Absolute Frustration

Could be muscle, Take measurements and before pictures I feel like your body has to gain muscle before it can burn it's fat.

Definately muscle gain and also you are probably taking on more liquid. Even small amounts of exercise will gain muscle and since it's heavier than fat you will notice a gain. But you will also notice a figure change as well as you tone up. If you can afford to invest in a good pair of bathroom scales that will measure not just weight but BMI, Muscle Mass, BMR, H2O, etc. Keep it up though it does work but remember to increase your protein intake if you are working hard and burning muscle and take time to recover between exercise days.

Listen to Trenton, he is correct. It takes a good amount of time to put on muscle, a good bit more than a 3 1/2 weeks. People WISH it only took 3 1/2 weeks to put on muscle. When you begin (and really throughout) you will see increases and drops.

Likely due to :
- Water retention
- Excess waste
- Normal weight fluctuations (if you are just now monitoring your weight maybe this is a normal pattern)
- Water retention in your muscles
- Certain foods can cause bloating

I would lean more toward water retention all around, especially in your muscles....so yes, those who said retention in all forms are all correct.....and if you are looking for true help, making your diary public so others can see would be useful as well.

1. 5 pounds is insignificant in the scheme of things, don't sweat it. As mentioned before, could be water weight, muscle, food build up in your intestines... etc. you would have to be in surplus of 17,500 calories to gain that much in fat. It CAN'T be fat if you are being true in your logging.

2. make sure you are logging correctly, drink PLENTY of water and try and lower your sodium intake if you think it is high.

3. measure yourself every few weeks. if your volume is shrinking and your mass is going up your body MUST becoming more dense (i.e. muscle growth). This is a fact.

4. always weigh yourself in the morning, naked after using the restroom, before eating... etc. this way your measurements consistent.

5. how do you feel? are you letting yourself feel hunger? do your jeans feel tighter? are your workouts getting better? these are all indications that you are dieting and exercising well, so don't be too harsh on yourself.

Best regards,

My clothes are fitting better and my workouts are getting easier (therefore I'm increasing the intensity). I just realized today's calorie deficit (with my planned evening workouts added in) is over 900 calories. So that's probably not good...

I made my journal public. I'm really trying to change my eating habits - I honestly have only been tracking for a solid week (work travels, etc. interfered). I realized my sodium was high so I started watching that.

A 900 calorie deficit doesn't seem too out-there, since you have a bit of weight to lose (per your ticker), but I personally wouldn't advocate going much higher than that on a regular basis. The less you have to lose, the smaller your deficit should be. I peeked at your diary and overall your calorie consumptions seems pretty healthy. You had a few days where you had a lot of calories left over, but those were typically days where you did a lot of exercise, and you did eat some of your exercise calories back.

Since you are seeing non-scale related signs of improvement (better fitting clothes, improved fitness level,etc.) I would focus on those, keep on exercising and watching what you eat (maybe tweaking things where you feel they need to be tweaked, like sodium levels) and see what happens. In the grand scheme of things, 3.5 weeks isn't that long, and some people just need more time than others for their bodies to get into the weight-loss groove.