Working Out but Gaining Weight

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Gina__M__A
Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
in Motivation and Support
Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

Thanks for the help.

Replies

  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
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    Do you weigh your food?
  • tomorrowperfume
    tomorrowperfume Posts: 67 Member
    edited July 2018
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    It's probably not muscle gain. Women who are not training like bodybuilders will typically gain .5 lb of muscle a month. Women who train like bodybuilders can gain up to 1 lb of muscle a month.

    You're most likely eating above your calorie limit, and that is leading to this slow weight gain.

    I had this same problem when I was hardcore lifting. Turns out that exercise makes you way hungrier, and (at least for me) you are driven to snack to satisfy that extra hunger. Be super diligent with your food diary for a whole week, weighing and logging every bite. If you have a "cheat day" or something like it, log that too.

    Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, that might be the problem - it is very difficult to accurately estimate exercise calories, so it's an easy place to overestimate calorie burn and then overeat to compensate.

    I agree with summerbrunette23 up there that you should never eat below 1200.
  • sillypandas
    sillypandas Posts: 53 Member
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    Could be something as simple as not drinking enough water too. When you work out regularly, you lose a lot of water, which also makes you retain water if youre not replacing it. If your diet is in check, it could could easily be something as simple as this. Be sure to watch your sodium intake as well.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

    I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

    Thanks for the help.

    You don't mention food. Increasing exercise can sometimes subtly increase your appetite, and if you aren't accurately tracking your food you can eat just enough more food to cancel out your exercise calories without even realizing it.

    Tighten up your food logging and give it another month or so.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

    I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

    Thanks for the help.

    Not a single mention in your post as to whether you are logging your calorie intake - and how accurately you are doing that. With around 20 lbs to lose you can expect to lose 0.5 - 1 lb/week.
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

    I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

    Thanks for the help.

    Not a single mention in your post as to whether you are logging your calorie intake - and how accurately you are doing that. With around 20 lbs to lose you can expect to lose 0.5 - 1 lb/week.

    Hi. Thanks for your response. I have been working on tracking my calorie intake on this app and I am sticking pretty close to the 1580 that it’s listed for weight loss. I’m sure I mess up on the weekends when I’m not tracking. From your responses I may be eating too many calories.
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    kimny72 wrote: »
    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

    I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

    Thanks for the help.

    You don't mention food. Increasing exercise can sometimes subtly increase your appetite, and if you aren't accurately tracking your food you can eat just enough more food to cancel out your exercise calories without even realizing it.

    Tighten up your food logging and give it another month or so.

    Thank you. I agree. I definitely need to keep an eye better on my calorie intake. I’ve been working on keeping myself in check and under 1600 calories. I would feel pretty restricted if I go under that. I definitely need to work out so I keep under my calories for the day.
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    Working out is great...it doesn't default to weight loss. If it did, people who exercised regularly would just wither away and die.

    You typically gain a bit of weight initially when you start working out due to water retention to help repair muscle damage...but ultimately, you should be losing weight...if you're not, and given it's been a few months, this would indicate that you're eating at maintenance or possibly a small surplus.

    Working out doesn't default to a calorie deficit and weight loss.

    I appreciate your response! The foods the hardest part. I will definitely work on this part.
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    sillypandas wrote: »
    Could be something as simple as not drinking enough water too. When you work out regularly, you lose a lot of water, which also makes you retain water if youre not replacing it. If your diet is in check, it could could easily be something as simple as this. Be sure to watch your sodium intake as well.

    Hi there! Thanks. I definitely would get better with my water!
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
    Options
    tomorrowperfume wrote: »
    It's probably not muscle gain. Women who are not training like bodybuilders will typically gain .5 lb of muscle a month. Women who train like bodybuilders can gain up to 1 lb of muscle a month.

    You're most likely eating above your calorie limit, and that is leading to this slow weight gain.

    I had this same problem when I was hardcore lifting. Turns out that exercise makes you way hungrier, and (at least for me) you are driven to snack to satisfy that extra hunger. Be super diligent with your food diary for a whole week, weighing and logging every bite. If you have a "cheat day" or something like it, log that too.

    Are you eating back your exercise calories? If so, that might be the problem - it is very difficult to accurately estimate exercise calories, so it's an easy place to overestimate calorie burn and then overeat to compensate.

    I agree with summerbrunette23 up there that you should never eat below 1200.

    Probably! I didn’t think I was but maybe I am. I thought my 1580 was for me to lose weight but maybe it’s to maintain. I suppose I need to re-evaluate
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    TavistockToad wrote: »
    Do you weigh your food?

    I don’t! But everything I’m reading lately is telling me to do so.
  • Gina__M__A
    Gina__M__A Posts: 10 Member
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    summerbrunette23 wrote: »
    You might need to be looking at your macros and see if you're having too much carbs/fats. You should find a calculator and see what values you get and adjust your myfitnesspal values. Hitting your macro goals should also help you hit your calorie goals. And you might be losing inches if you're weight training AND gaining muscle -- perhaps that's why you're seeing a bump in the scale? Do you also do body measurements?

    Also, make sure to NEVER go under 1200 calories (and even 1200 calories is relatively low). I don't know by how much this will help, but I hope it does.

    Yes. I’ve just recently looked at that. Trying to understand it all. I definitely don’t have the willpower to go down to 1200 calories anyways. But I figured 1580 was hard enough. But it may not be enough!
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,754 Member
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    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    summerbrunette23 wrote: »
    You might need to be looking at your macros and see if you're having too much carbs/fats. You should find a calculator and see what values you get and adjust your myfitnesspal values. Hitting your macro goals should also help you hit your calorie goals. And you might be losing inches if you're weight training AND gaining muscle -- perhaps that's why you're seeing a bump in the scale? Do you also do body measurements?

    Also, make sure to NEVER go under 1200 calories (and even 1200 calories is relatively low). I don't know by how much this will help, but I hope it does.

    Yes. I’ve just recently looked at that. Trying to understand it all. I definitely don’t have the willpower to go down to 1200 calories anyways. But I figured 1580 was hard enough. But it may not be enough!

    Don’t listen to her.

    Read this instead.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1


  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    summerbrunette23 wrote: »
    You might need to be looking at your macros and see if you're having too much carbs/fats. You should find a calculator and see what values you get and adjust your myfitnesspal values. Hitting your macro goals should also help you hit your calorie goals. And you might be losing inches if you're weight training AND gaining muscle -- perhaps that's why you're seeing a bump in the scale? Do you also do body measurements?

    Also, make sure to NEVER go under 1200 calories (and even 1200 calories is relatively low). I don't know by how much this will help, but I hope it does.

    Yes. I’ve just recently looked at that. Trying to understand it all. I definitely don’t have the willpower to go down to 1200 calories anyways. But I figured 1580 was hard enough. But it may not be enough!

    Don’t listen to her.

    Read this instead.

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/113609/relatively-light-people-trying-to-get-leaner/p1


    Totally endorse this thread. h.
  • diannethegeek
    diannethegeek Posts: 14,776 Member
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    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    WinoGelato wrote: »
    Gina__M__A wrote: »
    Hi all, I know they say to not look at the scale but I’ve been going to the gym now for 3 months with little progress to show for it. I’m 5’2” woman started at about 130-135 and am at 139 right now. I do a mix of cardio and weight training. I’m not seeing a difference in clothing tightness either.y diet hasn’t changed much, would think I’m doing a little better.

    I’m stuck in a funk. Have I not given myself enough time to see changes or do I need to be doing more of something. Cardio, cut more calories. My goal weight is to be back in the 120-125 range but mostly lose fat!

    Thanks for the help.

    Not a single mention in your post as to whether you are logging your calorie intake - and how accurately you are doing that. With around 20 lbs to lose you can expect to lose 0.5 - 1 lb/week.

    Hi. Thanks for your response. I have been working on tracking my calorie intake on this app and I am sticking pretty close to the 1580 that it’s listed for weight loss. I’m sure I mess up on the weekends when I’m not tracking. From your responses I may be eating too many calories.

    I would suggest you start tracking your weekends before you make big changes to your calorie goals. They'll likely surprise you if you haven't been watching them.

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