Started exercise and now gained weight. Is this normal?

jessiefied
jessiefied Posts: 167
in Fitness and Exercise
So I have started doing hour lots of Zumba (which I plan to do 3xs a week, but atm am doing every day as it is my holidays)
Just wondering if its is normal to gain weight from this - have been under my calorie goal apart from that. Someone mentioned something about water retention? I am sure that it wil come off again and Ill start loosing more but I like to know what causes it if possible.
An explanation would be helpful, thank you.

Replies

  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    Can't see your diary, so can't tell what you're doing. Are you eating back the exercise calories? If so, it's pretty common for people to overestimate workouts of this kind and end up eating too much.

    But hard to tell without more details.
  • gutbegone30DS
    gutbegone30DS Posts: 30
    how does your food intake look like? perhaps high in sodium? is it that time of the month? stress?
    I've gone through this... I retained water for 2 weeks! and gained 4lbs!
    I drank lots and lots of water and now back down to where I started..
    as long as you know you're exercising and your calorie intake does not exceed the maximum goal for the day/week then
    you should be just fine!
    flush it down with heaps of water!
  • jessiefied
    jessiefied Posts: 167
    I'm eating back some. But it was just the first day I started I weighed myself after exercise (hadn't eaten that day yet etc) and had jumped like 3kgs up the scale. I've now lost 1kg of that - so the weight doesn't bother me, I'm just curious as to what caused it - my eating habits haven't changed except I'm eating slightly more (eating back some of my calories in other words). Wondering if its the water retention thing, and if so how that works.
  • lisal11
    lisal11 Posts: 59 Member
    This happens to me if I get sore muscles. I've been doing 30 Day Shred and gained 3lbs. I do Weight Watchers and have been staying within my points really well. Usually, I'd lose weight but with the workout... I gained. My husband, who has done weights in the past, told me that if you're sore, you're very likely going to retain water.
  • jessiefied
    jessiefied Posts: 167
    Wondering if I haven't been drinking enough water. Do you have to drink more than 8 glasses when you exercise, I have been struggling to drink between 4-8 glasses (of 200ml) lately.
  • mbar12
    mbar12 Posts: 125 Member
    This happens to me if I get sore muscles. I've been doing 30 Day Shred and gained 3lbs. I do Weight Watchers and have been staying within my points really well. Usually, I'd lose weight but with the workout... I gained. My husband, who has done weights in the past, told me that if you're sore, you're very likely going to retain water.
    Thanks for letting us know that. I started doing 30 day shred and was concerned because I gained rather than lost. Since I lost 13 lbs in the first two weeks of new eating plan, I wasnt too concerned, but was wondering as well.
  • jessiefied
    jessiefied Posts: 167
    Ideally I'd love to do some weights etc so I can tone up, but unfortunately my wrist has a giant ganglion in it and the hospital has denied me the injection/steroids for it - so I can't put any pressure or lift anything (even a kettle with water in it) - so I'm stuck with the zumba!
  • Cindyinpg
    Cindyinpg Posts: 3,902 Member
    Are you weighing everything on a digital scale and do you log consistently? This is a good read when it comes to logging and accuracy. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/872212-you-re-probably-eating-more-than-you-think?hl=Eating+more+than+you+think
  • nathotte
    nathotte Posts: 51 Member
    The more you exercise the more water you need to drink. And water retention while working out I was told was mostly when doing strength training as your muscles retain water while rejuvenating. But that could be off I am not a specialist but passing on info that I was given
  • jessiefied
    jessiefied Posts: 167
    I don't weigh everything- but was loosing consistently before I started exercising so I don't think thats the problems (although I'm sure I could loose more if I did weigh things more)
  • fivethreeone
    fivethreeone Posts: 8,196 Member
    If you aren't used to exercise, your body often gets sore after a workout. The soreness also means your body is drawing water into the muscles to repair them, which results in a water weight gain. It is very common.
  • jessiefied
    jessiefied Posts: 167
    If you aren't used to exercise, your body often gets sore after a workout. The soreness also means your body is drawing water into the muscles to repair them, which results in a water weight gain. It is very common.

    Yeah its probably this - hadn't exercised in quite a while before this, but hey Zumba is fun and at least it might help me get into shape a bit more, even if I wont end up being amazingly toned!
  • Chiefkeef420
    Chiefkeef420 Posts: 11
    Temporary Muscle hardness from blood circulation.
    Water weight

    Weigh yourself on an empty stomach in the mornings, if your piss is clear then you probably are retaining water.
  • TXBlonde81
    TXBlonde81 Posts: 78 Member
    The more you exercise the more water you need to drink. And water retention while working out I was told was mostly when doing strength training as your muscles retain water while rejuvenating. But that could be off I am not a specialist but passing on info that I was given

    This must be why I've read that you shouldn't weigh yourself the day after you lift weights. I made that mistake this morning and had "gained" 3 pounds since Monday.

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