Thanks alot, scale!!!!!

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swissdutchess
swissdutchess Posts: 109
in Motivation and Support
Honestly???? What gives??? I get on the scale and weigh 3 more pounds than last Tuesday morning??? I am 2 weeks into a training program for a half marathon, and I gain weight??? Here's what this last week looked like for me:

Tues: Weigh in and cross training (an hour of spinning class)
Wed: 4 mile run (hill intervals)
Thurs: cross training (Gillian workout of strength training)
Fri: 4 mile run
Sat: 7 mile run
Sun: rest
Mon: 4 mile run (speed intervals)
Tues: cross training (an hour of spinning class)

I have not missed a single day of working out on my training in the past two weeks. And I've been good about what I've been eating. I wasn't exactly angelic about my food intake this past weekend, but its not like I binged and gorged myself aimlessly. I've always stayed within my allotted calories.

So why the 3lb gain in one single week? A lot of you are going to say its muscle weight, but how can I gain that much muscle in that short amount of time? Some might mention its water weight. Maybe its a combo of both. I don't know what the heck it is, but I'm not too happy right now.

But I'm still going to keep doing what I am doing, if not be better. I am going to beat this.

Replies

  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    I'll be honest with you--it's not muscle.
    But it's not fat either, if you're in a caloric deficit. In fact, chronic aerobic activity releases cortisol, which breaks down both fat and muscle, so gaining either in your case is nearly impossible.
    You can, however, gain weight in the form of glycogen (stored sugar) and the water it binds to. When you increase your activity, you increase the amount of glycogen stored and actually the capacity of your body to store it. So don't worry, just re-adjust this as a starting weight or something if you like.
  • slimmingmom
    slimmingmom Posts: 297
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    If you're in an intense training program then you're prob gaining because of muscle mass! Remember that muscle weighs more than fat!!!
  • VballLeash
    VballLeash Posts: 2,456 Member
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    No you don't gain muscle like that especially not from cardio besides muscle weighs the same as fat its just more dense so if you lose a pound of fat you may gain a pound of muscle making it balance out on the scale.... anyways DON'T GIVE UP :happy: Just stick with it and the scale will start to move, the scale isn't everything remember, maybe measure yourself but I'd give it another week at least, good luck!!

    ~Leash :heart:
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    My advice:

    Read this:
    http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/weight/scale.htm

    and go buy a tape measure.:flowerforyou:
  • swissdutchess
    swissdutchess Posts: 109
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    should I cut back on sugar then? most of the sugar I eat is from fruit, anyway...
  • havingitall
    havingitall Posts: 3,728 Member
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    No...your body breaks down and gets that sugar from your body anyhow
  • MollySue30
    MollySue30 Posts: 288 Member
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    You are probably retaining some water...try to eat some whole foods..you might want to get the book from Jillian Michaels "Master Your Metabolism" It has really opened my eyes to alot of different things that I was doing wrong.....just an idea....

    Wish you the best of luck on your training
  • songbyrdsweet
    songbyrdsweet Posts: 5,691 Member
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    should I cut back on sugar then? most of the sugar I eat is from fruit, anyway...

    It's not table sugar...it's blood sugar. Your body gets that from all sources of carbohydrate, and if you don't eat any, it makes it from amino acids and the glycerol backbones of fats.
  • Iffer75
    Iffer75 Posts: 2,817 Member
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    should I cut back on sugar then? most of the sugar I eat is from fruit, anyway...

    Eat your fruit earlier in the day. There are a lot of carbs and sugars in fruit, so eating it earlier in the day lets your body burn it before you go to bed.
  • BrendaLee
    BrendaLee Posts: 4,463 Member
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    Well look at it this way- whatever the gain, it's most likely NOT fat. So does it really matter? You can't get wrapped up in that number on the scale when you know you're being good. If you were up 5 pounds in water weight, that would mean a fat loss of 2 pounds, but the scale's not going to tell you that, so you can't really depend on it.

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