weight gain at the begining?

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snowfox1
snowfox1 Posts: 128 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone found that when they started working out with weights for the first time (in a loooong time) they they gained a couple of kilos, is this possible and normal? or is it just weight gain :( ive gone up a couple of kilos since began working out 5 weeks ago but i dont look as though i gone up.

thanks in advance for your help

Replies

  • Jester522
    Jester522 Posts: 392
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    Probably gaining lean body mass in which muscle is 3x the density of fat storages.

    My suggestion: dont step on the scale at all for the next month as this is going to continue. Body composition is rearranging.
  • lrtoland
    lrtoland Posts: 41
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    How do your pants fit? I went to the doctor the other day for an unrelated issue, but I mentioned to him that I was frustrated because it didn't seem like I was losing anything!! He reminded me that muscle is denser in weight than fat. He said to gage my success by how my clothes were fitting to start out with. It may seem like you're either A) gaining or B) not losing at first, but keep after it!! The more lean muscle we build, the more fat burns even when we are resting:)
  • amandajayne11
    amandajayne11 Posts: 9 Member
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    I had a similar thing when I started working out. I lost an inch on my hips even though the scales didn't budge. Not sure what you're eating, but I also had to raise my calories above the standard 1200 that MFP gave me to see weight loss - I went 20% below my TDEE (for me that was 1400 calories) and lost a steady 1.2lb a week.
  • snowfox1
    snowfox1 Posts: 128 Member
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    thanks guys :) yes im going to leave the scale alone i think.

    i know all about muscle weighing more etc but i also heard that you cant build muscle when eating at a deficit, thats why i was a bit unsure if i was gaining a little bit of it, even though im pretty sure i am. i definatley want to gain a good amount of muslce too, but i also want to lose body fat so bit unsure how this will work if eating at a deficit? any help is greatly appreciated :)
  • KirstenTheFamilyCoach
    KirstenTheFamilyCoach Posts: 327 Member
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    Thank you for this reminder - I just stepped on the scale and while I'm not gaining I'm certianly not loosing. BUT I do notice that my body fat percentage is going down so that's good, right?
  • drummer_lady
    drummer_lady Posts: 150 Member
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    It's completely normal to see a slight gain on the scale when you start a new workout regime. When you start working out, especially with strength training, your muscles retain extra water to help with muscle repairs. It usually goes away in a week or so.
  • acuratlsd
    acuratlsd Posts: 228
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    I lost 8lbs the first month but I was working my butt off but I can see a change in definition to my body. So, I am sure that I have been converting some of the fat to muscle.

    My pants are starting to fall off me now. Luckly I bought a belt last year LOL Sad that I had to wait till now to use it.

    Hopefully now my weight will start dropping like bricks.
  • 9JANE
    9JANE Posts: 21 Member
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    You are gaining muscle and not fat. You will gain some but you will not show it , muscle weigh more than fat and as you gain you are gaining muscle which will make a big difference in how you feel.:smile:
  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    You have sooooooo little to lose that you shouldn't give a flying f what the scale says at this point.

    Track your progress through how clothes fit, measurements and photos.

    But it's most likely just fluid retention from exercising.
  • lisasshmisa
    lisasshmisa Posts: 35
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    I came on to the message boards with the same problem and read yours...I gained .2 after a sedentry lifestyle increasing to walks and hydrotherapy and moving way more..I wonder whats happening..take your measurements in inches/cm and see what differencey you get there and keep up the good work:smile:
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
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    Has anyone found that when they started working out with weights for the first time (in a loooong time) they they gained a couple of kilos, is this possible and normal? or is it just weight gain :( ive gone up a couple of kilos since began working out 5 weeks ago but i dont look as though i gone up.

    thanks in advance for your help

    DOMS, but other things too...

    Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

    Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

    The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.
  • Gramps251
    Gramps251 Posts: 738 Member
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    It's completely normal to see a slight gain on the scale when you start a new workout regime. When you start working out, especially with strength training, your muscles retain extra water to help with muscle repairs. It usually goes away in a week or so.

    I think this is the answer. You didn't gain any lean muscle mass by just starting to lift again. No diary available so we don't know if she's eating at a deficit.
  • Golfgirl16
    Golfgirl16 Posts: 26 Member
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    It may be that your muscles are retaining water. Are your muscles sore?
    Read this totally helped me a bit ago when I gained 3lbs hiking, Good Luck!!

    http://www.choose2befit.com/exercise/why-you-gain-weight-with-a-new-program
  • thathockeychick23
    thathockeychick23 Posts: 87
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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard an increase in blood volume from the exercise also makes the scale go up. It should normalize and you should start losing weight. I had the issue of gaining weight or it appearing I wasn't losing any, but then it's been coming off.
  • Jester522
    Jester522 Posts: 392
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    Correct me if I'm wrong, but I heard an increase in blood volume from the exercise also makes the scale go up. It should normalize and you should start losing weight. I had the issue of gaining weight or it appearing I wasn't losing any, but then it's been coming off.
    No, you're correct. Consider more frequent increases in blood volume due to exercise (which I don't know the exact volumes but it's significant) causes more water and nutrient retention. Adaptation would also have the body think to upregulate EPO production to adjust to the change in daily physical demands resulting in greater concentration of blood cells/blood volume. Also, now that you're working out the muscle has reason to store water, creatine phosphate, and glycogen which all add weight.

    For someone like me, I can't gain weight on a deficit. For those who haven't been resistance training in some time - the body has a memory of the size muscle mass used to be and bounces back up there pretty quickly. In addition, granted you're BF is sufficient, you can pull energy from adipose tissue to aid muscle recovery. The majority of this growth phase occurs during sleep while IGF-1 is stimulated by GH release (which requires the absence of blood insulin, so don't eat too close to bedtime). IGF and GH are responsible for the recovery and preservation of lean body mass while utilizing fat deposits for energy - all you need is to make sure you have enough nitrogenous molecules floating around to support muscle growth (amino acids...protein....hint hint).

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