gaining weight, due to exercise??

lma0423
lma0423 Posts: 78 Member
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
So I started counting my calories 2 months ago and I have lost about 15 lbs. I've been losing it steadily, about 1 to 1.5 lbs a week. Last week I had a bad week and i gained a little instead of losing anything, so this week ive been trying to do well with my eating, but im still gaining! about 3 lbs more than usual :/// The only thing that has changed is that I started babysitting and for the past 4 days I have gone swimming in a pool (a few laps, but mostly just playing around). Is this the reason for my weight gain?? or have I hit a plateau, I just want to know what I'm doing wrong, its discouraging. I should also add that up until this week my only mode of weight loss was through nutrition, I've been having a pretty lazy summer since I got back from school in early may.


Thanks!

Replies

  • Desert_Lotus
    Desert_Lotus Posts: 15
    I was told once that muscle weighs more then fat that could be it but im no expert
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
    A "few laps" in a pool isn't going to lead to weight gain nor will it have any impact whatsoever on muscle mass. You were probably a bit more active with school than you realized, and now that you are being "lazy" (your words - not mine), it's catching up with you.
  • Desert_Lotus
    Desert_Lotus Posts: 15
    It could also be water weight
  • sabrinag6005
    sabrinag6005 Posts: 14
    It could be a few things, the first that comes to mind is water weight. With all this heat, and if your taking in a lot of sodium, artificial sweetners those make you retain water. Also you might be gaining muscle and that definetly weighs more than fat.... See where your at next week, it might just be a bad week. I try to go by my measurements more than anything to guage my success. Hope this helps?
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
    It could be a few things, the first that comes to mind is water weight. With all this heat, and if your taking in a lot of sodium, artificial sweetners those make you retain water. Also you might be gaining muscle and that definetly weighs more than fat.... See where your at next week, it might just be a bad week. I try to go by my measurements more than anything to guage my success. Hope this helps?

    Just to be clear, you have to actually exercise hard, lift weights and eat a very clean diet to gain muscle.
  • lovinglife71
    lovinglife71 Posts: 65 Member
    I would think it is because of exercise, because you start building muscle and when you don't exercise you loose muscle. I can diet with out exerciseing and actually loose more weight, but the end result is I'm not as fit, get out of breath, weak and flabby, where if I exercise I'm a little heavier, but I feel better, I'm stronger and firmer. My daughter just started mfp and the same thing happen to her and she was discouraged untill she took her measurements and she had lost several inches all over!!!
  • Zombriana
    Zombriana Posts: 764 Member
    Weight is an awful thing.
    Why don't you start taking your measurements instead?
    There have been times why my weight has gone up but my inches went down. Its a crazy thing! lol
  • pelleld
    pelleld Posts: 363 Member
    The laps you did in the pool could not have caused you to gain that much muscle. Maybe you are retaining water? Are you logging ALL your food? Drinking lots of fluids...i.e. water? How bad was your bad week? It could take a while for that bad week to catch up to you...maybe its from that. Either way, don't let it get you down and don't give up. Just get back on track and stay there :)
  • Alaranio
    Alaranio Posts: 75
    First thing-Muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound muscle = 1 pound fat! When you first start working out it tends to retain more water. So water weight is probably your issue. Not just from working out of course, but from sodium and other factors.
  • Crystal_Rudolph
    Crystal_Rudolph Posts: 632 Member
    First thing-Muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound muscle = 1 pound fat!

    Thank you!!!
  • bopper
    bopper Posts: 352 Member
    Remember that the scale only tells you your entire body weight. It does not tell you the composition of that weight. And it is body composition that really matters.

    Fat is less dense than muscle. It's like comparing metal (muscle) with wood (fat). Metal sinks in water; so does muscle. Wood floats; so does fat.
  • stanvoodoo
    stanvoodoo Posts: 1,023 Member
    Right a pound is a pound. But a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. The body will resist at first and hold on to water and with the heat it doesn't help.

    Exercise will only help so keep at it. Increase your exercise time whenever you are able to.

    Without seeing your diary I can't offer any specific other tips. But in general continue to lower your calories til you get to 1200, eat lots of protein and fiber, drink your 64oz of water and limit the fat, carbs and sodium.

    You can do it!
  • Zombriana
    Zombriana Posts: 764 Member
    First thing-Muscle does not weigh more than fat. 1 pound muscle = 1 pound fat!

    Thank you!!!

    Haha, I didn't want to be "That guy," glad someone said it. :P
  • dayglo4
    dayglo4 Posts: 18
    1lb of muscle does equal 1lb of fat, but Xcubicinches of muscle weighs more than the same Xcubicinches of fat.

    I think it's quite difficult to build enough muscle to counter fat loss as far as the scale is concerned so I don't think it is that. Maybe if you're out and about more, you're not drinking enough water and retaining it instead?

    I wouldn't worry too much about a few lbs in the short term, weight is such a funny thing. Everyone loses it differently and sometimes when you think it should be down, it'll go up 3lbs for a week, but then it will drop down 5lbs the next.
  • mark03264
    mark03264 Posts: 334 Member
    I was told once that muscle weighs more then fat that could be it but im no expert

    Muscle does not weigh more than fat! 1 pound of muscle and 1 pound of fat each weigh 1 pound. Muscle is denser than fat so a pound of muscle is more compact than a pound of fat.

    That said...Are you eating close to your calorie goal each day including eating back most of your exercise calories? If you go too far under your calorie goal for too long your body will start to hang on to the fat you have.

    Is the weather hotter now than it was in the first two months? hotter weather can make the body hang onto a fair amount of water thereby increasing your weight. You can help combat this by making sure you drink plenty of water. Drinking extra water helps let your body know that it does not need to conserve water. You should also lose the extra water when the weather cools off a bit.

    Not a problem men generally have but you may be retaining water depending on where you are in the month (as you know)
  • mark03264
    mark03264 Posts: 334 Member
    It's like comparing metal (muscle) with wood (fat).

    I like this analogy! Thank you!
  • bopper
    bopper Posts: 352 Member
    You're Welcome!
  • dreanance
    dreanance Posts: 246
    Swimming makes most people really hungry, perhaps you are eating more than you realize?
  • errbellyq51
    errbellyq51 Posts: 10
    Are you possibly eating a lot of salt? Salt retains water, and water weighs 8 pounds per gallon, so a 4 pound increase may only be an exta half gallon of water that your body is holding on to.
  • lma0423
    lma0423 Posts: 78 Member
    i appreciate everyone replying! I figured I didnt gain any muscle, my issue is that since i started counting my calories i have been quite inactive, but i was losing weight. So it confuses me that when I started swimming i gained without changing my diet. Is it just a plateau?
  • liftingbro
    liftingbro Posts: 2,029 Member
    The most common causeof weight gain from exercise is:

    Water weight due to the body adapting to something it's not used to. If you all of the sudden start exercising muscles that have been inactive for a long time you will cause some damage to them. This is normal, it's the same process as building muscle uses. However, the body will attempt to repair the damage and in doing so it collects extra water in the muscles for the recover process.

    Lifting weights does this a lot.

    A good rule of thumb is that if you are sore you are probably going to carry extra water weight and the more sore you are the more water you'll retain.
  • RMinVA
    RMinVA Posts: 1,085 Member
    Weight loss/gain is 90% diet...exercise is a bonus. If the scale is going in the wrong direction, you have to take a long hard look at WHAT you are eating.
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