Help! I Gained My Weight Back From Muscle

egyptianwhitley90
egyptianwhitley90 Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello,

I really need help because I am very confused right now and I am still a beginner to MFP. I am currently 160 and I lost 5 llbs. Everyday I stay within my low calorie diet and I exercise at least 5 days a week with 45 mins to an hour cardio and also do strength training. I stood on the scale and I am back to 160 again and I know it is because I have gained muscle. I know I lost weight and I feel smaller but I was wondering how do I record my weight if I am constantly gaining from muscle and how do I see that I am getting to my goal? Should I stop strength training and just do cardio so I can lose then do strength training later? I just dont understand how to record my weight on MFP because eventually I'm going to have to record it someday to keep track of my diet but how if I am gaining please help what do I do?

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    you may have gained weight from water retention, but you havent gained 5lb of muscle.
  • renevate
    renevate Posts: 15 Member
    Gaining muscle weight is much better than losing fat or water weight. Reason being, muscles burn fat when they are worked. You will initially gain weight, but then will begin losing again. DON'T STOP!
    Rather measure yourself - that way you can see inches lost rather than weight
  • simplydelish2
    simplydelish2 Posts: 726 Member
    How do you know you are within calorie range? Your diary just shows a quick add of your MFP allotted calories every day.

    It takes months and months of the correct exercises to gain 5 lbs. of muscle. You may very well be smaller - exercising helps tone and tighten the body. However, toning does not equal muscle gain.

    My guess is that you are not being honest with yourself regarding your intake and most likely are not eating at a deficit. In addition, you may be holding some water.

    My suggestion - log your food (weigh or measure as appropriate). This will give you a much clearer picture on your actual number of calories and your macros.
  • Omanya
    Omanya Posts: 50
    You didn't gain 5 lb of muscle in a short period of time at a calorie deficit and doing excessive amounts of cardio. You're probably losing muscle. There are several other likely possibilities:

    1) Normal weight fluctuations. Your weight can fluctuate up to six lb every day. You possibly initially took your weight when you weighed the least that day and most recently took it when you weighed the most - or a combination.

    2) You're not actuallt at a deficit, or you're at a smaller one than you think. Are you guessing about how many calories you're consuming, measuring your food, or weighing it? Are you counting snacks? Are you attempting to lose too much too fast? And are you also reassuring yourself for perspective? If you are managing to maintain muscle, you will lose 'weight' much more slowly but fat faster. In other words, your body composition coukd be changing instead of your overall weight.

    We'll stop there for now. Because usually you don't need to go further.
  • CherylCalmConfidentCapable
    CherylCalmConfidentCapable Posts: 36 Member
    Hi hun, DON'T STOP. I find the scales incredibly frustrating as I too work out 4-5 per week with a combination of cardio and strength training. My PT tells me the best indicator is body fat percentage monitors as they can indicate the % of body fat you are carrying and then log the changes as you stick to the program. Weight fluctuates and can be a great motivator/demotivator but body fat seems to be less liable to fluctuate. If you are indeed working out and replacing fat with muscle the % body fat will decrease regardless of weight and you will physically see the difference in your body and clothes etc. My gym has one and I jump on once a month. It has always showed a decrease except when I went abroad for 2 weeks. Interestingly for that fortnight I lost weight but gained body fat indicating there was a muscle loss during the period I wasn't training, so weightloss is not always good right?

    I do get baffled by the science but know the cardio/strength combo is working for me. Keep positive

    Love and light

    cx
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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    How do you know you are within calorie range? Your diary just shows a quick add of your MFP allotted calories every day.

    It takes months and months of the correct exercises to gain 5 lbs. of muscle. You may very well be smaller - exercising helps tone and tighten the body. However, toning does not equal muscle gain.

    My guess is that you are not being honest with yourself regarding your intake and most likely are not eating at a deficit. In addition, you may be holding some water.

    My suggestion - log your food (weigh or measure as appropriate). This will give you a much clearer picture on your actual number of calories and your macros.

    This...

    quick adds don't cut it and as others have said it takes about 6-10 months for a woman to gain 5lbs of muscle and it's eating a lot more than 1260 calories.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    you wont have really gained..stick with the strength training because overall it will change your physique for the better and not to mention that your muscles will be burning up more calories all day long :)
    That gain will be gone in a few days as your muscles holds onto water for repair.
    Keep up the great work :-D

    ps I havent looked at your diary, as others have said above, you do still need to watch your calories and stay within your allowance.
  • karenj_m
    karenj_m Posts: 215
    you may have gained weight from water retention, but you havent gained 5lb of muscle.

    ^^^
    THIS.....water retention from a new workout program.....give it a week or so, it'll settle down. Keep going with what you're doing.
  • HIITMe
    HIITMe Posts: 921 Member
    if you've gained muscle....your scale would go up but your clothes would be looser....
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    What the others have said. be honest with yourself and look at your diary. Its inconsistent and incomplete plus you frequently go over.

    Its also not 5lb of muscle.

    Dont panic. Your weight fluctuates and all you need to be bothered about is that the trend is downward from month to month.
    Recording what you consume accurately is one of the most importnat factors in being able to maintain a deficit. Its the deficit that will result in you losing weight.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    You do not gain muscle in a caloric deficit if you are a woman. You gain water, ask my butt and thighs, they LOVE water.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    Your diary is a mess. Get that in check and you'll see the scale move in the right direction. That's not muscle you gained unfortunately...
  • Jesssamesssa
    Jesssamesssa Posts: 116 Member
    Keep going!!!!! Dont stop, It will even its self out. I am just like you. I gained 2 lbs my first week working out with my trainer. But in the last 8 weeks I have lost 10 lbs. Went from 34.3% body fat to 26.2% body fat. From a size 12 to a size 8. I have also gained 10-15 lbs of muscle. I weight in weekly to keep myself on track. My gym has one of those body fat scales so I just watch the body fat part and dont worry about the lbs.
  • egyptianwhitley90
    egyptianwhitley90 Posts: 9 Member
    thats true thanks. I decided to buy myself a measure tape hope it helps.
  • egyptianwhitley90
    egyptianwhitley90 Posts: 9 Member
    your right I dont think Im using it the right way Im going to try thanks
  • egyptianwhitley90
    egyptianwhitley90 Posts: 9 Member
    How do you know you are within calorie range? Your diary just shows a quick add of your MFP allotted calories every day.

    It takes months and months of the correct exercises to gain 5 lbs. of muscle. You may very well be smaller - exercising helps tone and tighten the body. However, toning does not equal muscle gain.

    My guess is that you are not being honest with yourself regarding your intake and most likely are not eating at a deficit. In addition, you may be holding some water.

    My suggestion - log your food (weigh or measure as appropriate). This will give you a much clearer picture on your actual number of calories and your macros.

    your right I dont think Im using it the right way Im going to try thanks
  • egyptianwhitley90
    egyptianwhitley90 Posts: 9 Member
    Thanks everyone I really appreciate it Im going to do a lot better on my diary and stay within my calorie range you guys help and advice really did help a lot :]
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    be sure to weigh and everything - when i started doing that, i started losing weight and have kept losing it.

    also check the MFP food data entries you use, as sometimes they're wrong. one person here on the board found a listing for cole slaw and kept using it - it was about 25% of the actual calories. things like that add up.

    good luck in meeting your goal!
  • missomgitsica
    missomgitsica Posts: 496 Member
    Take your measurements. Track your inches.
  • Cait_Sidhe
    Cait_Sidhe Posts: 3,150 Member
    It is not possible for a woman to gain muscle weight in a short amount of time. Even if she's a bodybuilder. It's also not possible to gain muscle eating at a deficit. Muscle requires fuel to grow. It is likely water weight and measuring your food on a food scale and accurately logging will help.
  • stephe1987
    stephe1987 Posts: 406 Member
    You need to eat at a surplus to gain muscle (except for a few rare cases, such as obese people exercising several hours per day), and women need a lot of exercise to gain a small amount compared to how much a man can gain. Even men take months to build muscle. I think it's most likely water weight, fluctuations due to certain times in your monthly cycle, or you gained a little back due to inaccurate logging.
  • jamesheller123
    jamesheller123 Posts: 3
    Don't Stop strength training!! Gaining muscle weight is not a worrier thing, it is better rather than losing fat contently. You will initially gain weight, but then will start turning a loss again. Its naturally, so continue your workout plan without any hassle of mind.
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
    If as you say yourself you look better what does it matter what the number on the scale says ?

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