CRUD,,,starting working out and gained 3 pounds in a month-wth?! advice?

kimber0607
kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
edited April 2019 in Fitness and Exercise
Hi

Im 45, 5'8 and currently weigh 139
I started here around 150 and eating 1400 cals a day and NO exercising I dropped down to about 136...I didnt really have a hard core goal weight in mind...so I decided to increase my cals to 1600 and start working out
I figured if I maintained that would be fine, or if I slowly lost another few pounds..that was fine too
It's been a month on this program. I work out 6 days a week for 1-2hrs per day
I mix dance cardio, weights/toning and yoga (posses mixed with meditation..usually when I hit 2 hour mark per day is 1/2 hr meditation...usually 3 days a week no more)

I feel like ive been gaining....I want to believe it's muscle..LOL
I weighed in this am at 139 :(
I tried on jeans I hadn't worn in about a month....the stomach area was roomy..about the same... but the thigh area was TIGHT......

Im confused....do I go back down to 1400 cals and work out...feel like I would be hungry and that wouldn't be enough..but I cant see adding cals at this point either
I hate to say it was easier just eating 1400 and not working out...but I want to work out to look/feel better

I'm open to advice/feedback

tia
kim

Replies

  • Panini911
    Panini911 Posts: 2,325 Member
    i'd not change things based on one entry. weight fluctuates daily and within a week just due to normal changes in the body (water weight is a big one, time of the month of us women). putting too much valu in a single day's number (was it the same scale? same clothes? same time of day?) is not good you need to consider overall trend.

    i know others members mention water retention by muscles after new or increased exercise so you may still be experiencing that. maybe you just happen to be retaining more water based on what you ate the other day.

    personally i'd weigh myself more often and use a weight trending app to see if weight is generally moving downward or stable over time.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Yeah, average over several days to find your trend. I wish mfp did this automatically. You can just eyeball it from the graph, type it into a spreadsheet and do some math, or use a dedicated weight-tracking app that does it for you.

    BTW: it pays to weigh in the morning after using the toilet with similar clothing. Record the number no matter what it is. If it is higher than you like, do your best to shrug it off. I've seen my weight change by several pounds one day to the next.

    In other words: keep calm and keep on your program!
  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    Panini911 wrote: »
    i'd not change things based on one entry. weight fluctuates daily and within a week just due to normal changes in the body (water weight is a big one, time of the month of us women). putting too much valu in a single day's number (was it the same scale? same clothes? same time of day?) is not good you need to consider overall trend.

    i know others members mention water retention by muscles after new or increased exercise so you may still be experiencing that. maybe you just happen to be retaining more water based on what you ate the other day.

    personally i'd weigh myself more often and use a weight trending app to see if weight is generally moving downward or stable over time.

    Thanks..I didnt want to get too hooked on the number on the scale..so thought would only weigh every 3-4 weeks to take fluctuations into account
    kim

  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »
    Yeah, average over several days to find your trend. I wish mfp did this automatically. You can just eyeball it from the graph, type it into a spreadsheet and do some math, or use a dedicated weight-tracking app that does it for you.

    BTW: it pays to weigh in the morning after using the toilet with similar clothing. Record the number no matter what it is. If it is higher than you like, do your best to shrug it off. I've seen my weight change by several pounds one day to the next.

    In other words: keep calm and keep on your program!


    I always weight first thing in the am..keep it consistent..thanks and ill plug in the ugly number :(
    LOL
  • VioletRojo
    VioletRojo Posts: 597 Member
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Hi

    Im 45, 5'8 and currently weigh 139
    I started here around 150 and eating 1400 cals a day and NO exercising I dropped down to about 136...I didnt really have a hard core goal weight in mind...so I decided to increase my cals to 1600 and start working out
    I figured if I maintained that would be fine, or if I slowly lost another few pounds..that was fine too
    It's been a month on this program. I work out 6 days a week for 1-2hrs per day
    I mix dance cardio, weights/toning and yoga (posses mixed with meditation..usually when I hit 2 hour mark per day is 1/2 hr meditation...usually 3 days a week no more)

    I feel like ive been gaining....I want to believe it's muscle..LOL
    I weighed in this am at 139 :(
    I tried on jeans I hadn't worn in about a month....the stomach area was roomy..about the same... but the thigh area was TIGHT......

    Im confused....do I go back down to 1400 cals and work out...feel like I would be hungry and that wouldn't be enough..but I cant see adding cals at this point either
    I hate to say it was easier just eating 1400 and not working out...but I want to work out to look/feel better

    I'm open to advice/feedback

    tia
    kim

    You're probably just retaining water. When we start a new exercise and our muscles are being worked in new ways they retain water to help in healing. I'd give it another month before I started changing things.
  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    VioletRojo wrote: »
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Hi

    Im 45, 5'8 and currently weigh 139
    I started here around 150 and eating 1400 cals a day and NO exercising I dropped down to about 136...I didnt really have a hard core goal weight in mind...so I decided to increase my cals to 1600 and start working out
    I figured if I maintained that would be fine, or if I slowly lost another few pounds..that was fine too
    It's been a month on this program. I work out 6 days a week for 1-2hrs per day
    I mix dance cardio, weights/toning and yoga (posses mixed with meditation..usually when I hit 2 hour mark per day is 1/2 hr meditation...usually 3 days a week no more)

    I feel like ive been gaining....I want to believe it's muscle..LOL
    I weighed in this am at 139 :(
    I tried on jeans I hadn't worn in about a month....the stomach area was roomy..about the same... but the thigh area was TIGHT......

    Im confused....do I go back down to 1400 cals and work out...feel like I would be hungry and that wouldn't be enough..but I cant see adding cals at this point either
    I hate to say it was easier just eating 1400 and not working out...but I want to work out to look/feel better

    I'm open to advice/feedback

    tia
    kim

    You're probably just retaining water. When we start a new exercise and our muscles are being worked in new ways they retain water to help in healing. I'd give it another month before I started changing things.

    Thanks!
    I'm going to stick with ti and try to be patient...
  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,439 Member
    http://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,740 Member
    kimber0607 wrote: »
    Panini911 wrote: »
    i'd not change things based on one entry. weight fluctuates daily and within a week just due to normal changes in the body (water weight is a big one, time of the month of us women). putting too much valu in a single day's number (was it the same scale? same clothes? same time of day?) is not good you need to consider overall trend.

    i know others members mention water retention by muscles after new or increased exercise so you may still be experiencing that. maybe you just happen to be retaining more water based on what you ate the other day.

    personally i'd weigh myself more often and use a weight trending app to see if weight is generally moving downward or stable over time.

    Thanks..I didnt want to get too hooked on the number on the scale..so thought would only weigh every 3-4 weeks to take fluctuations into account
    kim

    The problem comes when your once a month weigh in happens to be on one of the high days rather than one of the low ones.

    I don't weigh myself often, about every two weeks, but usually I know from my logging whether my weight should be up or down. If the scale reflects something different from what I expect, I'll weigh myself again two days later to see if it was a temporary anomaly or reflects something real.
  • vcubergirl818
    vcubergirl818 Posts: 17 Member
    4 weeks ago, I really upped my exercise, I foolishly started half marathon training and a new weight lifting program at the same time. The first week I was up 0.5, week two was up 0.5 again, and then week 3 was up 0.8. One day last week I could literally feel my body adjust and the water retention go down, and the new muscles activate. Now, week 4, I was back down the 0.8, and my weight is still going down. And my running pace was 13 seconds a mile faster. Which in a week is ridiculous. So just keep at it, make sure you're fueling your workouts, and if you are consistent you will see results.
  • kimber0607
    kimber0607 Posts: 994 Member
    Thanks again for the feedback, suggestions and advice
  • lexi3123
    lexi3123 Posts: 1 Member
    Keep going :D You are building muscle! If you're unhappy in a few months from now, cut your calories back for a bit.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    lexi3123 wrote: »
    Keep going :D You are building muscle! If you're unhappy in a few months from now, cut your calories back for a bit.

    No she isn't. You cannot build muscle in a calorie deficit.

    OP: I would start with the assumption that it is water retention from your muscles doing stuff that they are not used to and retaining water to heal. Give it another couple of weeks. If your weight hasn't gone back to the pre-workout number, start looking at your logging (both food and exercise logging) and see where you need to tighten it up. Perhaps you aren't doing 200 calories a day in exercise after all.

    The pants being tighter around the thighs but not the midsection is a good indicator that it is water retention. It sounds like you are using your leg muscles a lot more than you were.

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