exercise and stalling?

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Viewparadise
Viewparadise Posts: 34
in Fitness and Exercise
Is it common when starting to exercise more (horseback riding, walking for an hour at a good pace, jog/walking, etc) to have your weight stall? The scale has not budged in a week and my food has been clean and calories have been consistant, etc. The only thing 'different' is more exercise this week! Can someone explain how this works?

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  • withchaco
    withchaco Posts: 1,026 Member
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    I believe that after hard exercise, your muscles may retain more water to repair the damage, resulting in slower weight loss or even weight gain.
  • Gojira74
    Gojira74 Posts: 57 Member
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    "Stalling" can happen for a lot of reasons, but I wouldn't worry about it. If you aren't "cheating" then you will be fine. When I previously lost almost 100 lbs, I stalled a lot. Water retention can be an issue, but you could also have built muscle which is heavier than fat. Double check that your salt intake didn't take a jump as this may cause a water retention issue as well.

    I say keep up the good work with the exercise and don't stress over a stall.
  • auntiebabs
    auntiebabs Posts: 1,754 Member
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    I've always found that when I start exercising I put on 5 lbs., but I slim down a bit, I lose the 5 lbs. and am just a more compact me.

    I have assumed it's the old muscle is denser than fat deal. And that I gain muscle before I lose the fat.

    After a series of illness/injuries I'm not supposed to do any impact, but I've been slowly (very slowly) upping my gentle activities. So haven't really noticed my past results holding true this time.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,207 Member
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    Yes with big changes to a different exercise or to a more intense form of the same exercise you can gain weight. Here is an excellent article on it. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/200544-why-do-you-sometimes-gain-weight-when-starting-a-new-exercis
  • Viewparadise
    Viewparadise Posts: 34
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    Thanks guys for the explanations and links! I am feeling a little better about this now! I'm thinking it's a 'muscles trying to protect themselves' thing... It's hard to be patient sometimes though!

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