Gaining weight since I started working out regularly.

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nina12reid
nina12reid Posts: 3 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I joined the gym at the beginning of September this year and have since been going and working out for 5 days a week. However since I have started I have been gaining weight pretty rapidly. I’m not sure if this is normal or I’m doing something wrong but as you can imagine it’s hard to keep motivated when I’m getting bigger. Can anyone help ?

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  • nina12reid
    nina12reid Posts: 3 Member
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    I wouldn’t say I have a bad diet. I have been vegan for 2and a half years (high carb low fat vegan).
  • Packerjohn
    Packerjohn Posts: 4,855 Member
    edited November 2017
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    You are taking in more calories than you are burning. When you start, you could have some fluid retention causing the weight gain, but not after 3 months. Also, great that you have started, but you have not gain appreciable muscle in that time if a poster says you are building muscle.
  • nina12reid
    nina12reid Posts: 3 Member
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    But I’m taking in the same amount of calories as I did before I started working out In September. I haven’t started eating more than I did before
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,395 MFP Moderator
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    How much weight have you gained over what period of time? Are you tracking calories? If so, do you use a food scale?
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    psuLemon wrote: »
    How much weight have you gained over what period of time? Are you tracking calories? If so, do you use a food scale?

    This^. People will often gain a small amount of water weight when starting an exercise program but that levels off fairly soon.

    One observation is that you talk in qualitative terms and not quantitative. Eg. taking in the same amount of calories, gaining weight rapidly, wouldn't say I have a bad diet. Hard for anyone to help with that kind of general qualitative stuff. More helpful would be, eating XXXX calories per day, macro mix of X fats, x carbs, x protein. Have gained X lbs since September.

    It also seems like you believe exercising is the key to weight loss. It's not. Diet is. Exercise is great for fitness and helps burn some additional calories but if you take in more calories than you use consistently, you will gain.
  • StatsGuy99
    StatsGuy99 Posts: 35 Member
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    I find myself a bit more hungry on workout days. It's easy to end up eating a bit more without realizing it if you don't count calories.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
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    Janejellyroll is a wise woman. Listen to her.

    I can remember, when called out by my doctor about my weight, proclaiming, "but I'm a whole foods vegetarian!".

    As if that mattered.

    It's not what you eat. At all. It's how many calories relative to how much you burn.

    As the wise woman above me said, "if you're gaining weight, it's probably because you're eating more than your body can use. You're storing the excess calories as body weight."
  • dbkyser
    dbkyser Posts: 612 Member
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    I have dealt with this also, but like mentioned above count your calories.
    You will be hungrier that's for sure, and if your not weighing your food chances are your eating more than you think.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
    edited November 2017
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    Starting a new exercise program can do two things that you don't even realize:

    1. It makes you a little hungrier.
    2. It makes you feel like you burned so many calories you "deserve" more food than the calories you actually burned.

    People tend to overestimate how many calories they burn with exercise and underestimate how much they eat. Added to the two points above, if you aren't accurately logging your food, you can easily eat more without realizing it.

    Start logging accurately and consistently, and you'll most likely find out you are eating more. Plus an accurate log will help you see where those extra calories are and how to cut back. Good luck!
  • spiro413x
    spiro413x Posts: 11 Member
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    It is super common that people who work out over count how many calories they are burning. While physical activity can create a large false hunger it doesn't mean you are actually burning that many calories. If you are gaining weight the fact is you are consuming to many calories. Sorry. You need to count more accurately.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    If you are gaining weight long term you are in caloric excess. If, however, we are talking about weight gain since the end of September where you started exercising when previously you were not most people experience a lot of extra water retention in muscle tissue when starting a new exercise routine.

    If I haven't exercised in a long time and I start to again I fully expect to put on five pounds fairly quickly due to this effect. I think it is from a mix of water retention for muscle repair and the recruitment of glycogen and associated water into the muscle tissue. Makes you feel a bit swollen or bloated as well. It goes away once your body adjusts to the new routine.

    If you continue to gain weight for like 6 months then yeah, caloric excess.

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