Weightlifting and gaining weight?

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ashleymccauley415
ashleymccauley415 Posts: 2 Member
in Motivation and Support
I started the 5x5 StrongLifts program march 7th and I have enjoyed many gains in strength and definition since. I do weightlifting 3x per week and walk two miles on my off days. My diet is good, I sleep well, I drink water a lot, and I generally live a healthy lifestyle. However, I've gained 7 lbs since starting the program (155 to 162 and I'm 5'6"). w0xiy331j4e2.jpg
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I'm thinking it's muscle...am I right? I was hoping to lose fat while gaining muscle. A pound a week seems a lot??

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  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    Even men don't gain a pound of muscle a week.

    Are you counting calories and logging everything as accurately as possible?
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
    edited April 2017
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    It is not muscle.
    Women gain muscle at a very slow pace, even newbie gains.
    It could be water retention needed for muscle repair.
    More than likely there is some fat gain too if your logging is off or you are eating back too many exercise calories. No web site or device is 100% accurate for every individual.

    You could start by reviewing your food logging and weighing, then looking at what your calorie burn is for your lifting and walking. Neither have a high calorie burn, but it is worth eating back a percentage anyway.

    Cheers, h.
  • CarlyIrene415
    CarlyIrene415 Posts: 27 Member
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    You could have lactic acid buildup in your muscles as well as inflammation, causing you to retain water. Building muscle is essentially injuring them. I always put on weight when lifting and it sucks. But give it two weeks and your body will start to level out.
  • ashleymccauley415
    ashleymccauley415 Posts: 2 Member
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    I don't mind gaining weight as long as it's not fat. It could be water retention, because I am good about logging and I eat really healthy and pretty much get my macros. I get 1300 ish calories a day. I am lifting pretty heavy and I can tell my butt and thighs are bigger, as well as my shoulders. What do I do about the water retention?

  • bbell1985
    bbell1985 Posts: 4,572 Member
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    ashleymccauley415 wrote: »
    I don't mind gaining weight as long as it's not fat. It could be water retention, because I am good about logging and I eat really healthy and pretty much get my macros. I get 1300 ish calories a day. I am lifting pretty heavy and I can tell my butt and thighs are bigger, as well as my shoulders. What do I do about the water retention?

    If you're truly in a deficit, you should not be getting bigger, even if you're lifting. I lifted all through my initial weight loss and only got smaller and lighter. More defined, yes-as lifting in a deficit help you maintain muscle mass as you lose.

    Yes you may have some water retention. But honestly I'd double check your logging...
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
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    It took me a year to gain 10lbs (of mostly muscle)...and I was actively trying to gain. It's likely water retention.

    Also, how are you measuring calories/food? When I started lifting, I was super hungry and not using a food scale...not a great combo. 1300 calories seems low for someone your size (not a criticism) and activity level.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,485 Member
    edited April 2017
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    ashleymccauley415 wrote: »
    I don't mind gaining weight as long as it's not fat. It could be water retention, because I am good about logging and I eat really healthy and pretty much get my macros. I get 1300 ish calories a day. I am lifting pretty heavy and I can tell my butt and thighs are bigger, as well as my shoulders. What do I do about the water retention?

    The water evens out eventually. Nothing to worry about, just be aware of, it is needed for muscle repair.

    You may be good at logging, but are you good at weighing your food?

    When one is having problems with weight loss/gain the easiest and simplest thing to do is to review ones logging practices that includes what and how one weighs food, and double checking entries being used are correct.

    How healthy you eat is good for nutrition, but 250 cals over in spinach is the same as eating 250 cals over in butter every day- you will gain .5lbs in a week.
    When it comes to losing weight calories are king, not nutrition.

    The second is to review what is being eaten back from exercise expenditure. It doesn't look as though you are, you should. It is the way MFP is set up, you may be undernourishing your body otherwise, and it gives you extra data for problem solving.

    To sum it up:
    It is fat and water not muscle.
    Tighten up your logging by using a digital food scale.
    If it goes in your mouth, it goes on the scale first.
    Start logging and eating back exercise calories.

    Cheers, h.

    ETA: if you keep gaining once you have got your CICO sorted a visit to the doctor may be needed just in case there are problems that need medication. In all honesty though I think it is your logging. h
  • wackyfunster
    wackyfunster Posts: 944 Member
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    You should be able to look in the mirror and tell if you are putting on fat or muscle. To me, your second pic looks lower body fat than the first.

    There are several factors that will influence your weight on a temporary basis when weight training. Especially for the first few weeks while your body is adapting to resistance training, you will retain a lot of intramuscular water (potentially 2-3 pounds, maybe a little more if you end up with DOMS). So while people here are right in claiming that women gain muscle slowly (2 pounds a month would probably be an upper limit for a total novice), you could easily put on several pounds of temporary lean body mass in terms of swelling within the muscle bodies. Also, if you have switched to a higher calorie diet, your body weight will be temporarily higher due to a combination of higher glycogen stores from carb intake, and food in your digestive tract. The difference between maintenance calories and a 500 calorie daily surplus can be as high as 4-6% of your body weight.

    The best way to compensate for all of this is to track your weight daily, and look at the change over time. Since you are ~6 weeks in, you should see more consistent changes over time, and weighing daily helps smooth out the random fluctuations that everyone sees, and the water weight fluctuations women see over the course of the menstrual cycle.

    IMO if you are just starting training, you are doing the right thing. I'd try to make sure you don't gain any more weight, so lower calories if needed (give it a week of daily weighing before changing anything IMO), but keep going at maintenance for at least 3-4 months until you are 100% comfortable with form, and have increased your lifts dramatically. You should be able to gain muscle and lose fat due to the magic of "noob gains". After that you should be in a great position to cut calories by ~500, keep training, and drop a pound a week til you hit your goal weight.

    Hope that's helpful.

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