Help! I am working out, but gaining weight. Where did I go wrong?

I usually carry an extra 2-4 pounds when working out consistently. Muscles need water to recover.

Are you measuring with a tape and or taking photos? If not, start now. This can help show changes the scale won't.

I, personally aim for 100-150 oz of water a day.

RCGibby45 wrote: »

Lots to think about. I disagree about cutting the calories so much. I already feel hungry as I am working out timing for meals and snacks and meet the calorie intake I have. Plus, I am not focused on losing weight overnight or fast. I am going for sustainable and healthy weight loss. I don't want to ever put it back on. Thank you for the advice to ignore. I will keep you all posted on how the next couple weeks go as I am introducing exercise and drinking more water.

You just started a new workout, if you were eating the same way before, you are not gaining fat you are putting on water weight in your muscles needed for them to recover from your workout. I have no doubt about that since the only thing you say you have changed is working out. I guess the only exception to this would be if you are eating your exercise calories, then if they are overstated, you may be eating too much. If you are not eating them back, or better yet only eating a portion of them back, say 50%, then I highly doubt you are eating too much. Instead, your body is doing what it is supposed to be doing, and the water weight will settle down when it gets used to the new workout level.

As for your sodium count. If you are eating about the same amount of sodium every day, your kidneys are used to processing that amount and baring some medical issue, you would not be retaining water beyond what you normally have.

All this basically shows why scales are not a helpful measure of progress on their own. There are too many things that can result in weight change that have nothing to do with fat loss or gain. Body measurements and photos along with the scale can help see positive change even when the scale is not showing it.

RCGibby45 wrote: »

Since I started tracking calories on here (along with my exercise) I try to eat within the calories it allows for with the additional calories. I am thinking I need to really look at what I am eating versus just the calories of it as a next step. I weigh my food that doesn't come in a package. Looking over my food diary, I realize I am doing well with the calorie range, but not so much on the nutrient rich stuff. I used to hate tracking, but since I was slowly losing weight, I didn't worry about it so much. As for exercise -- should I try to drink more than the 8 cups of water that is recommended?

By the way I really appreciate the help and advice. I have never reached out in a forum before.

Agreed with those saying fluid retention.

I just wanted to also respond to the bolded:

Prepackaged food can be +/- 20% off from the weight stated on the package and foods such as eggs, deli meat, eggs are almost always a different weight.

Weigh everything that isn't a liquid

You're working out and starving so that tells me one thing: You need to eat more. Especially if you're going hard in your workouts. You've probably hit the plateau where your body is clinging to every morsel and while it doesn't make sense, your body will either turn that into extra weight, whether fat, muscle or water weight. But you being hungry tells me it might be fat or water weight. Add 200-300 extra calories into your diet and see if that helps. I just went through this. Also, do you stick to your calorie count on days you don't work out or do you lower it?

RCGibby45 wrote: »

I have been working on my weight loss for over a year. I started with small changes (although, I still have bad days) and have lost 30 pounds total. I knew I needed to add some exercise in so I am trying to work out 4-5 days a week. I have done this for two weeks and I have gained weight and feel like I am starving even though I am staying within my calorie range. Is this normal? Will it even out soon?

You will feel more hungry. Your body is wired to retain it's current state for survival, so when you start to stress it by exercising it increases your hunger to compensate and try to maintain your weight. You will get used to it. In saying that, trying to eat more nutrient dense, whole foods will definitely help your satiety. For example, instead of reaching for a candy bar (not that this is what you do) at 3pm, reach for a piece of fruit sliced into full fat greek yoghurt. If that doesn't help the sweet cravings, try a teaspoon of honey on top. The fibre helps keep you regular, the protein keeps you full and the sweet satisfies your cravings.

With your water, aim for an extra litre of water per hour of exercise per day. So if you are working out half an hour a day, try to drink an extra couple of glasses of water. I'm not sure about others but I usually drink around 3 litres of water a day and an extra 3-4 cups of coffee as well as any liquids from food. I don't have an issue drinking water but I know some do. I've found that half a fresh lemon in your water bottle helps as it gives it a little something extra, but you could try other fruits like sliced watermelon and strawberries. Herbal teas with no caffeine can also be great as they have no calories, no caffeine and you can often drink them cold quite easily. Try brewing a big batch of a herbal tea you like and add extra chopped fruit to the mix!

Hang in there, I promise your body will stop fighting the change in time and accept the new norm (the scale plummet others have mentioned)

I don't think you need to make all these changes in your last post. Tighten up your logging, you said you don't weigh prepackaged stuff, which if you did, you would see that prepackaged stuff is usually over by several grams. Things can be as much as 20% more than stated, which depending on the food, can be a lot of calories over the course of a day.