How to be OK with weight gain?
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abaldi0506
Posts: 78 Member
Since I'm fairly new to crossfit (started Dec 2014) and have always had to watch what I eat to lose/maintain my weight - I'm finding it challenging to be OK with gaining weight. I go to a weight loss center once a month to do a Inbody analysis, which tells me my total body water, dry lean mass, body fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, BMI & body fat %. So, last night I went and I've gained just under 4lbs this past month. However, my total body water was up almost 3lbs and my skeletal muscle mass was up 2.3lbs and my body fat % was down .7%. So, I know those are ALL good numbers. But psychologically it's hard to be OK with that (atleast for me). Do I keep eating, daily crossfit like I'm doing or should I cut back??? I know I'm stressing over nothing - so you can tell me that too.
Thanks!
Thanks!
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Replies
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Congratulations on a great month!
I like to look at it this way. How would you like to lose 11 lbs fast? Cut off your head. It weighs about 11lbs. You want fat loss, not weight loss. Body composition is king!
On another note, did you know that VO2Max, muscle mass and leanness are the three top indicators for longevity? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24561114
And please don’t tell the folks on the fitness and exercise forum that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. They can’t wrap their minds around the concept. Again, congrats and well done!0 -
It's just a mental habit. You need some time to reset the way you think about your body.0
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Thanks. I know it's mental habit and something I just need to work through. I read the longevity link too. Must admit to not following all the medical terminology, but get the gist of it.
I think because prior to doing crossfit, I was doing a year of boxing/kickboxing and was already in "good" shape - but just 2 months of crossfit - wow, I'm hooked! The results don't lie.0 -
As someone who struggled (*and still does) with weight loss for most of my adult life, seeing the scale go up after starting CrossFit was a shocker to me. But then I noticed my clothes were getting looser, there was some actual definition to my body and my energy/stamina levels were the best they've been in years. If you still desire weight loss, you may need to add some extra cardiovascular work and fine-tune your diet some more.
*BTW - I still don't like seeing the number on the scale increase - Guess old habits die hard
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As someone who struggled (*and still does) with weight loss for most of my adult life, seeing the scale go up after starting CrossFit was a shocker to me. But then I noticed my clothes were getting looser, there was some actual definition to my body and my energy/stamina levels were the best they've been in years. If you still desire weight loss, you may need to add some extra cardiovascular work and fine-tune your diet some more.
*BTW - I still don't like seeing the number on the scale increase - Guess old habits die hard
Yea, I'm not sure I'll get used to being OK with the scale increase and if I didn't have the monthly weigh-ins that show my body fat % and muscle mass, even with my clothes fitting better, I still might be concerned. But as you say "old habits die hard". Thanks!0 -
I have stopped weighing myself as the numbers just do my head in.
For me I struggle to keep the weight off and traditionally have followed low cal / high cardio programmes until I met CrossFit. I have put on weight and I am not as slim, but I am defined, toned and so much stronger. My clothes fit better and I could not be happier.
If you stick with CrossFit then be prepared for all the above, personally I think it's a much better look :-)0 -
I can relate to you all! I'm new to crossfit (only 3 months in) and I am the heaviest I've been in 10 years. I'm truly struggling with the weight gain. Although some of it is muscle...I also have a good amount of fat to lose. How do I not allow my weight to derail me from my crossfit goals? I know that in order to become good at the WODs I need to fuel my workouts properly. However, that's hard to do when I'm constantly worried about my weight! I don't want to be on some ridiculous diet plan either. Been there and done that...lol. Any tips or advice you all could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm tired of being the "strong fat chick", I want to be a strong fit chick. Please Help! Rant over!0
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Latashab30 wrote: »I can relate to you all! I'm new to crossfit (only 3 months in) and I am the heaviest I've been in 10 years. I'm truly struggling with the weight gain. Although some of it is muscle...I also have a good amount of fat to lose. How do I not allow my weight to derail me from my crossfit goals? I know that in order to become good at the WODs I need to fuel my workouts properly. However, that's hard to do when I'm constantly worried about my weight! I don't want to be on some ridiculous diet plan either. Been there and done that...lol. Any tips or advice you all could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm tired of being the "strong fat chick", I want to be a strong fit chick. Please Help! Rant over!
What works for me us to follow a paleo lifestyle. I eat high protein, fat and low carb. I fuel my workouts with higher carb veggies, but stay completely away from grains. I know this is not for everyone, but it works for me. I don't eat anything with added sugar or processed food either. Eating this way got me down to my goal weight and now I'm just building muscle.0 -
I am in the same boat as you, seeing the numbers go up on the scale was a real mindf*ck and it honestly still is. I can't imagine that these feelings will ever go away so it must be managed like diabetes or some other lifelong medical condition. I recently went to a dietitian and has a body comp analysis done and it made me feel a bit better better and helped me to readjust my expectations. Perhaps the regular analysis you do can help you readjust your expectations.abaldi0506 wrote: »Since I'm fairly new to crossfit (started Dec 2014) and have always had to watch what I eat to lose/maintain my weight - I'm finding it challenging to be OK with gaining weight. I go to a weight loss center once a month to do a Inbody analysis, which tells me my total body water, dry lean mass, body fat mass, skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass, BMI & body fat %. So, last night I went and I've gained just under 4lbs this past month. However, my total body water was up almost 3lbs and my skeletal muscle mass was up 2.3lbs and my body fat % was down .7%. So, I know those are ALL good numbers. But psychologically it's hard to be OK with that (atleast for me). Do I keep eating, daily crossfit like I'm doing or should I cut back??? I know I'm stressing over nothing - so you can tell me that too.
Thanks!
Regarding your diet; it sounds like you have that on track. I did paleo for a year (recently got off of it) and while I ultimately did not find it to be sustainable I do think that the emphasis on "real" food is key to a healthy lifestyle for anyone.
Regarding your exercise; don't underestimate the importance of rest as a part of weight loss. Believe me, I know the compulsion is to keep hitting the gym over and over at the first sign of weight gain but your body needs regular rest beyond just sleep.
Overall, I hope you can learn to accept the fact that your weight is not the ultimate arbiter of your fitness level...though I say that as someone who has yet to truly accept that for himself.0 -
abaldi0506 wrote: »Thanks. I know it's mental habit and something I just need to work through. I read the longevity link too. Must admit to not following all the medical terminology, but get the gist of it.
I think because prior to doing crossfit, I was doing a year of boxing/kickboxing and was already in "good" shape - but just 2 months of crossfit - wow, I'm hooked! The results don't lie.
That's the truth. I'm only down about 20 lbs total, but I'm guessing I've lost 30 lbs of fat and gained 10 lbs of muscle in 18 months. Turning my focus now to losing the gut, but I'm in no rush. Slow and steady wins the race.
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Latashab30 wrote: »I can relate to you all! I'm new to crossfit (only 3 months in) and I am the heaviest I've been in 10 years. I'm truly struggling with the weight gain. Although some of it is muscle...I also have a good amount of fat to lose. How do I not allow my weight to derail me from my crossfit goals? I know that in order to become good at the WODs I need to fuel my workouts properly. However, that's hard to do when I'm constantly worried about my weight! I don't want to be on some ridiculous diet plan either. Been there and done that...lol. Any tips or advice you all could give me would be greatly appreciated! I'm tired of being the "strong fat chick", I want to be a strong fit chick. Please Help! Rant over!
Have your coaches do some measurements for you. Neck, biceps, chest, belly at the navel, hips, thighs. Then redo them every month or so.
Even if you don't see the scale moving as much as you want, those numbers will likely change for the better. It's a good way to introduce a measure of sanity and stop relying on ONE number to judge yourself.
And as a general rule, Crossfit and ridiculous diet plans don't last long. Crossfit is too damned hard.
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Also I eat Paleo about 85% of the time. I just started on Eat To Perform which is roughly the same thing but ramps up carbs to fuel you on workout days.0
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Thank you all for your kind words and advise. A special thank you to abaldi0506. For some reason I related very well to your response and I'm so glad that someone understands my desire to not do paleo or any other extremely restrictive eating plan. Nothing against any of you who do Paleo...but I found it to not only be non-sustainable, but also just not realistic to how I live my everyday life. Bostonwolf, I've also just recently joined Eat To Perform. So far it like it. It definitely was an eye opener for me. I had no idea that I was under-eating like I was. In the last couple of weeks, I've felt so much better just from eating more food. So we'll see how that goes.
Again, thank you all for you kind words. I'm so glad that I stumbled upon this group and I hope I didn't offend anyone with anything that I said as that wasn't my intention.
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No offense, don't worry. If you have questions, ask them. We've all been there before when we started CF, and most of us had never done most of the movements before.0
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AllanMisner wrote: »Congratulations on a great month!
I like to look at it this way. How would you like to lose 11 lbs fast? Cut off your head. It weighs about 11lbs. You want fat loss, not weight loss. Body composition is king!
On another note, did you know that VO2Max, muscle mass and leanness are the three top indicators for longevity? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24561114
And please don’t tell the folks on the fitness and exercise forum that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. They can’t wrap their minds around the concept. Again, congrats and well done!
I did gain muscle and fat at the same time. 10% in about a year. On ETP & Crossfit.
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I have photos if you need to see; inbox me. Recomp is real and I know because I've done it.kelly_e_montana wrote: »AllanMisner wrote: »Congratulations on a great month!
I like to look at it this way. How would you like to lose 11 lbs fast? Cut off your head. It weighs about 11lbs. You want fat loss, not weight loss. Body composition is king!
On another note, did you know that VO2Max, muscle mass and leanness are the three top indicators for longevity? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24561114
And please don’t tell the folks on the fitness and exercise forum that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. They can’t wrap their minds around the concept. Again, congrats and well done!
I did gain muscle and fat at the same time. 10% in about a year. On Eat To Perform & Crossfit.
I've struggled with this weight loss issue too until I look at pics of myself. I would highly suggest using measurements, periodic body fat testing and progress photos.
Keep up the great work.
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kelly_e_montana wrote: »AllanMisner wrote: »Congratulations on a great month!
I like to look at it this way. How would you like to lose 11 lbs fast? Cut off your head. It weighs about 11lbs. You want fat loss, not weight loss. Body composition is king!
On another note, did you know that VO2Max, muscle mass and leanness are the three top indicators for longevity? http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24561114
And please don’t tell the folks on the fitness and exercise forum that you can lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. They can’t wrap their minds around the concept. Again, congrats and well done!
I did gain muscle and fat at the same time. 10% in about a year. On ETP & Crossfit.
I was being cheeky. I’ve be berated for advising people that they can do both. There is a large contingent of posters on exercise and fitness forum that think you can only gain muscle on a surplus. I know better. I’ve done it.
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