Should I really ignore the scales?

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

Hi Everyone!

About two months ago I decided I wanted to change up my workouts. I was stuck in a rut.

I'm now doing weights twice a week, and hiit workouts 3 times a week. I'm also on 1200 calories a day, with one cheat evening a week (because I am HUMAN.)

I'm looking at myself and I can see a change... I can see that I've gotten smaller. But I've also gained almost 4lbs.

Is this normal? Am I actually building muscle and burning fat to the point where I have gained weight? And is that possible in just a month?!

Don't only if it affects your morale to the point that you go back to food binging, if that's not the case, I highly suggest you do weigh every day, because with the average weekly weight, you can determine more precisely how much you are losing or gaining weight. I never panic on one day where I gain weight, it's how I do in the long run that matters.

Btw, if you're lifting only twice a week, your muscle gains will be very minimal/it will take longer. usually the ideal is 3 to 5 days...some can respond well to 6, but I find that's too much especially at a caloric deficit. Since you are a new lifter, obviously you are building muscles at a fast rate even on a caloric deficit, but that's only short term. You have what we call newbie gains. Not sure if you're getting the most out of them with only 2 workouts per week.

It's unlikely that you're building 4 pounds of muscle doing weights twice a week.

How are you tracking your calorie intake? Are you using a digital food scale? If not, you're likely eating more than 1200. Depending on your stats, your cheat evening could easily wipe out your calorie deficit and put you over maintenance.

Don't ignore the scale, it's just a tool. In fact, the more information you have the better. Your body weight naturally fluctuates, if you track your weight daily you can see what your natural fluctuation is, and what your trend is. Once you know how your weight fluctuates, you can take that into account and not worry if your up within that threshold. It takes a month to figure it out and another month to confirm it. I found it also takes the stigma off the scale. The scale is just a tool for telling you your weight, like your clock tells you the time.

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

Hi Guys,

I've looked over all of my figures, and it looks like I lost 4lbs, and then gained two. So actually... it's only a 2lb gain.

In two months of weights and hiit's I think I could gain 2lbs of muscle for sure.

If you don't have an insane amount of muscle to begin with, you could gain two lbs of muscle while being in a deficit. However, 1200 kcal isn't very much in terms of building blocks for your body, so this will end somewhere.

Whatever the case may be, if the mirror is telling you that you are getting fitter, than that's the truth. Each and every one of us here have different experiences, since we're all different people. I for one have noticed that eating more (eating back most of my excercize calories) has helped me loose weight. But hunderds of people here could tell you otherwise. And that I'm doing it all wrong. Doesn't matter, since it works for me.

So the question is: does this work for you?

A woman working with a professional coach, on a progressive lifting program, eating in a surplus, may gain 1 or 2 lbs of muscle per month. Gaining 2 lbs is nothing to worry about, regardless of what % is what, but eating 1200 cals for 2 months is aggressively low cal.

What is your height, weight, and goal weight?
Are you using a food scale?
What strength program are you following?
Are you logging your cheat meal?

Weight fluctuations are normal. Rather than a specific weight, target a weight range. I can easily have a weight fluctuation of 5lbs even just depending on what scale I'm standing on at the time. My old scale weighed me almost 10lbs lighter than my new scale and neither of those scales agrees with the scale at my gym. So make sure you are using the same scale all the time and give yourself +/- 3 or 5lbs from day to day before you start worrying about real gains or losses.

MrsRachaelFisk1 wrote: »

Hi Everyone!

About two months ago I decided I wanted to change up my workouts. I was stuck in a rut.

I'm now doing weights twice a week, and hiit workouts 3 times a week. I'm also on 1200 calories a day, with one cheat evening a week (because I am HUMAN.)

I'm looking at myself and I can see a change... I can see that I've gotten smaller. But I've also gained almost 4lbs.

Is this normal? Am I actually building muscle and burning fat to the point where I have gained weight? And is that possible in just a month?!

I think the hard work gets a “hell yeah”. Get some! 👊

I don’t “ignore” the scale..but it isn’t my end all be all. I no longer am a slave to it. It’s a tool to give me another view on my journey...but at the end of the day what I see in the mirror and the way my clothes fit and how strong I have gotten..those are my guides..the scale never takes precedent.