losing pounds but gained 2 inches?

christinelast
christinelast Posts: 76
in Health and Weight Loss
I have been losing steadily and I do no cardio have a small deficit and took up lifting 3 months now. I always measure myself at least once a week andhave noticed I have gained 2 inches! Is it possible I am gaining fat? I am 5'1 115 pounds and. Am 27 female

Replies

  • dough21
    dough21 Posts: 216 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.
  • doctorsookie
    doctorsookie Posts: 1,084 Member
    Can't help you on that but personally I would try and do a little cardio.
  • Branawesomer
    Branawesomer Posts: 1,025 Member
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)
  • Lifelink
    Lifelink Posts: 193 Member
    All of the answers provided are really good ones.

    Also, since you're female, it could be hormonal shifts causing these changes too (either directly or indirectly; I don't know).
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.

    I thought water retention makes you put on weight on the scale..
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    Gained two inches in an area, or two inches overall? How many points are you measuring? A small increase everywhere (from water retention) can add up if you're taking measurements from lots of different places. Particularly since you're so small. Otherwise you probably measured slightly differently from before if you're measuring yourself. It only takes measuring in a slightly different spot to increase your measurements.
  • christinelast
    christinelast Posts: 76
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)

    On my problem area. My belly!
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.

    I thought water retention makes you put on weight on the scale..

    Not necessarily. Feeling bloated is usually just another term for retaining water (a common symptom of women's time of the month). If your clothes just fit, this bloated feeling can make them extremely difficult to fit into—indicating a change in size as well as weight during this time.
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)

    On my problem area. My belly!

    Bellies are a particularly tricky measurement area. Had you eaten recently, or had a big meal? It could just be a food baby. You might have taken a deep breath that you hadn't before, or your ab muscles might not have been as tight. All of these can alter the measurement you take on your stomach, because it's a measurement that changes depending on a lot of factors. Or, like mentioned before, you could just be bloated in general.

    Simply, don't sweat about one measurement. If you can't seem to get rid of the 2 inches for a couple weeks, then worry about it. Measurements are more consistent than weight, but they have their fluctuations too.
  • albayin
    albayin Posts: 2,524 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.

    I thought water retention makes you put on weight on the scale..

    Not necessarily. Feeling bloated is usually just another term for retaining water (a common symptom of women's time of the month). If your clothes just fit, this bloated feeling can make them extremely difficult to fit into—indicating a change in size as well as weight during this time.

    I don't disagree and we aren't really talking about two different things...The confusion I had was that OP said she has been steadily losing..if she's losing...how water retention comes in? I am not sure...
  • echofm1
    echofm1 Posts: 471 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.

    I thought water retention makes you put on weight on the scale..

    Not necessarily. Feeling bloated is usually just another term for retaining water (a common symptom of women's time of the month). If your clothes just fit, this bloated feeling can make them extremely difficult to fit into—indicating a change in size as well as weight during this time.

    I don't disagree and we aren't really talking about two different things...The confusion I had was that OP said she has been steadily losing..if she's losing...how water retention comes in? I am not sure...

    I misunderstood your comment, thinking you were saying it only makes you put weight on the scale. She said she's steadily losing, but I assumed she was talking about steadily losing inches.

    Even if she's talking about weight, I'd say I'm steadily losing even though I might have a week here or there where the scale might have been stalled or even slightly up. It might be a similar situation?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)
    No, you don't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. Besides, you don't gain muscle that fast.

    OP, maybe your scale is off?
  • christinelast
    christinelast Posts: 76
    Thx everyone. I know my scale is right because I've been weighed at the doctors and it was the same. When I said I'm steadily losing I meant pounfs not inches.
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
    I had this same thing - losing pounds but the tape measure didn't move in some areas... mainly because It is really hard to measure myself accurately - I am just challenged that way. I have a friend measure me once a month now. I need to be me more diligent about recording it. For the happy belly area, I am a core work out every day with yoga or barre3 junkie. It keeps it in line.

    Try having some one help you with the measuring. If some one else did the measuring, have them remeasure, and just like weigh ins, make sure it is at the same time every day. I weigh every day, but it was so small a flux up or down since hitting maintenance that until I retained 4 pounds for 5 days I didn't record it. I went on a 7 day exercise blast & weight loss food plan & water drinking diligence and am on the second day, already my wedding ring is loose again. My clothes fit exactly the same, I just notice the water retention in my hands and around my eyes.

    Keep the faith, stay on course, and ask a friend IRL to measure you. it is amazing how it helps.
  • christinelast
    christinelast Posts: 76
    THank you! I will have someone try to measure me
  • christinelast
    christinelast Posts: 76
    .
  • quest67
    quest67 Posts: 94
    Bump
  • Branawesomer
    Branawesomer Posts: 1,025 Member
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)
    No, you don't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. Besides, you don't gain muscle that fast.

    OP, maybe your scale is off?

    Um I am on a 750 cal deficit and I have gained a ton of muscle. Also, in the 2 months that I started my job, I have gained even more muscle, to the point its noticeable. I went from being a student, to having an active job. You can definitely gain muscle while on a calorie deficit if you work for it. I have been for the past year and a half when I started my weightloss journey.

    As the above people said, it could just be bloating. Women especially bloat easily. I've seen someone gain a couple inches in one day from bloat. Wait a couple days then measure again if this happens again :)
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Where are these two inches you've noticed? If you've been lifting, its probably your muscles growing. And as the person above suggested, do some cardio. Its good for you :)
    No, you don't gain muscle on a calorie deficit. Besides, you don't gain muscle that fast.

    OP, maybe your scale is off?

    Um I am on a 750 cal deficit and I have gained a ton of muscle. Also, in the 2 months that I started my job, I have gained even more muscle, to the point its noticeable. I went from being a student, to having an active job. You can definitely gain muscle while on a calorie deficit if you work for it. I have been for the past year and a half when I started my weightloss journey.

    As the above people said, it could just be bloating. Women especially bloat easily. I've seen someone gain a couple inches in one day from bloat. Wait a couple days then measure again if this happens again :)
    Muscle takes a long time to build and generally requires serous weightlifting and eating at maintenance or a surplus, so I'm curious as to how you've built "a ton of muscle" especially at a job you've been at two months. Have you also been dong a lot of weight lifting as well for the past year and a half? If so, I have no doubt that you have gained strength, tone, and definition, but that does not mean it's muscle. Also, many times you lose weight, you reveal the muscle that was already underneath the weight/fat. There are a lot of discussions here on MFP regarding this same thing.

    In any event, I wish you the best of luck on your journey.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
    My only guess is significant water retention. Try drinking lots of water to flush it out, then hopefully you'll be back to normal.

    I thought water retention makes you put on weight on the scale..

    Yeah, water retention would not be an explanation for added inches but no weight gain.

    If OP lost enough fat that it balanced out the water retention so that the scale did not move then OP would have lost inches as water is considerably more dense than fat pound for pound.

    ETA and I just noticed suckered in by an old thread

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