Gaining weight from lifting weights and additional calories. Please help!

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hamburgerbetty
hamburgerbetty Posts: 8 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I've gained 8lbs from Christmas Eve to New Years day. I got back on track with diet and the gym soon after. I decided to lift weights (3days a week with a 30 min cardio warm up) cardio 3 days a week (1-hour)-6 days total. I've gained an additional 5 lbs and saw a number on the scale that scared me. My clothes a little snug in my butt, waist and thighs, but my face is not getting fat (that's a good sign.)

I have been told this is nothing more than mere water weight. Does it go away after a while and should I continue to lift weights or should i just do cardio. When does the fat burning start with all this lifting?

Calories a day: 2185 ----> Low carb (blueberries only, avocado, nuts, lettuce) Proteins (3oz of cheese, 10-12oz of meats/chicken a day)

Am I doing this wrong?

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  • pchenley
    pchenley Posts: 22 Member
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    If you are lifting weights, you may be gaining because of increased muscle mass, not a fat gain. Muscle weighs more than fat. You may actually be losing fat weight as you gain muscle. Don't panic.
  • jessie_fit713
    jessie_fit713 Posts: 5
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    Muscle does NOT weigh more than fat, a pound is a pound. However, muscle IS more dense than fat, meaning that it takes up less amount of space. So while the scale may be going up, your overall fat percentage is possibly dropping. Remember, the scale can be deceiving! Try taking measurements and progress photos along the way.
  • pchenley
    pchenley Posts: 22 Member
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    Yes a pound is a pound, but if you have a pound of muscle verses a pound of fat, the fat takes up much more volume. If you had that same volume of muscle, verses fat, the muscle would weigh more because it is much more dense than fat. That's what I'm getting at. So yes, while you may be gaining muscle mass, you could still be losing weight that doesn't show on the scale because of the increased muscle mass.
  • BULLET9992
    BULLET9992 Posts: 53 Member
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    You have to be at a caloric surplus.
  • lishie_rebooted
    lishie_rebooted Posts: 2,973 Member
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    pchenley wrote: »
    Yes a pound is a pound, but if you have a pound of muscle verses a pound of fat, the fat takes up much more volume. If you had that same volume of muscle, verses fat, the muscle would weigh more because it is much more dense than fat. That's what I'm getting at. So yes, while you may be gaining muscle mass, you could still be losing weight that doesn't show on the scale because of the increased muscle mass.

    If he's eating in a deficit, which I assume he is, he isn't gaining muscle. plus with cardio 6 days a week.... To gain muscle, one needs a calorie surplus and progressive overload and not 6 days of cardio.

    So you've been consistently lifting about 6 weeks, OP?
    You will probably get the "whoosh" soon then.
    When you first start lifting, you retain water for awhile and about 6-8 weeks or so, there's the magic whoosh.
    Just keep it up

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