working out but gaining weight

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hammersshells
hammersshells Posts: 56
in Introduce Yourself
Hi All,
I am a 31 year old female. I have been following Jillian Micheals' "Mastering your Metabolism" health plan for 3 weeks now, working out 5- 6 days a week for two weeks, and have gained a couple pounds. :sad: I am trying not to be frustrated, but it is hard. I do FEEL better, and clothes are getting a bit looser, but I want to see that scale go down. Like, yesterday. I am looking forward to using this website as a positive influence and motivation. And to track my calories...maybe I have been eating more than I thought?

Did anyone else experience a weight GAIN when initially beginning a new health plan? Thanks for any help or advice you may have!

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  • Fit4Vet
    Fit4Vet Posts: 610 Member
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    This is common for you to gain a couple of pounds when you first begin a new regime - especially if it has lots of exercise. You have to remember that you are trying to retrain your metabolism. As your metabolism jumps, the scale will move down.

    Don't be concerned. It's okay. That's why inches are better when you first start out. There are a lot of factors on the scale to consider.

    Keep at it. You'll be fine.

    I'm on an intense exercise plan (3 weeks too) and I've only seen a slight drop (5-6 lbs total) -and I work out 60-90 min. every day.
  • kickle88
    kickle88 Posts: 22
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    This is totally normal!!! You are gaining muscle which weights more than fat, and the more muscle you gain the better you will burn calories. I know that you want to see the scale numbers go down in order to feel like you are accomplishing anything but don't rely on the scale. Have you taken your measurements? This is a much better way to see your progress especially in the first stages of dieting. Don't give up, keep going and you will soon see the results of your hard work - I promise.
  • click
    click Posts: 36 Member
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    I thought I had all the muscle I could ever need and didn't even do weight training, but when I started working out regularly I definately gained weight and I definately admit my hunger increased too. keep at it, the storm gets worse before the calm. I'm 8 weeks in and have lost 15 lbs--most of that came off in the more recent weeks.

    if you're in the habit of weighing yourself daily in the morning (not mentally healthy for everyone to do it daily!) you'll start noticing that you fluxate less. I used to fluctuate wildly, 2-4lbs overnight, but now its much more steady.

    definately keep a tape measure handy and measure yourself in several places each week. I added custom measurements so that I have waist (smallest), waist (belly button), under bust, thigh, calf (taken from 4 inches below knee cap bottom to be consistent), arm (bicep), neck, etc. This way when your weight is being funky you can be straight with yourself about what exactly is happening.

    also be sure to record everything you eat, even if you know you messed up. it's important in the long term to be able to run a report and see if you're fooling yourself or not, you need to know what it was, and if while you're ramping up you're more hungry and you e at more and can't control it, so be it, at least you know what you've put in your mouth and can look back and see what to cut out, what you wouldn't miss.


    good luck though, you've found a tremendous tool to help you and i hope your hard work pays off. stick with it, and it will.
  • July
    July Posts: 239
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    There's two things - you may be more hydrated, so you weigh more (one of those fancy scales can tell you the percentage of your weight that is water.) Also, you may be eating more because you're burning off those calories, so you're more hungry, unknowingly.
    Keep up with it!
  • MOMOFTWO29
    MOMOFTWO29 Posts: 8,276 Member
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    Hello and welcome to MFP, the best website ever. You will love this site, if you don't already. I love it here. This site is so supportive, helpful, motivational, easy to use, and everyone here is so nice and friendly. I just wanted to wish you a lot of success on your weight loss journey. You can do this!!!!!! :smile: :flowerforyou:
  • nightangelstars
    nightangelstars Posts: 337 Member
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    You may be eating more simply because your metabolism is jumping and you're hungrier, so definitely track that food! Also, as others have mentioned, you may be adding muscle so look at your inches. If you track your food intake and you track your inches, you should be able to have a good idea of exactly what is going on with your body. Good luck! :flowerforyou:

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