Gaining Weight/Working Out....no, it's not muscle mass

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fitmek
fitmek Posts: 277 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Can someone please explain WHY this happens to me every time? I start walking on the treadmill (sometimes at an incline, sometimes not) and after the very first night, I gain 1-2 pounds.....after 3 or 4 nights, I've gained 3-4 pounds. It's NOT muscle mass in less than a week. My appetite does grow when I work out, but generally I try to only eat back about half of what I burn during a work out. I also try to drink about 6 glasses of water a day--sometimes more, but 6 is an honest number.
Is this all water weight? I have been on the treadmill almost every night for 45-50 minutes for about 7 days now and I don't think I've been this bloated and gross feeling in a long time!
Yesterday was a "splurge day" for me, but generally I try to stay around 1800 cals or less, and burning about 400 a day on the treadmill/walking....so it keeps me between 1400-1600 cals a day, which I know should be giving me decent results.
I'm not going to stop working out obviously, because it helps with stress, but I am now 3 pounds heavier than a week ago and this is nuts!

Replies

  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    edited August 2016
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    Glycogen. It is what your muscle uses to fuel exercise. When you start to exercise, your body stores extra glycogen in anticipation of the next workout. Your body also needs water to store glycogen. Your muscles hold on to extra water too so it is often referred to as "water weight" but it isn't exactly the same as bloating due to water weight. The extra weight shows up on the scale.

    The same thing happens when you increase your carb intake as carbs are stored as glycogen.

    You'll notice the opposite effect when you suddenly drop from being very active to no activity. Or when you cut your carbs drastically, you see a big drop on the scale.

    Eventually your weight loss will catch up and the scale will begin to move in the other direction. I've had it take almost a month to start the scale moving after starting exercising (it also happens when you increase activity).

    Also, if you had a "splurge day" you are probably seeing the water weight from a bit of extra carbs, possibly sodium caused water retention and overall just unprocessed food sitting in your system.
  • fitmek
    fitmek Posts: 277 Member
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    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    Glycogen. It is what your muscle uses to fuel exercise. When you start to exercise, your body stores extra glycogen in anticipation of the next workout. Your body also needs water to store glycogen. Your muscles hold on to extra water too so it is often referred to as "water weight" but it isn't exactly the same as bloating due to water weight. The extra weight shows up on the scale.

    The same thing happens when you increase your carb intake as carbs are stored as glycogen.

    You'll notice the opposite effect when you suddenly drop from being very active to no activity. Or when you cut your carbs drastically, you see a big drop on the scale.

    Eventually your weight loss will catch up and the scale will begin to move in the other direction. I've had it take almost a month to start the scale moving after starting exercising (it also happens when you increase activity).

    Also, if you had a "splurge day" you are probably seeing the water weight from a bit of extra carbs, possibly sodium caused water retention and overall just unprocessed food sitting in your system.

    Ahh, thank you! You are correct, as soon as I slack on the exercise, I immediately drop 2-3 pounds. So, basically keep going because after several weeks I will start to see loss on the scale?

  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    edited August 2016
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    fitmek wrote: »
    3dogsrunning wrote: »
    Glycogen. It is what your muscle uses to fuel exercise. When you start to exercise, your body stores extra glycogen in anticipation of the next workout. Your body also needs water to store glycogen. Your muscles hold on to extra water too so it is often referred to as "water weight" but it isn't exactly the same as bloating due to water weight. The extra weight shows up on the scale.

    The same thing happens when you increase your carb intake as carbs are stored as glycogen.

    You'll notice the opposite effect when you suddenly drop from being very active to no activity. Or when you cut your carbs drastically, you see a big drop on the scale.

    Eventually your weight loss will catch up and the scale will begin to move in the other direction. I've had it take almost a month to start the scale moving after starting exercising (it also happens when you increase activity).

    Also, if you had a "splurge day" you are probably seeing the water weight from a bit of extra carbs, possibly sodium caused water retention and overall just unprocessed food sitting in your system.

    Ahh, thank you! You are correct, as soon as I slack on the exercise, I immediately drop 2-3 pounds. So, basically keep going because after several weeks I will start to see loss on the scale?

    You will see a loss on the scale in fat loss from eating at a calorie deficit. When you exercise, and especially increase volume and intensity you will retain water in your muscles, this is normal and should be noted in your daily/weekly weight trends. Use the scale daily if you want to trend your weight especially being female to make note of the the two times during the month (mensus and ovulation), sodium, carb intake, hydration and muscle recovery when you retain water when trying to loose weight.. Exercise adds to the water weight retention factor.

    Fat loss will result as you consistently eat at a calorie deficit, but can be masked from the above situations. Once you do this for while you will get the hang of it and see shifts in the scale.

    I now use weightgrapher.com, or you can find an app you like better.
  • 4thDegreeKnight
    4thDegreeKnight Posts: 69 Member
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    My bet is it won't even be weeks, maybe 7-14 days before things start evening out. Your body is just reacting, once it figures out what is going on it will balance out.

    To make yourself have the warm and fuzzies though, you may want to take measurements of Thigh, Bicep, Chest, Stomach, and Hips. For bonus points you can spend $20.00 on a handheld BMI meter.

    I say this because both my wife and my female neighbor did this exact same thing and would get discouraged. But I would look at my wife and go "Hun, your butt is tightening up or your legs are much thinner". It was then my neighbor suggested taking measurements because when she started working out she saw the scale go up but the inches drop which made her feel more comfortable she was going the right way.
  • cherriegh
    cherriegh Posts: 196 Member
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    I also have the same problem...I've been eating low cals 1200 set by mfp coz im short. I weigh and log everything and most days i eat even less, doing stronglifts 3X weekly and upto 1hr cardio a week. It's been a month but Im gaining weight which is so discouraging.

    I'm already at a huge deficit plus hard lifting but still gaining!! I thought a week water retention BT a month is odd...
  • KDar1988
    KDar1988 Posts: 650 Member
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    cherriegh wrote: »
    I also have the same problem...I've been eating low cals 1200 set by mfp coz im short. I weigh and log everything and most days i eat even less, doing stronglifts 3X weekly and upto 1hr cardio a week. It's been a month but Im gaining weight which is so discouraging.

    I'm already at a huge deficit plus hard lifting but still gaining!! I thought a week water retention BT a month is odd...

    Same here except I'm 5'8". Same calories or thereabouts, SL 3x a week and cardio on the other days between 20 and 40 mins (due to time constraints). I haven't lost any significant amount of weight in almost 3 months! I was reading on bodybuilding.com last night about losing weight and strength training and they say not to keep calories low. I am so confused with all the information, honestly don't know what is right anymore and I don't know what works for me.

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