I GAINED????

If you are doing strength training, you could be gaining muscle or it could also be water weight. Weigh yourself in the morning instead of late in the day after you have consumed all that food and water. Don't get discouraged! Stay on track and stay motivated!

I found this on MFP. Could this be why you are gaining:flowerforyou:

Why the Scale Goes Up When You Start a New Workout Plan



By Chalene Johnson



Probably the most common question I get when I release a new exercise program is, "Help! I'm gaining weight! Am I doing something wrong?" This is a common phenomenon with any new exercise program, such as Turbo Kick, Turbo Jam, Hip Hop Hustle, or others! It's especially common (and temporary) with intense strength training programs like ChaLEAN Extreme or Tony Horton's P90X.



The motivation to start a new exercise program is almost always to lose weight. However, what most personal trainers know--and most at-home exercisers do not--is that a new exercise program often can cause an immediate (and temporary) increase on the scale. (Notice I didn't say weight gain! I'll explain.) This common increase in the scale is also the reason why perhaps millions of people start and then quickly quit their resolution to get fit.

---

The temporary weight gain explained:

---

When someone starts a new exercise program, they often experience muscle soreness. The more intense and "unfamiliar" the program, the more intense the muscle soreness. This soreness is most prevalent 24 to 48 hours after each workout. In the first few weeks of a new program, soreness is the body trying to "protect and defend" the effected or targeted tissue. Exercise physiologists refer to this as delayed-onset muscle soreness, or DOMS.



This type of soreness is thought to be caused by tissue breakdown or microscopic tears in muscle tissue. When this happens, the body protects the tissue. The muscle becomes inflamed and slightly swollen due to fluid retention. This temporary retention of fluid can result in a 3- to 4-pound weight gain within a few weeks of a new program. Keep in mind that muscle soreness is not necessarily a reflection of how hard you worked. In fact, some people feel no signs of muscle soreness, yet will experience the muscle protection mechanisms of water retention and slight swelling.



Most people are motivated enough to put up with this temporary muscle soreness. Yet, many, especially those who really need immediate weight loss to keep them motivated, become discouraged and quit!



When I worked with a group of 70 test participants during the development stages of ChaLEAN Extreme, this happened. Who was the most upset and discouraged? You guessed it... the women! I'm happy to report absolutely for every single woman (and man) in our group, the weight increase was temporary and never lasted more than two weeks before they started to see a major drop in the scale. However, these people had the advantage of working with someone who was able to explain to them why this was happening and assure them the weight would come off if they stuck to the nutrition plan and stayed true to the program.



If you follow a multi-phase exercise plan, such as ChaLEAN Extreme, keep in mind that when you start each phase, your body will be "in shock" again. Don't be surprised or discouraged if you experience a temporary gain on the scale the first week of each phase.



My own personal example of this is running 10Ks. I don't do it very often, maybe once or twice a year. Even though I run on a regular basis, when you run a race, you push much harder. It's natural for me to be insanely sore the next day. It’s also very common for me to see the scale jump 4 pounds the next day from forcing fluids post race and the resulting DOMS. Even though I know the cause of it, it's still a bummer. We're all human and hard work should mean results. Hard work equals results, but our bodies are amazing machines and they know how to protect us from hurting ourselves. Soreness forces you to give those muscles a break. Ultimately you will lose the weight and you will change your metabolism in the process.



The key is understanding that this is a normal and temporary and stick with the program!

---

When to be concerned:

---

If you experience a significant weight gain (exceeding 5 pounds) that does not begin to decrease rapidly after the second week, guess what it is? I'll give you one hint... you put it in your mouth and chew it. You know it! Your food (or calorie-laden beverages). News flash, friends… exercise doesn't make you gain weight. Consuming more food than you burn makes you gain weight!



So if after two weeks you are not losing weight and have gained weight that's not coming off, it's time to take a close and honest look at your food intake. Start using a Nutrition Tracker regularly, and be honest.



Moral of the story:

Be patient young grass hopper. You'll be lean and mean in no time!

Edited by SaraTonin on Wed 04/13/11 01:27 PM

Almost every person on here has had that week, particularly early on, where the results don't seem to match the effort. It's hard to remind yourself that more than just calories can impact your weight and that in the LONG RUN, if you keep doing the right things, it WILL WORK! Your body is getting used to all these changes, may be holding back water, or had more sodium than you realize. Keep your chin up! I had my second week with no weight lost and then had 3 weeks totalling 8 lbs right beind them!

Are you using a Heart Rate Monitor to accurately estimate calories burned? And digital kitchen scale to weigh foods? You'd be amazed how much extra food you're eating by having just a tablespoon more in the bowl each meal.

EDITED TO ADD: Long-term trends are what count. Stick with it!

Drink more water to flush it out. Also, watch your sodium levels...too much sodium will also cause you to retain water. Finally, give it time. Keep doing what you're doing, but not to the point that you burn out. Stay away from the scale...maybe try not weighing for several more days. Also, take your measurements. The scale is only one way to track progress, and if you only focus on that, you'll miss out on the other amazing changes that could be taking place.

I agree that for me it comes down to watching your sodium levels! Also, the scale isn't the tell-all. Measure yourself. Some people weigh only once a week, some every day. It depends on how you can handle it mentally. personally I weigh every day and write it down. That way I can see that over a week or two weeks I fluctuate so much up and down (varying factors) but at the end of the week its a progressively downward pattern. Once a week, you may end up weighing on the heaviest day! Never know. Just dont get all obsessive over a pound or two.

Also keep in mind that the more processed foods you eat, the longer it will take to see a healthy loss. I recommend doing some research on "clean" eating. i.e. mainly fresh produce, fresh meats (frozen tyson is the worst!) and dairy, whole wheat/whole grains and minimal "ready to eat" processed foods. Read all your labels and you might be shocked at what the markets tout as "healthy".

Most of all, keep your chin up!! We're all here for a better tomorrow, and here to support each other. There's a proverb that says, "fall down seven times, get back up eight". I follow it. Best of luck!