Exercise and weight gain experiment

kate2707
kate2707 Posts: 31
edited January 3 in Fitness and Exercise
So i'm going to do a little experiment to stop my silly and ultimately detrimental relationship with the scale. So every time I begin to regularly work out I always gain about 3 pounds (this is at the 1.5 week point, when I’ve taken a sneaky look at the scale). My workouts are normally pretty intense and I workout approx 5-6 times a week, they include the likes of insanity or heavy weight training.

So at this point, I jump on the scale and see a number higher than prior to my hard work, I do this every time I get serious with exercise and although I know it is stupid it de-motivates me and I give up. Within a few days of stopping the exercise this extra weight has gone. Yes it’s a result of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and I know this, but still it really bugs me. Why? Like many I’m a slave to the scale. Well this is going to stop.

So the experiment starts today. I’m currently 3 pounds higher than a week and a half ago and have been exercising hard. I’m going to weigh myself each morning until my weight returns to prior weight or lower, (not going to exercise) Then I will begin exercising again and track my weight over 2 weeks to see the fluctuations, I will then stop exercising for 3 days to see how my weight has really changed after a 2 week period of serious exercise and good nutrition. After this experiment I feel I will truly understand the relative insignificance of the number on the scale and will no longer be a slave to the scale.

Anyways if you got this far, how much does your weight fluctuate when starting a new workout?

Replies

  • jenniferinfl
    jenniferinfl Posts: 456 Member
    LOL, yeah, that is pretty frustrating. I started watching what I was eating a few days before I got my treadmill. I lost 7 lbs the first week, but, since running(more like fast walking, but it's my top speed) everyday I put 3 lbs back on. Now it's been almost two weeks and I've re-lost 2 lbs, but I'm still only down 6 lbs instead of the initial 7. I'm heavy enough where I should have lost ten lbs the first week, not been two weeks in with a 6lb loss. But, I know it's because I was so out of shape that I've got a lot of swelling from just moving my own body along 4 miles a day.. lol

    Eventually, the scale will change too. In the meantime, your heart is healthier than it was last week and that's more important than whether or not the scale moves this week.
  • JasonDetwiler
    JasonDetwiler Posts: 364 Member
    Why would you waste your time doing this? Just work hard toward your goal, whatever it may be.
  • bradphil87
    bradphil87 Posts: 617 Member
    It's water being held by your muscles. I get a kick out of it actually, lol after the gym sometimes I weigh around 4 lbs more than when I left for the gym. Don't worry about it, it's not fat, and it's totally normal
  • Yogi_Carl
    Yogi_Carl Posts: 1,906 Member
    "So at this point, I jump on the scale and see a number higher than prior to my hard work, I do this every time I get serious with exercise and although I know it is stupid it de-motivates me and I give up. Within a few days of stopping the exercise this extra weight has gone. Yes it’s a result of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) and I know this, but still it really bugs me. "

    I don't understand why the extra three pounds comes on as a result of DOMS and then there is a weight drop after a few days. Is it water retention in the muscles due to heavy muscle work/soreness? This is something I don't understand.

    For myself, after doing heavy strength work I tend to eat more as a response to feeling weak and sometimes shaky. I feel ok the day after but then I have already done the big eating - that's where my extra poundage comes from, but soon drops back again after a run or I buckle down to my calorie deficit again.

    I'm interested in this DOMS effect - can you explain please?

    edit: I think bradphil just answered my question.
  • bokodasu
    bokodasu Posts: 629 Member
    This is why I weigh myself every day. Well, not exactly why, but I think that once-a-week thing feeds into the whole "argh, I'm up a pound, I am a big fat FAILURE" thing more than being able to see - I had pizza last night so I'm up a pound today, I went swimming and hit the sauna so I'm 3 lbs down, TOM, 3 lbs up - those fluctuations are insignificant. Or rather, they are significant, but what they signify is not my body composition, and I can start linking them with their real meanings.

    Good luck, hope it works for you too!
  • kate2707
    kate2707 Posts: 31
    This is why I weigh myself every day. Well, not exactly why, but I think that once-a-week thing feeds into the whole "argh, I'm up a pound, I am a big fat FAILURE" thing more than being able to see - I had pizza last night so I'm up a pound today, I went swimming and hit the sauna so I'm 3 lbs down, TOM, 3 lbs up - those fluctuations are insignificant. Or rather, they are significant, but what they signify is not my body composition, and I can start linking them with their real meanings.


    You have 100% summed up my thinking, and i totally agree that the once a week weigh in is not the way forward for me. Your examples of weight gain/loss really put the number on the scale into perspective. Thanks.
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