How is it possible in starting my cut phase, I gained 2lb in a week

I’ve been maintaining for months. Lift weights 3x/week and cardio 2x/week. I’m coming back from a hip injury. Started cut phase and I’m weighing all my food. Yet somehow i gained 2lb in the first week. Any suggestions?

Best Answer

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,111 Member
    Answer ✓
    Resuming or increasing exercise after a long-ish break (more than a small number of days) is likely to mean adding some water weight for muscle repair. If you're on a cut, your fat loss will outpace that on the scale fairly soon, possibly up to a small number of weeks depending on details.

    Your profile says you're female. If you're of an age to have menstrual cycles, hormonal water fluctuations at certain points in the cycle can muddy the waters even further.

    I tend to strength train seasonally, in my rowing off season. When I start lifting, I tend to gain a couple of otherwise unexplained pounds that hand around as long as I keep lifting progressively and consistently. When I stop in the Spring, I lose a couple of pounds with no other explanation. Not everyone has that pattern (some report ups and downs around - say - 3 times a week lifting). Also, I'm post-menopause, so I don't have the extra confusion of hormonal water retention.

    I'd suggest you hang in there, carry on with your current plan for 4-6 weeks, and see how things net out over that kind of time horizon. If you have cycles, go for at least one full cycle so you can compare body weight at the same relative point in at least two different cycles. That should give you a better idea of what's really happening.

    While you're patiently proceeding, I'd recommend you read this thread - especially the article linked in the first post - if you haven't already:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10683010/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-fluctuations/p1

    Best wishes for success - the effort is worth it!

Answers

  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    Yup, like Ann said, likely water weight. So many things that can cause water retention...
  • Jknip9484
    Jknip9484 Posts: 22 Member
    Yes I’m post-menapausal and was off of all exercise starting November. Turned out hip tendinitis and snapping hip syndrome. I’ve never taken off exercise that long ever. I started back end of January slowly getting back to the gym and better balancing strengthening my hip musculature. Snapping hip syndrome I still have. Won’t go away completely but it happens less often and less severe. Thank you for your input. I’m sticking with it and will see how it goes.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,111 Member
    If you feel up to it, maybe come back to this thread and let us know how things work out? I'm always curious about the rest of the story when someone posts something like this! :flowerforyou:
  • sollyn23l2
    sollyn23l2 Posts: 1,750 Member
    Jknip9484 wrote: »
    Update: it’s been 32 days and I kept to consuming 1450 calories daily and kept to weight lifting 3x/week and cardio 2x/week of exercise. I’ve lost 2.2lbs and 1inch in measurements in each section(upper waist, lower waist, hips, bum, each thigh).
    So far soo good.

    Yay!!!! I'm proud of you for sticking with it.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,963 Member
    Water weight. With NO EXERCISE, you muscle atrophied a bit and now they are absorbing water and glycogen again.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 35+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

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