I've started exercising why am I still gaining weight !
Kim55555
Posts: 987 Member
You might be interested in reading this.
Article taken from:
http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dan_falkenberg/ive-started-working-out-why-am-i-still-gaining-weight.shtml
By Dan Falkenberg
Here’s a question I hear all the time, and to be honest, even though I know why it happens, it can still be disheartening to see your client so disappointed because after a few weeks of working out very hard, he hasn’t lost any weight but has actually gained weight instead! This may have even happened to you and left you standing on the scale with a confused look on your face. I think this is a big contributor to why so many people aren’t successful at weight loss programs. Sure, some are just plain lazy and don’t exercise with enough intensity, but some become so discouraged with the scales that they simply just give up. Whatever you do, don’t give up! Here’s why.
I hope by now that we all know that losing fat takes time and effort. For many, simply hopping onto a treadmill and walking for 20 to 30 minutes isn’t going to cut it; for a very small number of people yes, but for many no. Most of us have to have a very structured and intense program to be successful at dropping the fat.
Here’s the first step to success. Are you ready? Ignore the scale. Here’s the first step to success. Are you ready? Ignore the scale. That’s right. Don’t even step onto a scale for the first month of your exercise program. I know it’ll be hard, but don’t do it. I know some of you are scale addicts; well, consider this Day 1 of your scale detox program. Remember, a successful “weight” loss program is based on the number of lbs. of fat burned off, not the number of overall lbs. burned off. This is why you see programs out there that guarantee 6 lbs. lost in 6 days. You know what they’re guaranteeing? They’re guaranteeing an eventual 6-10, or more, lbs. being put back on.
The “yo-yo” effect, I’m sure a lot of you have heard of it before. The “yo-yo” effect is when your body loses weight, then gains weight, then loses weight, and so on. That’s what these types of guarantees are. Sure, some overly obese individuals can lose more than 2 lbs. of fat in a week, but the majority can’t. Losing 6 lbs. is mostly muscle and water, which is a horrible thing. Muscle is vital to your body, so when it loses it, it wants to get it right back, and a lot of times, it’ll put muscle back on and bring excess fat storage with it. This can leave you having more body fat than when you originally started a “weight” loss program.
Alright, so we’ve established that all weight is not the same. Losing a pound of muscle isn’t good for the body, while losing a pound of fat is (in most cases). Also, hopefully it’s clear why scales aren’t always the best indicator of fat loss. When I evaluate a client’s success, figuring out her body fat percentage is a lot more meaningful to me than seeing the number on the scale. If her body fat stays the same, but she’s smaller on the scale, then that tells me she’s either lost muscle or water. If her body fat is the same, but she’s bigger on the scale, then that tells me that she most likely is retaining water. When both her body fat percentage and weight on the scale drop, then I know that she’s actually losing body fat and achieving success.
For every gram of glycogen stored, approximately 3 grams of water are stored with it. For those of you who can’t seem to shake your scale addiction, here’s why you need to be prepared for what you’ll see at the start of your weight loss program.
Like I said earlier, it can be very discouraging when you step onto the scale and see that you haven’t lost any weight and may have evened gained weight. As long as you don’t give up and are doing the right things with eating right and working out hard enough, your body fat will slowly start to come off. You just need to be patient. Don’t give up.
When you first start an exercise program, your body is basically thrown a curve ball. Your body is used to having to use a certain amount of energy throughout the day, but now that you’re exercising, your body figures out that it needs a greater energy supply. So what happens?
If you remember, your body’s source of energy comes from glucose. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, the glucose is used to make energy, and your body performs how it needs to. Well, your body also has a “reserve tank” for excess glucose. Instead of storing all the excess glucose as fat, your body stores some of the excess glucose in an easier form to break down for energy; it’s called glycogen. Glycogen is long chains of glucose molecules that are stored in our muscles and liver.
Working out too intensely can cause muscle tears to become overly inflamed to the point where the mini-tears start to swell with fluid. Your body adapts to how much glycogen it needs to store in order to have enough “energy” on stand-by for when your blood sugar starts to drop because there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream from the food you last ate. When we start to exercise, our bodies require more energy and become more efficient at getting that energy, so as a result, our bodies start to store more glycogen. Here’s the kicker. For every gram of glycogen stored, approximately 3 grams of water are stored with it. This means that now your body has a larger amount of water and glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, and as a result, your body weight can go up by a few lbs.
Picture a piece of bread or pasta noodle. What happens when you put them in water? They’re like sponges. They soak up the water and expand. The same can be said with glycogen. Glycogen is a carb, and it sucks up water just like any other carb.
Here’s another culprit. If you go from not working out to working out very hard, your muscles will most likely be sore for the next 2 or 3 days. This is because when you work out, you essentially create mini-tears in your muscles. Working out too intensely can cause these tears to become overly inflamed to the point where the mini-tears start to swell with fluid. This excess fluid in the muscles can cause an initial, excess weight gain. By starting out an exercise program slowly and working your way up, you reduce the likelihood of tearing your muscles too much. To some extent, though, muscle soreness will occur when you first start exercising, but the amount of soreness and inflammation can be controlled by gradually working into a fitness program.
If you continue to stick to your weight loss program and don’t become discouraged by the initial weight gain that may result, you’ll slowly start to see the weight come off for good. Rest assured, even though you may be retaining water during that first month of working out, your body is still burning off fat. After a month’s time, that excess water weight and glycogen will still be there, but your body will have started to burn off enough fat to overcome the water weight gains, and you’ll start to see a difference on the scale.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the individuals who are the most successful with permanent weight loss are those who don’t see results in the first month. One thing I’ve noticed about my most successful clients, the majority of them actually gained a pound or two during the first month of exercising. My clients who weren’t very successful were those that maintained the same weight during the first month, the second month, and so on. Why? I’d have to say it’s because my most successful clients were working so intensely that they experienced extra glycogen and water storage. My clients who wouldn’t put in the effort didn’t need extra glycogen stored, so they didn’t see any initial weight gains.
You see, my successful clients saw an extra pound or two on the scale during the first month, but as the program went on, that extra glycogen storage meant their bodies had the extra fuel to stay revved up and burning off excess calories. It also meant that of the food they ate, less was going into fat storage and more was going into “high-octane” glycogen storage. Less fat storage equals faster weight loss.
So here’s my advice. Don’t be scared of delayed results within the first month. Your body is going through an adaptation process, and it requires some time to prepare itself for its new lifestyle. Keep your exercise intensity up, your eating habits right, and you’ll slowly start to see your fat loss results overcome your new glycogen and water storage results. You’ll slowly start to see that success you set out to achieve.
Dan Falkenberg is the cofounder of Your Live Trainers. He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.
Join a community of readers who’ve discovered Dan’s enlightening, monthly newsletter packed full of exercise tips, healthy recipes, and exercise video demonstrations to help improve your fitness! To top it off, it’s free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
I need your help! I'm in the process of publishing my first book, and I want to hear from you. If you were to buy a health and fitness book, what would you want in it? What areas of health and fitness would you want it to talk about? How many pages would you want the book to be? Any feedback you could give in the comments section would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and have a great day!
http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dan_falkenberg/ive-started-working-out-why-am-i-still-gaining-weight.shtml
Article taken from:
http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dan_falkenberg/ive-started-working-out-why-am-i-still-gaining-weight.shtml
By Dan Falkenberg
Here’s a question I hear all the time, and to be honest, even though I know why it happens, it can still be disheartening to see your client so disappointed because after a few weeks of working out very hard, he hasn’t lost any weight but has actually gained weight instead! This may have even happened to you and left you standing on the scale with a confused look on your face. I think this is a big contributor to why so many people aren’t successful at weight loss programs. Sure, some are just plain lazy and don’t exercise with enough intensity, but some become so discouraged with the scales that they simply just give up. Whatever you do, don’t give up! Here’s why.
I hope by now that we all know that losing fat takes time and effort. For many, simply hopping onto a treadmill and walking for 20 to 30 minutes isn’t going to cut it; for a very small number of people yes, but for many no. Most of us have to have a very structured and intense program to be successful at dropping the fat.
Here’s the first step to success. Are you ready? Ignore the scale. Here’s the first step to success. Are you ready? Ignore the scale. That’s right. Don’t even step onto a scale for the first month of your exercise program. I know it’ll be hard, but don’t do it. I know some of you are scale addicts; well, consider this Day 1 of your scale detox program. Remember, a successful “weight” loss program is based on the number of lbs. of fat burned off, not the number of overall lbs. burned off. This is why you see programs out there that guarantee 6 lbs. lost in 6 days. You know what they’re guaranteeing? They’re guaranteeing an eventual 6-10, or more, lbs. being put back on.
The “yo-yo” effect, I’m sure a lot of you have heard of it before. The “yo-yo” effect is when your body loses weight, then gains weight, then loses weight, and so on. That’s what these types of guarantees are. Sure, some overly obese individuals can lose more than 2 lbs. of fat in a week, but the majority can’t. Losing 6 lbs. is mostly muscle and water, which is a horrible thing. Muscle is vital to your body, so when it loses it, it wants to get it right back, and a lot of times, it’ll put muscle back on and bring excess fat storage with it. This can leave you having more body fat than when you originally started a “weight” loss program.
Alright, so we’ve established that all weight is not the same. Losing a pound of muscle isn’t good for the body, while losing a pound of fat is (in most cases). Also, hopefully it’s clear why scales aren’t always the best indicator of fat loss. When I evaluate a client’s success, figuring out her body fat percentage is a lot more meaningful to me than seeing the number on the scale. If her body fat stays the same, but she’s smaller on the scale, then that tells me she’s either lost muscle or water. If her body fat is the same, but she’s bigger on the scale, then that tells me that she most likely is retaining water. When both her body fat percentage and weight on the scale drop, then I know that she’s actually losing body fat and achieving success.
For every gram of glycogen stored, approximately 3 grams of water are stored with it. For those of you who can’t seem to shake your scale addiction, here’s why you need to be prepared for what you’ll see at the start of your weight loss program.
Like I said earlier, it can be very discouraging when you step onto the scale and see that you haven’t lost any weight and may have evened gained weight. As long as you don’t give up and are doing the right things with eating right and working out hard enough, your body fat will slowly start to come off. You just need to be patient. Don’t give up.
When you first start an exercise program, your body is basically thrown a curve ball. Your body is used to having to use a certain amount of energy throughout the day, but now that you’re exercising, your body figures out that it needs a greater energy supply. So what happens?
If you remember, your body’s source of energy comes from glucose. Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, the glucose is used to make energy, and your body performs how it needs to. Well, your body also has a “reserve tank” for excess glucose. Instead of storing all the excess glucose as fat, your body stores some of the excess glucose in an easier form to break down for energy; it’s called glycogen. Glycogen is long chains of glucose molecules that are stored in our muscles and liver.
Working out too intensely can cause muscle tears to become overly inflamed to the point where the mini-tears start to swell with fluid. Your body adapts to how much glycogen it needs to store in order to have enough “energy” on stand-by for when your blood sugar starts to drop because there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream from the food you last ate. When we start to exercise, our bodies require more energy and become more efficient at getting that energy, so as a result, our bodies start to store more glycogen. Here’s the kicker. For every gram of glycogen stored, approximately 3 grams of water are stored with it. This means that now your body has a larger amount of water and glycogen stored in the muscles and liver, and as a result, your body weight can go up by a few lbs.
Picture a piece of bread or pasta noodle. What happens when you put them in water? They’re like sponges. They soak up the water and expand. The same can be said with glycogen. Glycogen is a carb, and it sucks up water just like any other carb.
Here’s another culprit. If you go from not working out to working out very hard, your muscles will most likely be sore for the next 2 or 3 days. This is because when you work out, you essentially create mini-tears in your muscles. Working out too intensely can cause these tears to become overly inflamed to the point where the mini-tears start to swell with fluid. This excess fluid in the muscles can cause an initial, excess weight gain. By starting out an exercise program slowly and working your way up, you reduce the likelihood of tearing your muscles too much. To some extent, though, muscle soreness will occur when you first start exercising, but the amount of soreness and inflammation can be controlled by gradually working into a fitness program.
If you continue to stick to your weight loss program and don’t become discouraged by the initial weight gain that may result, you’ll slowly start to see the weight come off for good. Rest assured, even though you may be retaining water during that first month of working out, your body is still burning off fat. After a month’s time, that excess water weight and glycogen will still be there, but your body will have started to burn off enough fat to overcome the water weight gains, and you’ll start to see a difference on the scale.
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that the individuals who are the most successful with permanent weight loss are those who don’t see results in the first month. One thing I’ve noticed about my most successful clients, the majority of them actually gained a pound or two during the first month of exercising. My clients who weren’t very successful were those that maintained the same weight during the first month, the second month, and so on. Why? I’d have to say it’s because my most successful clients were working so intensely that they experienced extra glycogen and water storage. My clients who wouldn’t put in the effort didn’t need extra glycogen stored, so they didn’t see any initial weight gains.
You see, my successful clients saw an extra pound or two on the scale during the first month, but as the program went on, that extra glycogen storage meant their bodies had the extra fuel to stay revved up and burning off excess calories. It also meant that of the food they ate, less was going into fat storage and more was going into “high-octane” glycogen storage. Less fat storage equals faster weight loss.
So here’s my advice. Don’t be scared of delayed results within the first month. Your body is going through an adaptation process, and it requires some time to prepare itself for its new lifestyle. Keep your exercise intensity up, your eating habits right, and you’ll slowly start to see your fat loss results overcome your new glycogen and water storage results. You’ll slowly start to see that success you set out to achieve.
Dan Falkenberg is the cofounder of Your Live Trainers. He can be reached at DanFalkenberg.com.
Join a community of readers who’ve discovered Dan’s enlightening, monthly newsletter packed full of exercise tips, healthy recipes, and exercise video demonstrations to help improve your fitness! To top it off, it’s free, and you can unsubscribe anytime.
I need your help! I'm in the process of publishing my first book, and I want to hear from you. If you were to buy a health and fitness book, what would you want in it? What areas of health and fitness would you want it to talk about? How many pages would you want the book to be? Any feedback you could give in the comments section would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, and have a great day!
http://www.columbussports.com/content/writers/dan_falkenberg/ive-started-working-out-why-am-i-still-gaining-weight.shtml
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Replies
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Thanks for this! This is exactly what i'm going through right now. I wasn't too committed to exercise until recently. Now i've been consistently working out 6 days a week for a couple of weeks and i've gained about 2kg.
I wasn't overly perturbed, except was a bit tempted to eat less than i should (and probably did some days).
it is good to hear that i might be just like that guys 'more successful' clients then.0 -
Wonderful post! Thank you very much!0
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Thanks! I've actually gained 7 lbs back since I started working out harder, quit smoking and joined this group. My body went insane but just today the scale moved down. It took a month of me being patient (not easy lol) but it finally happened! Love this and just the confirmation I needed!0
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thanks for this. i needed to hear it again. I have just decided to ignore the scale as s ive put on 3lbs since i started insanity. As someone who got used to jumping on the scales daily its challenging. However i feel stronger, have loads of energy and my body is changing everyday so I am taking that as a victory over the scales.0
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Your welcome!
Here is another article which I hope will encourage and motivate!
Are you training for a weight or a look? Article
Are you training for a weight or a look?
http://www.facebook.com/#!/notes/lean-bodies-consulting/are-you-training-for-a-weight-or-a-look/10150117070827602
So one of the changes I've made in how clients submit biweekly progress reports is to have them fill in all the commentary BEFORE taking any measurements or checking bodyweight. I've found, and I'm sure this'll come as no surprise, that the numbers dramatically affect the subjective commentary of progress, so I figured I'd try to remove that influence by suggesting one making their comments on perceived progress and what not, prior to any numerical assessments.
And you know what? It sure has made a difference in the comments that are associated with certain numbers. For example, I just reviewed a biweekly in which the comments are fantastic – perception of progress includes being more muscular, leaner, dropping body fat, clothes fitting better, etc. All good stuff that should not and cannot be discounted because ultimately what are we training for? To be more muscular (in some cases), to be leaner (in pretty much all cases), clothes to fit better (all cases), and so on.
So then said client weighs in and takes their measurements and in the final comments section makes a comment on the numbers. What's she say? She's very upset and is disappointed she hasn't lost any fat.
Hmmm ...
Do you see any issue here? An apparent contradiction of sorts?
To rewind a bit again. What is it you train for? To look better or just to weigh less? Do you train so that your body will look a certain way when it's staring back at you in the mirror? Or just to see a smaller number on the scale?
I'm sure the answer is going to be nearly unanimous, if not completely so.
How does one go from making note of a number of positive observations; positive changes in what they are seeing in their physique when they look at themselvesk, even other people making note ... to being depressed about their lack of progress and upseet with themselves based on one number? Did that one number suddenly erase all those positive observations? All of them? Immediately?
You can see why I've made the recommendation to write in all the commentary before doing any numbers. Imagine what the commentary might have been had it been done after the numbers? I bet not nearly as positive. So by summarizing what you're perceiving to be happening in your body before stepping on the Random Number Generator, I'm able to get a more accurate picture of what you think is happening.
Reminder – you're training for a look, not a weight. Are we in agreement here? Yeah, I get that many people associate fat loss with weight loss and an end goal number. So what? That's your problem. Of course you'll lose weight over time; the trend will be downward ... over time. Unless you're a superhuman freak who can repartition perfectly months on end. (Side note, you're not.) Focus on behaviours that promote fat loss, observe what's happening and let the numbers take care of themselves. You can't quantify everything and trying to quantify every little thing simply serves as an added source of stress to the individual and detracts from the overall experience of the journey.
I've said this in a number of prior posts, but what does bodyweight tell you? Does it really tell you if you're progressing or not progressing? Are we not after body composition improvements? Bodyweight provides information on one thing – what you weigh. Nothing else. It offers you no insight as to what's happening with body fat, muscle, or changes in body water.
Does a bodyweight that is dissatisfactory to you instantaneously erase your thoughts and feelings on what you were noticing in your body? It shouldn't right? Yet, of course in some (er, many) cases it does. But this is a case of emotion ruling logic and it's important to remind yourself of this. Numbers are great, but they're not the be-all-end-all determinant of progress. No single assessment tool can give an accurate picture of what's happening. Not bodyweight, not measurements, not even simply observation. It's every tool used together that allows us to see what's happening.
We've addressed bodyweight, but let's even take a look at measurements. In our case, we monitor a handful of measurements over the body. But, are you going to lose body fat at JUST these markers? Surely not. It's only a handful of spots on your body. Fat loss can and will occur everywhere. So perhaps these numbers don't move, but if you were tracking a spot a few inches higher or lower, there is movement. See? Any one tool in isolation is of little use.
The biggest thing? Fat loss is not a linear process. There are peaks and valleys. It's rarely a direct beeline from Point A to Point B.
I guess my point is, don't discount perceived progress simply on the power of a single number. Bodyweight is not ever an accurate indicator of fat-loss progress. Ever!
Check out these two links for more:
http://leanbodiesconsulting.com/articles/The+Scale+Lies!+Daily+Water+Fluctuations
http://www.leanbodiesfitness.com/showthread.php?t=15265
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Natalie Stirn Another awesome post Erik!! Thanks so much!
March 22 at 10:55pm · LikeUnlike.Alex Cooper great post. What other measurements do you take?
March 22 at 11:27pm · LikeUnlike.Katie Ritz I hate my scale and throttle it on a daily basis even though I know better. Measurements speak volumes to me.
March 22 at 11:34pm · LikeUnlike.Lean Bodies Consulting I tend to use about 8 different measurements, plus weight (yep in CONJUNCTION), pictures, and the client's perception of their progress, which can include what they see, what others are saying about their progress, how their clothes are fitting, etc.
You get a better idea of what's happening when you put it all together and use it all ... together.
March 22 at 11:34pm · LikeUnlike.Lean Bodies Consulting Katie - you just pointed out that you truly DON'T know better ... otherwise you wouldn't feel the need to throttle your scale on a daily basis. LOL
March 22 at 11:36pm · LikeUnlike · 1.Katie Ritz :) I throttle it for an upper body workout - but the mess that is created in it's aftermath...well...I should know better.
March 22 at 11:47pm · LikeUnlike.Denise Teague Great Post! I know someone who is about 40 pbs overweight and watches the scale daily! She has associated poundage with image and thus has embarked on a very scary pill popping ride. She has every excuse in the book on why she "can't wor...kout", or "it's too expensive to buy good food", or, "I'm too busy to cook", and my favorite "My thyroid won't let me lose weight." It's no wonder why she isn't healthy and she's just going to be disappointed when the pills run out and the weight comes back on.See More
March 22 at 11:52pm · LikeUnlike.Lean Bodies Consulting That's sad Denise.
March 23 at 12:13am · LikeUnlike.Strength for the Journey; Forging Faith and Fitness Love this...what a great idea to measure your success via how you feel and look in the mirror before stepping on the scale or pulling out the measuring tape. I'm going to share!
March 23 at 12:26am · LikeUnlike.Alison Winkelman Great post Erik! Everyone has different progress as well so you can't compare yourself to others who may be dropping more weight. Like you said there are peaks and valleys and everyone will go through them.
March 23 at 12:27am · LikeUnlike.Cameron Hacault Dude, you should write a book. Call it 'It's not about the DAMN scale"! It would sell.
March 23 at 1:10am · LikeUnlike.Michelle Magoto Baker Thanks again Erik. You know how you can read the same thing over and over again and then you all the sudden "get it"? Thanks yet again for helping me change my thinking... that's true progress...
March 23 at 1:40am · LikeUnlike.Suzanne Germano When i first lost weight i didn't even own a scale or a tape measure it was all mirror and clothes. Can i take a pair of pants and now pull them off while buttoned and zipped. throughout the entire weight loss 180 to 120 i hardly ever knew what my current wt was
March 23 at 1:42am · LikeUnlike · 1.Lisa Rodrigue Brown ZJ I tell women all the time..."what if you woke up one day and looked in the mirror and thought you looked better and felt leaner...then you got on the scale and saw the number was more than you thought it should be, would you still feel you ...looked great? Why should a number change this?" The same goes in reverse as well. It is sad to me that a machine can make someone change their mind when their eyes saw something different.See More
March 23 at 2:42am · LikeUnlike · 1.Leoni Smith In my sport, its needed to be a certain weight range to fight, have put on a couple of kilos of muscle mass from training but I am now out of my weight category to fight..
March 23 at 5:59am · LikeUnlike.Shannon Landquist That is a great read!!!
March 23 at 7:19am · LikeUnlike.Lean Bodies Consulting The article isn't referring to making weight for sport. It's talking about those training for physique.
March 23 at 8:19am · LikeUnlike · 1.Ashley Stines I am not a fan of the scale! It took me a long time to get over the fact that I weight more than any girls at my size and height given the muscular composition of my body. The scale can help keep a person in check; however, I go by how my favorite pair of jeans fit me, as well as how I look when I look in the mirror. I want the LOOK - - who cares about the number if you're happy with your appearance.
March 23 at 10:14am · UnlikeLike · 1.Shannon Landquist as far as weight goes... just curious your thoughts on the following Erik, how is it that some people, even when eating at a deficit and all clean foods, sometimes wind up gaining weight? Would this more then likely signal metabolic slow down? I've always wondered.
March 23 at 10:45am · LikeUnlike.Lean Bodies Consulting I'd call them liars. If they're TRULY in a deficit, you can't gain weight. You can't gain something out of nothing. It's akin to asking someone to store lots of milk when no milk exists. Something is amiss there. If you're gaining weight, there is definitely no true deficit there.0 -
Hi Mods.
Not sure if these articles have been posted before in this group. If not would you be able to put this topic as a sticky!?
thanks 0 -
I've got footy training I have to get to now but I'll be back some time to reply 0
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"Random Number Generator"
It is!!!!!!
Made me laugh... Love the article 0 -
Bump. For those who haven't read it yet0
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//bump// Another good reminder. Thanks!0
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Bumping to read later0
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your welcome! 0
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bump!0
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Bump0
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