Help! Exercising and counting cals, and gaining!?!?

jadol87
jadol87 Posts: 7 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello

I have been using MFP for quite a while now so understand the concept. I fell off the wagon big time over Christmas which was fine, considering I spend the other 11 months of the year counting cals!!

So im now back on the plan, MFP has always given me a target of 1200 cals with my sedentary job and height which I can work in fine. Last year the weight dropped off pretty fast along with taking up running. This year I thought I would up the anti and re-join the gym to incorporate other exercises. So far I have been tracking my calories and trying to eat my exercise calories too (which sometimes I cant manage) I have had the odd day out which I cant really measure, nothing too major, and figured with the calorie defecit i am left with each week anyway it should fit fine.

However since I have started back on this all i have done is gain a few pounds?! I do expect to maintain for a little while while i get used to all the exercise again but not to gain!!

I do consider my foods to be quite healthy, porridge for breakfast, a low fat soup for lunch and a healthy dinner with dried fruit and a few extras for snacks.

Any advice ?? My other half is suggesting I stop eating my exercise cals but I understand this wont work, but with no results Inam tempted!! ????

Replies

  • TXCruiseGal
    TXCruiseGal Posts: 33 Member
    For what it's worth, that has been happening to me as well.
    I was told my one of the fitness instructors at the gym that the old adage "muscle weighs more than fat" is true -- so I shouldn't be too thrown by that minor gain on the scale. I figure it's all going to catch up at some point.

    For a little morale boost in the meantime, check your measurements. I did that and was surprised to see I had dropped some inches.
  • jadol87
    jadol87 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks!

    Its good to know i'm not the only one coming across this problem!! I hate this muscle weighs more than fat reason!! Yes it weighs more but a pound of fat will still turn into a pound of muscle at the end of the day - it will just take up less space! So i guess that backs up your advice of measuring myself in the meantime until the scales catch up! I have to admit I didnt do starting measurements this year so maybe thats where i'm going wrong! Im going to do this asap!!

    Good luck with yours catching up too =)
  • millsrobm
    millsrobm Posts: 62 Member
    If you have just started a new excercise plan or bumped up your activity level, then you're probably just retaining water/glycogen. Don't panic; this will resolve in a few weeks. Just keep doing what you're doing. You aren't building muscle if you're in a calorie deficit so don't worry about that. It takes a lot of effort to gain muscle and it doesn't happen quickly.
  • SarahEBeth94
    SarahEBeth94 Posts: 4 Member
    For what it's worth, that has been happening to me as well.
    I was told my one of the fitness instructors at the gym that the old adage "muscle weighs more than fat" is true -- so I shouldn't be too thrown by that minor gain on the scale. I figure it's all going to catch up at some point.

    For a little morale boost in the meantime, check your measurements. I did that and was surprised to see I had dropped some inches.

    Just to help you further understand why this is happening- it's not that muscle weights more than fat. If you replace a pound of fat with a pound of muscle, you didn't lose any weight. However, muscle takes up less space than fat! You can get smaller, be healthier, and fit in your clothes better without seeing significant change on the scale. I second taking measurements, because those will change will the loss of fat/gain of muscle.
  • Julesoola
    Julesoola Posts: 51 Member
    If you have just started a new excercise plan or bumped up your activity level, then you're probably just retaining water/glycogen. Don't panic; this will resolve in a few weeks. Just keep doing what you're doing. You aren't building muscle if you're in a calorie deficit so don't worry about that. It takes a lot of effort to gain muscle and it doesn't happen quickly.

    This.
  • jadol87
    jadol87 Posts: 7 Member
    Thanks for all the advice - will keep going with the cals and exercise and will measure myself asap and hopefully get some results from this! =)

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