Frustration starting to grow

Will this help?



When comparing equal *volumes* of fat and muscle (i.e., fill up a 5 gal. bucket of fat and a 5 gal. bucket of muscle), the muscle is more dense and thus *weighs* more...

and when comparing equal *weights* of fat and muscle (i.e., 5 lbs of fat and 5 lbs of muscle), muscle is more dense and thus takes up less *volume*

...which is why you can weigh the same (or more!) but lose inches when you lose fat and gain muscle.

I'm just about to go into my fifth week of exercise and eating better. Been exercising pretty much daily , 1/2 hour to over an hour, with the odd day off. Not just light exercise but aerobic and weights using a variety of well established video's. Feeling great, lost a few inches here and there, bits starting to look a bit tighter here and there. fantastic right? Yes of course! But I've gained two pounds!! what gives? Last time I attempted to get fit I dropped about 5 pounds in the first two weeks! I am NOT hard-core dieting but I AM watching what I eat and have killed just about all the "bad" stuff (still use two raw sugar cubes in my tea daily but that's about it) I'm not looking to lose huge amounts right away, I know it doesn't happen that. I understand it takes time, yadda yadda, but I would have expected by the end of a full month to have lost a pound, at least, not gained two!

any insight?

In answer to your question scale weight is a terrible indicator of progress on short time scales and believe it or not the first 5 weeks is a short time scale. The fact that you have lost inches and feel stronger is the only indicator you need to know your plan is working, just stick with it. Your weight will fluctuate due to water retention from the addition of exercise to what was previously relatively sedentary activity level due to increased glycogen storage and water retention in the muscle for repair. In addition things like your monthly cycle can cause water retention. All these can combine to a good 10 pound fluctuation in water weight that will mask any fat loss on the scale. That is why inches are so much better of an indication early on.

Eventually you will lose enough fat that no amount of water retention will hide it on the scale, but you aren't there yet.

Just keep doing what you are doing and have faith that eating less and exercising will have you losing fat over time...because it will.