see a reduction in size. Thats just a simple explanation, but Im sure someone can explain it in more detail.
  • tellascott
    tellascott Posts: 54
    I am curious too, I have been sporting about 7 pounds of water weight for 3 weeks now. It has to be water weight, I've been working out like crazy and not losing and my tummy gets fluffier and fluffier and jigglier. It's crazy frustrating because i gained 4 pounds practically overnight, so I'm pretty sure its not fat, but it messes with my head because i was stuck at this plateau once already and was so excited when i got past it. Now I'm back there again and its outright depressing.

    My question is, how long can a person retain water for? Is 3 weeks even possible? God knows every damn thing you buy food wise has salt loaded in it so it's next to impossible not to overdose on it unless everything you cook is homemade, and at that..we have salmonella in our meats around here, salmonella in store bought vegetables and things like that so it's getting scarier and scarier to buy the makings for food even.

    I probably sound whiny cause I'm sick and can't exercise which makes this weight gain even more frustrating. All I can do is sit around and watch TV, play on the computer and eat and be all sedentary and lazy. It's driving me nuts!!:cry:
  • Megdmcda
    Megdmcda Posts: 273 Member
    lol stop eating carbs altogether? yeesh. lol
  • Megdmcda
    Megdmcda Posts: 273 Member
    lol stop eating carbs altogether? yeesh. lol

    No. That's not the point. My point is it's natural to gain weight in these situations. It's not fat, so why worry? There are some people who look good at 140lbs, while others who look like crap. They both weigh the same. Your goal isn't to "weigh less" it's to lose body fat and look better is it not?

    yes it is... and i knew u weren't serious about stop eating carbs... i was laughing about it......:bigsmile:
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    ok so i have two questions...i know a little about the first question but wanted to find out more. so ok i started a new workout a couple months ago and i gained about 4lbs. i read the article about it being water retention for cushioning the damaged muscles but that it was suppose to go away after a week or two... its been about two months and i stay at 196-197. i have lost about an inch since then and also i did up my calories from 1642 to 1977 because of all the extra work i was doing. i was feeling sick after each workout at 1642. now i don't. feel quite good except the scale won't change. i know ur not suppost to put much stock into it but i'm wondering why it went up and stopped.
    my second questions is "is it wierd/bad that i'm losing inches only in my waist and hips? my legs, arms neck have not changed at all since i started measuring back in march" lol that's a just wondering question...... any info would be a great help thanx

    So, I briefly looked through your diary and there are some missing days. You probably have a deficit close to 3500 cal/week, so if you cheat bad on the empty days, your deficit could disappear pretty quickly. It looks like, according to the calculators, 2k calories should be a pretty good total (not net. Since that is about how many calories you burn when sedentary, any calories you burn over sedentary will be your deficit, so you should not eat them back or you will not be in a deficit).

    Personally, I think inches matter more than the scale, but if the scale matters to you, you may need to lower cals ~200. It would be within the margin of error for you to be eating at maintenance, which would likely allow you to lose fat, gain muscle, and change your body composition without much, if any, change in actual weight.
  • Graceious1
    Graceious1 Posts: 716 Member
    When you work out, you build some muscle. Since muscle weighs more than fat, you will see weight gain. You are probably burning fat in those areas, so you will see a reduction in size. Thats just a simple explanation, but Im sure someone can explain it in more detail.

    Great answer because the same is happening to me so I've stopped becoming a slave to the scale. I am paying more attention to my clothes and body.
  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,329 Member
    i wouldnt worry about. i've essentially been the same weight since april but since then i've gone down from a size 16/18 to a size 12. and for the record even though my workouts are primarily weight lifting, my lack of change in weight has nothing to do with building muscle.

    also it's not weird how you're losing fat since fat loss is going to be more determined by genetics
  • 70davis
    70davis Posts: 348 Member
    Bump
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    IMHO, body recompostiion is more important and more valuable than seeing the scale drop. You continue to workout agressively I assume and so you are never really losing the water and glycogem. You and I are similar. If I stop working out for more than a week, like I had to do at the end of July because I came down with bronchitis, I droped 5 lbs.

    From My way of looking at it, losing inches is the best thing that could happen and I pretty much ignore the scale. That means you are burning off fat but maintaining lean muscle mass. The ideal outcome! You are probably not gaining muscle if you are in a deficit but you are keeping and developing what you have. Bravo!!

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