I'm Muscular and Weight Loss Has Been Slow -- Even Gained

chirosche
chirosche Posts: 66 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi,

I have a mesomorph's body. Basically, muscular. I wear a size 12 right now and want to get back down to size 8. I've been active on MFP since July 18 (my official start date). To date, I lost 3 lbs. Then gained them back. Today I saw a .2 loss which is the right direction. I'm doing low carb. I'm use to this and it has worked for me in the past. I gained weight over the past 2 years but I still went to the gym, have a gym at home and have weight trained the past 22+ years. I lost control of my eating but I do like working out.

I was wondering do I have to lose muscle and did I somehow build more muscle by continuing with the weight training while I wasn't watching my diet.

I don't want to get discouraged.

Replies

  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Um. I bet some nice & awesome ladies will have some advice for you
  • PikaKnight
    PikaKnight Posts: 34,971 Member
    Going to be blunt. I highly doubt you gained muscle on a deficit.

    The scale is unreliable due to food intake and water retention (which is probably where you are seeing the fluctuations). You should be relying more on measurements.

    Do you use a food scale to weigh your food? Could you open your diary so we can get an idea of how consistently you are logging? do you log everything?

    What is your calorie goal set at? Are you eating your exercise calories back? Or are you doing tdee and not MFP's calculations?

    What is your exercise program like?
  • magerum
    magerum Posts: 12,589 Member
    Going to be blunt. I highly doubt you gained muscle on a deficit.

    The scale is unreliable due to food intake and water retention (which is probably where you are seeing the fluctuations). You should be relying more on measurements.

    Do you use a food scale to weigh your food? Could you open your diary so we can get an idea of how consistently you are logging? do you log everything?

    What is your exercise program like?

    Like this one :flowerforyou:
  • RedHeadDevotchka
    RedHeadDevotchka Posts: 1,394 Member
    I agree with the above posters. TOM, too much sodium, not pooping, big meals, they all can contribute to holding onto water or other stuff.
    It's most likely that.
  • wildkatt7
    wildkatt7 Posts: 163 Member
    worry less about the weight number and how your clothes fit and measurements for your body... muscle has greater mass but takes up less space than fat....
    you may have water weight being retained...
  • MrGonzo05
    MrGonzo05 Posts: 1,120 Member
    You've been at it less than a month. Short term weight fluctuations can eclipse your loss. Long term, you will lose weight if you achieve a sustained, large enough calorie deficit.

    What does being muscular and carb avoidance have to do with it?
  • corgicake
    corgicake Posts: 846 Member
    Check your sodium.
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
    I was wondering do I have to lose muscle and did I somehow build more muscle by continuing with the weight training while I wasn't watching my diet.

    If you weight trained while not watching your diet yes, you "bulked" and gained both adipose and muscle tissue ove the two year period.

    But you do not need to lose muscle significantly to lose weight - actually, any muscle gains will aid with metabolic energy use (about 8-10 cal/kg/day for a sedentary person, significantly more for someone active) - ideally, by continuing to train and keeping a reasonable calorie deficit (a small cut from your maintenance calories) you'll lose mostly fat.

    Continue to train, watch your calories and you'll get there.
  • clgaches
    clgaches Posts: 12 Member
    ^^ This. And I will echo what others have said regarding the scale. PARTICULARLY over such a short duration (one month is short), it's not a great overall judge of progress. Between various factors, I've had my weight vary as much as 5 lbs within ONE DAY.

    To the best of my knowledge, your body can't artificially decrease your body weight (although scale/room factors can). For the most accurate scale reading, there are a few things you can do. Overall, make sure you're not taking in too much sodium (water retention). Try to weigh yourself at the same time each reading; you'll usually be lightest first thing in the morning after using the toilet but before eating breakfast or taking a shower. If you want to be anal about it, you can do it naked so there's no question about your fuzzy PJs distorting the result :P

    I'm not going to say don't weigh yourself every day, but don't give every day's reading a single grain of salt without looking at the bigger picture. Sure, maybe you weigh half a lb heavier X-morning, but your TREND may be 1 lbs lighter over the week!
  • chirosche
    chirosche Posts: 66 Member
    I log every single thing I put in my mouth since I became active. I was blaming my gain on going to a brunch 1-1/2 weeks ago and a couple of days eating a cupcake (but definitely keeping myself in a calorie deficit). Since I do not regularly eat sugar generally, I'm thinking the sugar did something to my metabolism so now I'm avoiding it and won't indulge for some time or eat my own homemade treats. I'm really into weight training and I'm doing my cardio too. And there have been maybe 2 days were I didn't have a deficit. And I've been consistent. I guess I was expecting immediate gratification and definitely was surprised to see the scale go back up. I guess the old days are over when I could lose 5 lbs in a week no prob. It's a real eyeopener and the diary is an invaluable tool to see how my body reacts to my food and exercise over time. It really helps to tweak things. But today I lost 1.2 lbs from yesterday. That was a relief to see it going back down again. All I need is .8lb to get back to where I was and then take it from there. Gradually, I'll change my macros back to standard but will still keep my eyes on carbs and eat gluten free. But I couldn't live life without rice and potatoes. I've experienced some real health benefits from my low carb diet. I had to get off my thyroid medicine because my thyroid kicked in on its own. I had a subclinical issue and I've had no symptoms without the meds.

    Thanks for all your feedback, suggestions and support I love this site. :wink:
  • clgaches
    clgaches Posts: 12 Member
    You talk about always having a deficit, but make sure you ARE still eating enough! If your "recommended calories" is only 1200, seriously think about NEVER having a deficit, but only a small "overcharge".

    If you are not supporting your muscle growth, you will lose MUSCLE WEIGHT, not fat. I presume you do know that, since you seem fairly confident with your strength training, but I'm just putting it out there in case you don't (or someone who doesn't reads this topic).

    The body needs calories!! It's so easy to hate them because we see them as culprits, but (just like healthy fats and carbs) our bodies need them!

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