Working out almost every day but gaining weight

Hi everyone,

I am hoping maybe some of you can help me out here. I am 32 year old woman , 5"7 and currently about 147 lbs. I would ideally like to be around 130lbs ( have been there in the past and felt great). So almost 20 pounds to lose.
Anyway I have been working out nearly every day and instead of losing weight I have gained almost 5 pounds( started around 142).
My workout routine looks like this :
Monday - pilates reformer
Tuesday- spinning class
Wednesday - spinning class
Thursday- ballet barre workout
Friday- figure skating for hour followed by spinning class
Saturday- ballet barre workout
Sunday- off

I workout out very hard on each of these days and just don't get what's going wrong here? I even walk my dog for about 45
Mins a day on top of this.
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Replies

  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    Have you looked at the thread, "LINKS in MFP you want to read again (and again)"?
  • Whats your food intake like?
  • sarahsedai
    sarahsedai Posts: 273 Member
    Whats your food intake like?

    ^this. closed diary and no information on your eating habits make this difficult.
  • cjpopp
    cjpopp Posts: 1
    Since I'm not sure what your food intake is, it could be that's with all your working out, you're building muscle in place of fat. And since muscle weighs more, that's why you could be gaining weight. The best way to see is to measure yourself and see if your still losing inches.
  • ComingUntrue
    ComingUntrue Posts: 65 Member
    Give your adrenals a REST. Stop exercising so much. Eat a little more... add some good quality fats in.... focus on sleep... laugh every day. Get your body to relax more so your adrenals can breathe.
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    It very likely could be the eating habits causing this.... I know my eating isn't perfect but I just thought that with this much exercise I should at least maintaining and not gaining.

    Typical day for me is bananna and yogurt for breakfast,
    Then lunch Is often a turkey and tomato sandwich on wheat with an apple, cheese string and maybe banana
    Then dinner is something like homemade pizza, or chicken stir fry, or BBQ chicken and pasta salad or whole wheat pasta with chicken. And sometimes frozen yogurt for dessert.

    Then on the weekends we usually go out to eat at least once and te usually not the best.. Something like pizza or typical restaurant food and a couple beer.

    But even so on most days my calorie intake is never more than 1900.
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    I know it's not ideal but just thought that combined with my exercise I wouldn't be GAINING weight uggg so frustrating.
  • akuaafriyie
    akuaafriyie Posts: 21 Member
    its all about calories in and calories out. track how much you are burning and how much you are eating n adjust accordingly
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    I guess I better start tracking better again.
    Just really blows my mind that he eating could be that bad that it would counter balance all the training.

    Is this pretty common?
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    It very likely could be the eating habits causing this.... I know my eating isn't perfect but I just thought that with this much exercise I should at least maintaining and not gaining.

    Typical day for me is bananna and yogurt for breakfast,
    Then lunch Is often a turkey and tomato sandwich on wheat with an apple, cheese string and maybe banana
    Then dinner is something like homemade pizza, or chicken stir fry, or BBQ chicken and pasta salad or whole wheat pasta with chicken. And sometimes frozen yogurt for dessert.

    Then on the weekends we usually go out to eat at least once and te usually not the best.. Something like pizza or typical restaurant food and a couple beer.

    But even so on most days my calorie intake is never more than 1900.

    1900 calories is way too much for someone your size. Try to stick to 1400-1500 calories a day.
  • FatFreeFrolicking
    FatFreeFrolicking Posts: 4,252 Member
    I guess I better start tracking better again.
    Just really blows my mind that he eating could be that bad that it would counter balance all the training.

    Is this pretty common?

    Yes. You can't out-train a bad diet. Do you use a food scale? If not, you need to purchase one and use it 24/7.
  • chubbamamma3
    chubbamamma3 Posts: 11 Member
    Gaining weight from exercise at the beginning is normal as muscle retains water to help it repair. Once your body finds it's own happy medium you will see changes. Some of the fittest, leanest people in the world weigh more than me and I'm overweight and unfit. Ignore the weight and use measurements you will find yourself getting smaller :-)
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    I know 1900 is too much for weight loss but it shouldn't be too Michael for maintanance especially with the amt of exercise....my fitness pal tells me I need 1760 cal a day to lose a pound a week.

    I guess I better stop enjoying myself so much on the weekends uggg
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  • logg1e
    logg1e Posts: 1,208 Member
    I guess I better start tracking better again.
    Just really blows my mind that he eating could be that bad that it would counter balance all the training.

    Is this pretty common?

    On here? Oh God yes.
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    Weights are a part of my barre classes and pilates reformer worked with very high resistance. Spinning also incorporates some light hand weights. There is no question I have put on muscle , I can see it everywhere especially in my legs ( likely a result of spinning on high resistance) however I know i did not gain only muscle as I hVe some added fat on my abdomen ( went from 26 inch waist to 28)
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  • MaryJane_8810002
    MaryJane_8810002 Posts: 2,082 Member
    Is it 5lbs of muscle? It sounds like you are doing too much, maybe its water retention.
  • Jankatherton
    Jankatherton Posts: 70 Member
    You are obviously not familiar with pilates reformer. A spring system is used to add very very heavy resistance. It's not just couple pounds. I've done the whole lifting at the gym thing for many years and have worked with personal trainers who use this method. I just found that with my knee injury it wasn't for me and pilates gives me much better form and is every bit as tough as any weight lifting program at the gym.

    Anyway I know I didn't gain 5 pounds of muscle so that's not the point here but I've witjout a doubt gained some
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  • ComingUntrue
    ComingUntrue Posts: 65 Member
    Your adrenals are suffering. Seriously. I am in late stage adrenal fatigue (among other things) and trying to get my life back. Google it. Learn about your hormones and how they work. Have your cortisol levels tested. I'm only sounding harsh because it's a serious issue and I think you need to make yourself aware of how hard you are taxing yourself. It isn't all calories in, calories out. In fact, go to thepaleomom.com and check out her recent post about adrenal/hormonal health. There is a wealth of information online about this, so I'll leave it at that. I really wish you luck!
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  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    How long have you been dieting and exercising? If you started a new program, some could be water retention.

    If you have gained weight, then you are eating too much, because that's how a person gains weight. You can exercise all you want, but if you eat more calories than you burn you will gain weight.

    Do you log your calorie intake and, if so, do you ensure you are using correct entries?

    Do you weigh your food?

    Do you log every single thing you put in your mouth.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Is it 5lbs of muscle? It sounds like you are doing too much, maybe its water retention.
    No as to muscle. Maybe some water retention.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    I guess I better start tracking better again.
    Just really blows my mind that he eating could be that bad that it would counter balance all the training.

    Is this pretty common?
    Balance is when you know how many calories you are consuming and how many you are burning, and then you make adjustments in order to lose the weight. Knowledge is power.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    Your adrenals are suffering. Seriously. I am in late stage adrenal fatigue (among other things) and trying to get my life back. Google it. Learn about your hormones and how they work. Have your cortisol levels tested. I'm only sounding harsh because it's a serious issue and I think you need to make yourself aware of how hard you are taxing yourself. It isn't all calories in, calories out. In fact, go to thepaleomom.com and check out her recent post about adrenal/hormonal health. There is a wealth of information online about this, so I'll leave it at that. I really wish you luck!
    Nothing but conjecture and a way to push a certain type diet.
  • Sarauk2sf
    Sarauk2sf Posts: 28,072 Member
    SLLRunner already asked...but when did you start working out?

    Also, have you changed the nature/frequency/intensity of your workouts.

    Over what period was the weight gain?
  • ana3067
    ana3067 Posts: 5,623 Member
    It very likely could be the eating habits causing this.... I know my eating isn't perfect but I just thought that with this much exercise I should at least maintaining and not gaining.

    Typical day for me is bananna and yogurt for breakfast,
    Then lunch Is often a turkey and tomato sandwich on wheat with an apple, cheese string and maybe banana
    Then dinner is something like homemade pizza, or chicken stir fry, or BBQ chicken and pasta salad or whole wheat pasta with chicken. And sometimes frozen yogurt for dessert.

    Then on the weekends we usually go out to eat at least once and te usually not the best.. Something like pizza or typical restaurant food and a couple beer.

    But even so on most days my calorie intake is never more than 1900.

    1900 calories is way too much for someone your size. Try to stick to 1400-1500 calories a day.

    .... no. I'm 5'7, with exercise 1900 is a reasonable deficit, possibly even too low. Assuming 150lbs.
  • skittle316
    skittle316 Posts: 128 Member
    WEIGHT DOES NOT EQUAL FAT.
    Measure your body before loosing weight. Your body likes to retain water but no way have you consumed over 20000 calories for it to be fat. It's probably water weigh, decrease your carbs to like 120g or stop working out so much. With all the workouts you should be drinking a good 3L of water a day and 3g of sodium. What are your macros?
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    WEIGHT DOES NOT EQUAL FAT.
    Measure your body before loosing weight. Your body likes to retain water but no way have you consumed over 20000 calories for it to be fat. It's probably water weigh, decrease your carbs to like 120g or stop working out so much. With all the workouts you should be drinking a good 3L of water a day and 3g of sodium. What are your macros?
    Mmmmm.....perhaps she is consuming over 20,000 calories. Her diary is not open, so we would not know that.