Should I really be gaining????

When I joined the gym, I gained weight too. I think the added muscle does that at first, but in time that extra muscle helps you lose.

I agree measure your inches and see how that looks. You might not see the loss on the scale as much at first with all of the exercise your doing and it's muscle cause muscle does weight more then fat. Good luck!

I agree. Take your measurements, that will show the true progress of your efforts. Scales measure weight. ALL weight, fat, muscle and water and water weight fluctuates daily.

If you are interested... Buy a bodyfat and BMI calculator (Omron on Amazon for $30) and a measuring tape, any sewing type tape will do. Get yourself a starting point with measurements.... neck,chest,hips (at widest), waist (at navel) biceps, mid thigh, and mid calf. Have someone measure you and make sure they can do it consistantly every time. Some times weight gain is muscle gain, or water retention, or just too many calories and overestimating your exercise calories. But with measurements you can really know the truth! Good luck!

You're probably puttin on muscle and as you may know, mucle weighs more than fat! So i'd say concentrate on cardio (like areobix, or using a crosstrainer) and do something like pilates to tone yourself up. Once you have lost what weight you want to loose, then is the time to concentrate on weights and gaining muscle for even more toneing.

First of all, you are not gaining muscle - that's pretty much impossible to gain 4 pounds of muscle in a week. However, it's also pretty much impossible to gain 4 pounds of fat in a week unless you were gong WAY over on your calories every day and it sounds like that wasn't happening either.

It's hard to give you specific advice without being able to see your food diary but I would guess two things... 1) you are retaining water as part of the natural process of muscle healing. it stinks but it happens. Drink at least those 8 cups of water per day, if not more and start monitoring your sodium intake if you're not doing that already. 2) you may not be eating enough. Did you eat back the calories you earned from exercise? If not, try doing that - I know it sounds counterintuitive but if you're not getting enough calories in, your body will hold on to what it can (aka starvation mode) and not let the fat stores go.

Edited to add - now that you've posted, I want to add one more thing - try adding more high calorie snacks to your day then. Almonds (or other nuts) and avocados have good fats in them and are yummy too! Maybe add in other things like beans and cheese to your salads to up the calories too.

I agree with those who say you may be gaining muscle and/or retaining water. Any time you make a big lifestyle change, your body goes through a transition / adjustment period. Give it some time before you make a judgment on whether it's really working or not.

Secondly, it's not just about the number of calories you eat. It's about what kind of calories you eat, and at what times. Carbohydrate calories provide quick bursts of energy, while protein calories provide a steady burn to sustain your metabolism. So if you're going to be exercising within the next hour or so, eat carbs for that workout energy. But if it's evening, or if you know you won't be as active for the next few hours, stay away from the carbs and eat protein-rich foods instead.

Also, I'd recommend eating small amounts constantly throughout the day. If you eat a big meal and then don't eat for 5-6-7 hours, your body's metabolism may be going into fat-storing "starvation mode." Different people's bodies have different cutoff points for that. My doctor told me I need to make sure and eat something with protein in it at least every three hours while I'm awake, to keep my metabolism burning at a steady pace instead of spiking and crashing. Again, just pay attention to your body (do you get tired / lethargic at certain times of the day?) and find what works for you.