Scale not moving since I started walking.

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SweetLove1988
SweetLove1988 Posts: 353 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone, I lost 20 pound with just changing my food habits. I’m still eating well and I started walking. I’ve been waking 2-3 miles 4-5 times a week and now the scale isn’t moving. I am 345 pounds, would walking cause me to gain muscle in my legs? This could be a ridiculous question but I honestly don’t know. A little about what I am doing. I am
eating 1600-1800 calories a day, walking as exercise, only drinking water (a gallon a day) or more. I wanted to focus on cardio now and incorporate weights once they finally finish the gym near me. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

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  • brenn24179
    brenn24179 Posts: 2,144 Member
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    I have lost 17 lbs here lately and the scale has now moved in 2 wks, think we have to just keep on keeping on and be patient and log our calories. Any exercise especially walking is good
  • SweetLove1988
    SweetLove1988 Posts: 353 Member
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    NextRightThing714 wrote: »
    How long ago did you add the walking? Any new exercise will lead to water retention, temporarily masking weight loss.


    I just started exercising last week. I was
    Wondering if that’s what it was. That’s why I’ve been trying to drink more water.
  • NextRightThing714
    NextRightThing714 Posts: 355 Member
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    Yeah, it's almost certainly water retention. Stay the course. Good work on your loss!
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
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    Walking is great exercise, but it’s not really going to build any appreciable muscle in a few weeks.

    Water retention (due to new exercise and just life), plus hormones, plus food waste can easily mask any weight loss.

    You’re doing great! Trust the process and the scale will start moving again.
  • mkculs
    mkculs Posts: 316 Member
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    You are doing well! Good for you. The walking will help with a lot of the weight-related health problems even before you lose a lot of weight; you will probably develop some muscle, but not more than a pound or two, over time, and probably not quickly enough to mask weight loss. Inflammation and water retention with new activity--heck, with common activity, if you are constantly pushing yourself--are very real, which is yet another reason people here so often repeat, weight loss is not linear. I tend to log my new "lows," and let the weight fluctuate until I hit another, lower "new low." Sometimes that is weekly, and sometimes monthly! But the process works and sticking with it when the scale does not move can be tough. I just had my first long period (3 weeks) of no change on the scale, and then a whoosh--over 3 lbs. It was very reassuring to me, b/c I stayed the course and it paid off, so I'll trust more in the future. Good luck and have fun.
  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
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    I find it easier to trust my food scale. If I weigh and log my food accurately and confirm that I am in a calorie deficit I know I am losing weight whether the body scale shows it or not at that exact moment.
  • apullum
    apullum Posts: 4,838 Member
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    Stick with it. You just started a new exercise plan, which will cause some inflammation in your muscles. Exercise causes tiny tears in the muscles, and through repairing these tears, the muscles become stronger. Your body holds fluid in the muscle as part of the healing process. Your muscles may also be taking in more glycogen, which fuels your exercise. Both of these things lead to temporary weight gain when you begin a new exercise program. And, if you are eating back exercise calories (as you should do), then you have a bit more undigested food making its way through your digestive tract. All of those things can cause a temporary increase on the scale. It may take a few weeks for that increase to go away, so don't get discouraged--your hard work is still paying off.

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