I SWEAR EXERCISE MAKES ME GAIN WEIGHT!!

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MayberryMama
MayberryMama Posts: 42
in Health and Weight Loss
Okay, I know it makes NO sense but I have seen it time and time again. When I just maintain my 500 cal deficit and do NOT exercise, I lose consistently each week. But the minute I add exercise to the plan, I begin to gain. Mind you, I still keep my 500 calorie deficit even when I'm exercising. So the cals in/out do NOT change. Has anyone had this problem?

For example - I had been doing Turbo Fire for 5 weeks. Was pretty much stuck at 183, but over that five weeks I gained about 2 lbs, but didn't lose anything. Then I had an injury and had to cut out ALL exercise for 2 weeks. I'm now at 176. I LOST 10 lbs in two weeks with NO exercise. Over the weekend I decided to add a workout back in, just to get back in the swing of things. Woke up the next day, 1.5 lbs heavier. Again, same cal defecit.

This isn't the first time. I lost about 15 lbs with diet alone last summer. Then started an exercise program at the gym three days a week. Did not change my deficit - gained 8 lbs back before I quit. (lost it again as soon as I quit exercising) So I signed up with a personal trainer - she said she could help me not to gain while I trained by lowering carbs and taking some supplements. Again with a super vigilant diet, I gained 10 lbs - and I couldn't fit in my clothes, so I quit. We are not talking muscle here because I can feel my clothes getting tighter each time this happens.

I want to get certified to teach Turbo Kick at my local gym but I'm afraid the training and teaching will make me gain weight. Any insight is so appreciated, I am super frustrated. I want to exercise to be healthy but it just seems to mess me up!

Thank in advance!
Leslie
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Replies

  • shaunshaikh
    shaunshaikh Posts: 616 Member
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    Does exercise make you gain fat? If it doesn't make you gain fat, does it really matter?
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,121 Member
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    I don't have an answer for you. You're a mystery of modern science. Maybe you could get a show on Discovery Health.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    It's normal to gain a few pounds (like 4 or less) simply because water will be stored in your muscles along with glycogen when you work them.

    Beyond that, it's your eating plan. Many people overestimate the calories burned through exercise and then overeat, thinking they're simply replacing the calories they burned in the gym when they are infact exceeding them. The other problem is that many people 'reward' themselves for hard workouts with essentially junk food that they wouldn't dare touch were they not working out.

    Could either of those problems apply to your situation?
  • Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet
    Mrs_TrimWaistFatWallet Posts: 486
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    Are you eating until you have 0 'calories remaining'? If not, thats the problem.
  • mom23nuts
    mom23nuts Posts: 636 Member
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    I am in the same boat working hard at the gym and keeping to the calorie thing but I just read 2 things....maybe you are doing too much cardio and not enough weights to maintain fat burn and then going into starvation by not eating enough calories while doing high cardio....maybe you and I need more calories or less exercise or a combo of both

    or more weights and less cardio or more calories to fuel weight loss....

    Oh hell

    I am just as confused as you and I have done tons of research and one person tells me one thing and another tells me the total opposite so I am just going to experiment with toning it down on the cardio and eating more high quality calories being higher protein and less carbs and see if that makes a difference....right now all I am losing is time and not weight.

    So I am frustrated too!!!
  • Fattack
    Fattack Posts: 666 Member
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    It's normal to gain a few pounds (like 4 or less) simply because water will be stored in your muscles along with glycogen when you work them.

    Beyond that, it's your eating plan. Many people overestimate the calories burned through exercise and then overeat, thinking they're simply replacing the calories they burned in the gym when they are infact exceeding them. The other problem is that many people 'reward' themselves for hard workouts with essentially junk food that they wouldn't dare touch were they not working out.

    Could either of those problems apply to your situation?

    Exactly what I was going to post. MFP does overestimate calories for certain exercises too. I found I wasn't losing very much one week where I did a lot of swimming which I'd entered as "breaststroke, general". The week after I entered it at "laps, light / moderate effort" (as I wasn't really pushing myself to do the hour's swim) and it came out as less calories burnt, and lo and behold, I lost more weight. Also it didn't *feel* like I'd done nearly 600 calories worth of exercise, 400 felt much more accurate in comparison with the exercises I do at the gym where there are Polar HRMs built within the machines.
  • brewingaz
    brewingaz Posts: 1,136 Member
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    It probably does! It's muscle weight! That's a good thing. Your weight is composed of three things: lean mass weight, water weight, and fat weight. When you are working out, you are building your muscle weight while decreasing your fat weight. This is why scales should NOT be the only thing used to measure progress. Measuring is much better. Because muscle is more dense than fat, it takes much less volume. For example, 5 lbs of muscle is way smaller than 5 lbs of fat. If you're gaining weight but losing size (clothes fitting better, etc.), then you are making great progress! It's not weight you want to lose, it's FAT WEIGHT you want to lose. You want your body fat percentage down.

    Look at it like this. Person A is 170 lbs with 30 percent body fat. That means 119 lbs of them are lean mass and water weight, and 51 lbs of them are pure fat!

    Now let's look at Person B, who is also 170 lbs, but is 20 percent body fat. That means they are 136 lbs of lean mass and water (more muscle!!!) and have only 34 lbs of fat on their whole body.

    Now both people weigh the same, but who is healthier? Person B.

    Weight on the scale is just a number. People have to change their state of mind in thinking that the number on the scale is the end-all index of health. Percent body fat is the best way to go. Measuring yourself to track progress is far better than basing anything off of a scale alone. Good luck!
  • ljprevo
    ljprevo Posts: 1
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    This is the biggest myth with weight loss. When you first start exercising, esp. when you had not in the past you are most likely to gain muscle weight, esp if you are toning your muscles. Keep at it, eventually the muscle's will get to a certain strength and then the fat will fly off.
  • Msaip
    Msaip Posts: 482 Member
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    It's normal to gain a few pounds (like 4 or less) simply because water will be stored in your muscles along with glycogen when you work them.

    Beyond that, it's your eating plan. Many people overestimate the calories burned through exercise and then overeat, thinking they're simply replacing the calories they burned in the gym when they are infact exceeding them. The other problem is that many people 'reward' themselves for hard workouts with essentially junk food that they wouldn't dare touch were they not working out.

    Could either of those problems apply to your situation?

    This pretty much explains it. You don't want your calories deficit to affect your muscle mass
  • xHelloQuincyx
    xHelloQuincyx Posts: 884 Member
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    you arnt eating enough. there are plenty of threads on here that say eat your work out cal's. so do it. you shouldnt be gaining that much weight. after eating you calories back and you still gain, then you need to talk to your dr.

    also on your profile it says you did p90x and gained weight "because of your eating habits" not just working out. so im confused.
  • jamievolner
    jamievolner Posts: 35
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    Muscle weighs more than fat that's why....your muscles become heavier as they tone and you NEVER weigh yourself after exercise. It all levels out once the muscles are toned.
  • twilightemma
    twilightemma Posts: 1
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    Perhaps the exercise your choosing is causing you to gain more muscle, and since muscle weighs more than fat, it could be contributing to this weight gain. Maybe simple try jogging or running outside or on a treadmill
  • Positively_Me
    Positively_Me Posts: 1,500 Member
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    bump..to read later :)
  • stormieweather
    stormieweather Posts: 2,549 Member
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    This is true for me as well. But it's fluid retention in one's muscles. http://www.livestrong.com/article/351391-water-retention-in-muscles-after-exercise/

    Also, the machines and MFP overestimate the calories I burn during exercise. My body is very efficient in that I rarely burn more then 2-300 calories per workout session. The machines/MFP say I burned 500-600, but if I ate that, I'd be eliminating my deficit. So I now wear a Fitbit and leave a cushion of 100 or so, of the actual burned.
  • MayberryMama
    MayberryMama Posts: 42
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    Thanks guys!!

    I do try to eat clean 90% of the time, whether exercising or not. And I always increase my food intake when I exercise to match the calories burned so I still have my 500 cal defecit. I often just add a protien shake or yogurt with fruit and flax to make up the calories. Now as for whether or not the gain is fat - good question. I have only just started watching my body fat percentage, so it could be that the weight is muscle or water. But I definitely see it in my clothes - they get tight and I look heavier. Especially in the face. I really do seem to be a medical mystery. ugh.
  • fsugirl26
    fsugirl26 Posts: 207
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    I wish I could lose weight by not working out :)
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Muscle weighs more than fat that's why....your muscles become heavier as they tone and you NEVER weigh yourself after exercise. It all levels out once the muscles are toned.

    Muscles do not 'weigh more' than fat. A pound is a pound is a pound. Muscle is much denser than fat, so 1 lb of muscle takes up less VOLUME than 1lb of fat.
  • MayberryMama
    MayberryMama Posts: 42
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    Stormie - I just switched from the fit bit to the bodybugg and I am noticing a slight difference in the calculations, but not enough to freak me out. I loved that little fitbit though!

    I agree, the machines at the gym ALWAYS over calculated my burn - I kind of think that was throwing me off last summer with the trainer. But I figured my rest days would make up for it. Who knows....
  • peacepunchcaptaincruch
    peacepunchcaptaincruch Posts: 3
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    I'm not sure what kind of exercise you're doing, but I definitely know what you mean. When you said, "We are not talking muscle here because I can feel my clothes getting tighter each time this happens," I immediately thought of how my skinny jeans used to fit very tight during track season. When I stopped running for a couple months, they would get looser. Maybe you should try lighter exercise, like walking the dog or light jogging. Drink a lot of water too if you're not already doing that.
  • Atlantique
    Atlantique Posts: 2,484 Member
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    Thanks guys!!

    I do try to eat clean 90% of the time, whether exercising or not. And I always increase my food intake when I exercise to match the calories burned so I still have my 500 cal defecit. I often just add a protien shake or yogurt with fruit and flax to make up the calories. Now as for whether or not the gain is fat - good question. I have only just started watching my body fat percentage, so it could be that the weight is muscle or water. But I definitely see it in my clothes - they get tight and I look heavier. Especially in the face. I really do seem to be a medical mystery. ugh.

    This is why I wonder if you are accurately estimating the calories burned through exercise. If you are overestimating them and eating them back, you are no longer maintaining a deficit and could be creating a suplus of calories.

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