My body is freaking out on me.

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gnalani
gnalani Posts: 126
in Health and Weight Loss
I feel like my body is freaking out on me. I have been weightlifting for about a year but I had a horrible diet and gained about 30 lbs of fat (maybe just a little muscle). In the last few months (July-ish), I've gotten pretty serious about lifting heavy with a personal trainer. In the last few weeks, I've started tracking calories to get this dang weight off. I have about 80 lbs to lose.

When I started counting cals, I immediately (like within a week) went from 246 to 236. After week two, I had lost another lb to get to 235. I weigh myself every day and have seen the scale make a few jumps in the last two days to 237 and now (on my official week three weigh in) I am at 239. I know that I didn't actually gain 4 lbs of fat, I've had a few big workouts in the last few days and my whole body is sore, and my calories have been in range. So I'm not worried (just a little annoyed) at the scale. Today when I put on a pair of pants I haven't worn in a few weeks, they fit better around the waist BUT I could barely get them over my thighs. They've grown noticeably. The shirt I put on this morning also felt really tight around my arms.

So with all that said, I just feel like my body is freaking out. My weight is all over the place, parts of my body are getting smaller, other parts are mutating and growing larger lol. I have read on here that you can't really gain muscle while in a calorie deficit, but they sure seem to be getting a lot bigger (and a lot more defined), and I'm losing weight... sort of.

I'm just all around confused and so is my body apparently lol. Can anyone help me figure out whats going on? Or has anyone else felt like this before?

Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,404 MFP Moderator
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    Your body is normal. It's water weight fluctuations. It happens to us all.
  • juggernaut1974
    juggernaut1974 Posts: 6,212 Member
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    When I started counting cals, I immediately (like within a week) went from 246 to 236. After week two, I had lost another lb to get to 235. I weigh myself every day and have seen the scale make a few jumps in the last two days to 237 and now (on my official week three weigh in) I am at 239. I know that I didn't actually gain 4 lbs of fat,

    Correct - and you also didn't lose 10 lbs of fat in a week.

    Normal water weight fluctuations from changes in your diet and exercise habits.

    Assess your progress after 6-8 weeks. Pay attention to the overall average trend, not specific day to day fluctuations. If the general trend over that is in the direction you want, keep at it...otherwise reassess and make adjustments.
  • Kalikel
    Kalikel Posts: 9,626 Member
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    I don't argue with people who say your muscles can't get bigger while you lose fat, but mine did.

    My shoulders got rounder and I swear they seem bigger. I wear sleeveless shirts exclusively from June to October, so I see the difference. My arm muscles got much bigger (but had never been used, really.). After the shoulder, the arm goes in, then there is this big bulge down to the elbow.

    My waist, if I'm standing, goes in a lot more and I can feel the difference since I started working the abdominal muscles. The area below the chest, where your ribs part ways (like a triangle at the end of your breast bone) has really started slimming down and toning up.

    My thighs are just weird because I still have a ton of fat on them, but they've really tightened up since I started working them harder, so the fat is getting to be kind of separate from them. Down by my knees, there is lots more muscle. I worry that when the fat disappears, they'll be too clunky. I haven't put on pants since March and it'll be a while before I do, plus I was wearing 18/20 then and will be in a 14 (I think) when I get new ones, so I don't know if they'd fit differently, but there is weirdness there.

    My shins just seem to get bigger and bigger. People are even commenting on how "great" and "defined" they are. :( I don't want my muscles showing, so I don't enjoy that. Even my best friend was like, "God, you have nice muscle there! I never noticed that! That's awesome!" I wish people would just not say anything.

    All of me got lots smaller and has gone down several sizes, but the boobs went down only one cup size so far. Bras decreased around, but that stubborn cup size won't budge.

    And my feet are less wide, which has nothing to do with anything, but is more bodily weirdness.

    I don't know if any of that is helpful or even interesting for you, but there you go.

    It's an adventure, all these changes. :)
  • hippalottame
    hippalottame Posts: 21
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    I'm so jealous. Used to LOVE lifting weights (have had to amend workouts). Cory Everson was my idol.. SO ANYWAY.....

    Yes,it's possible to see changes rapidly when you add weight resistance (especially with a trainer)--not so freaky- so keep up the great work BUT don't forget the cardio to balance it all out. A toned healthy body is always a plus.
  • gnalani
    gnalani Posts: 126
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    Thanks everyone!

    I figured it probably wasn't abnormal and I'm definitely in this for the long haul (or in the middle of an already long haul depending on how you look at it). It just feels like every few days my body goes in a different direction... ten lbs down, four lbs up, smaller waist, bigger thighs, etc.

    Kalikel -- you're so right, its an adventure!
  • LoneWolf_70
    LoneWolf_70 Posts: 1,151 Member
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    just stick to the diet/exercise plan and dont even look at a scale for 30 days (hard I know)...the first weight you lose (rough guess 15-20lbs) will be water weight and will come off fast. Then the hard work starts.
  • vismal
    vismal Posts: 2,463 Member
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    Here's the best advice I can give you. As the others pointed out, fluctuation is completely normal. It doesn't usually stop either so you need to get used to it. Here's how I deal with it:

    Weigh daily but stop paying attention to day to day changes. Weigh daily right after you wake up after you pee, record those weights in a log. After 7 days, take an average. This number is slightly more meaningful then your daily weights but again, pay little attention to it. After a month start comparing the averages. This is much more significant and will show your actual progress. The advantage of averaging is if you happen to weigh in on a day where water retention is unusually high or low due to sodium or glycogen or any of the MILLION different things that cause fluctuations, you don't have to freak about the massive shift in weight. The averages will account for the high days and the lows days and give you an idea of what you really weigh. After a month goes by, your averages should go in the downward direction, if they do not then you need to either reduce calories, increase exercise, or both.
  • gnalani
    gnalani Posts: 126
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    Here's the best advice I can give you. As the others pointed out, fluctuation is completely normal. It doesn't usually stop either so you need to get used to it. Here's how I deal with it:

    Weigh daily but stop paying attention to day to day changes. Weigh daily right after you wake up after you pee, record those weights in a log. After 7 days, take an average. This number is slightly more meaningful then your daily weights but again, pay little attention to it. After a month start comparing the averages. This is much more significant and will show your actual progress. The advantage of averaging is if you happen to weigh in on a day where water retention is unusually high or low due to sodium or glycogen or any of the MILLION different things that cause fluctuations, you don't have to freak about the massive shift in weight. The averages will account for the high days and the lows days and give you an idea of what you really weigh. After a month goes by, your averages should go in the downward direction, if they do not then you need to either reduce calories, increase exercise, or both.

    Thanks! Like I said in the original post, I'm not worried about the scale, just annoyed :) I know just like I didn't lose 10 lbs of actual fat in a week, I didn't gain 4 lbs of actual fat in two days. I've lost 70+ lbs in the past, so I know the drill but I appreciate the reminder to take the long view! I just was not expecting the changes to be so erratic over the last few weeks. Last go around, I didn't exercise at all so it was fairly cut and dry... eat less for a week, weigh less on the weekly weigh in lol. And I know ultimately, thats what I'll find this time around too :)
  • mrsmitchell0510
    mrsmitchell0510 Posts: 83 Member
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    Here's the best advice I can give you. As the others pointed out, fluctuation is completely normal. It doesn't usually stop either so you need to get used to it. Here's how I deal with it:

    Weigh daily but stop paying attention to day to day changes. Weigh daily right after you wake up after you pee, record those weights in a log. After 7 days, take an average. This number is slightly more meaningful then your daily weights but again, pay little attention to it. After a month start comparing the averages. This is much more significant and will show your actual progress. The advantage of averaging is if you happen to weigh in on a day where water retention is unusually high or low due to sodium or glycogen or any of the MILLION different things that cause fluctuations, you don't have to freak about the massive shift in weight. The averages will account for the high days and the lows days and give you an idea of what you really weigh. After a month goes by, your averages should go in the downward direction, if they do not then you need to either reduce calories, increase exercise, or both.

    ^I saw vismal post this in another thread and this is what I've been doing for the last month or so, graphing my weight daily. It has helped me tremendously because while I see daily fluctuations, the line on my graph is continuously going down.
    It's worth a try!

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