Losing weight - gaining inches! Help :-(

Janina1987
Janina1987 Posts: 92
in Health and Weight Loss
The topic says pretty much everything. Due to an injury I am currently not able to run (something I really love doing) and am just doing circuit training (Chalean Extreme at the moment).
I have reduced my calories... When I was running I would eat around 2300 calories a day and burn around 3000 calories per week (I'm using a Polar HRM). Right now I'm eating around 1800 calories and burning 2300 calories per week (=my overall net is lower). Yesterday I stepped on the scale for the first time in ages and it went down. Pretty nice one might think but not so much... I am gaining inches ???? i am pear shaped (and really hate it) and guess where I am gaining - right, my butt!!! Great! I weigh 131 lbs and am 5'9" if that's important (and my hips are 38.5 inches ????) So any suggestions as to what I could do? What am I doing wrong here? Oh and yes, I am tracking my calories accurately!

Advice and help is much appreciated!

Thanks guys

Replies

  • GiddyNZ
    GiddyNZ Posts: 136 Member
    Do you think you might be losing muscle?

    The only thing I can think is that if the muscle is turning to fat, that could explain the weight loss and increase in inches (fat being lighter than muscle and all).
  • Janina1987
    Janina1987 Posts: 92
    Yeah that is possible... But how can I actually invert that? You know, lose fat and gain muscle again?!
  • GiddyNZ
    GiddyNZ Posts: 136 Member
    I guess you would need to add in some more resistance training again to rebuild the lost muscle.. although a cardio exercise I have never come across a runner without reasonable muscle tone..
  • Janina1987
    Janina1987 Posts: 92
    Bump
  • amanda9402
    amanda9402 Posts: 64 Member
    Are you sure you're taking the measurement in exactly the same place? I lost 10 lbs in between my last set of measurements but my calf was a half inch bigger when I re-measured. However, my boots now zip without effort, so I know they're smaller - ergo, user error with the measuring tape.

    I'll also second the resistance training though for gaining or preserving muscle while losing fat - squats and deadlifts are great for perking things up, and while I have some additional definition (I can kind of see where my quad muscle is now!), I definitely don't have bulk.
  • stt43
    stt43 Posts: 487
    I may be wrong, buy my guess would be that you are either losing muscle and gaining fat, or losing fat and gaining muscle.
    Running doesn't really make you put on that much muscle and it's endurance, which is why runners usually have a sort of "skin and bone" type figure (unless they are sprinters of course). The circuit training you are doing is most likely hitting your muscles hard and encouraging them to grow. If you are doing a lot of exercises that target your quads/hams/glutes then this area will probably increase in size.
  • Janina1987
    Janina1987 Posts: 92
    Well I still usually did some kind of resistance training when I ran. Now that I can't run due to an injury I am doing Yoga and Resitane Training... I sometimes throw in some TurboFire but that's it. My hips have gone up 0.5 inches in a week. Is that possible? Seriously... I am at a loss... I am working out, eating right - and gaining!?! At least inches...
  • lcfairbairn74
    lcfairbairn74 Posts: 412 Member
    I would second the idea of measuring in a different place. It's almost impossible to measure in the exact same place each time! Don't worry about it. You're doing well, managing to exercise when you can't run, so just keep doing what you're doing!
  • Janina1987
    Janina1987 Posts: 92
    I would second the idea of measuring in a different place. It's almost impossible to measure in the exact same place each time! Don't worry about it. You're doing well, managing to exercise when you can't run, so just keep doing what you're doing!


    Thank you!
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Your measurements are in error...either your measurements before or the ones now. It is very difficult to measure yourself and get the same exact measurement because it's very difficult to measure in the same exact place every single time...most people take at least three and take the average. Losing weight and gaining inches is pretty much impossible.

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