Question! Freaking out!

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  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
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    I am Very active like you and run 3 to 5 miles and circuit train 6 days a week. I also used to eat 1200 before exercise. After losing 17 pounds reached a plateau for two months. I Then increased my calories to around 1600 a day before exercise and started losing again right away....I figured I needed more fuel for my work outs so my body would quit hanging onto the fat. I was right.... Your gain is probably water but think about increasing your calories up to around 1600 a day before exercise. Very active people need to eat more even if they want to lose weight. Good luck!
  • lala11975
    lala11975 Posts: 26
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    I don't agree with the whole 'muscle weighs more than fat'. Maybe if you're a body builder but to me, it's a load of rubbish told by people to make people who aren't losing weight feel good about themselves. Sure it might weigh more but it's not like an everyday human being has a whole lot of muscle they're building, especially considering they're losing fat.


    I think people mispeak when they say muscle weights more than fat, becuase 5 pounds of fat weighs the same as 5 pounds of muscle. The difference is 5 pounds of fat takes up more space on your body than 5 pounds of muscle. Like 5 pounds of cotton looks bigger than a 5 pound bag of sugar.
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
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    I don't agree with the whole 'muscle weighs more than fat'. Maybe if you're a body builder but to me, it's a load of rubbish told by people to make people who aren't losing weight feel good about themselves. Sure it might weigh more but it's not like an everyday human being has a whole lot of muscle they're building, especially considering they're losing fat.

    Muscle does not weigh more than fat. Pound for pound it weighs the same it just takes up less room. The mass is less more dense. But when you are rebuilding those muscles they retain some fluids to make repairs. So you do have a little gain during body building. But it goes away. More muscle will increases your metabolism and burn more calories even while resting.
  • autumnpennell
    autumnpennell Posts: 196 Member
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    I'm sure it is just water retention.

    However, with such minimal amounts to loose you really should be eating more than 1200 net calories. You'll loose just as fast if you up your calories but you will feel much better. go to fat2fitradio.com and find out what your BMR is and set it to that. It was also calculate how many calories you should be eating to be at your goal weight, and also tell you if your goal weight is realistic.

    thanks you!
  • tocara
    tocara Posts: 81 Member
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    I am interested in your source for muscle does not weigh more then fat. can you please provide it.
  • knockout3737
    knockout3737 Posts: 16 Member
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    Watch your sodium intake, and if you do have a little more sodium than needed make sure to drink lots of water to flush it out. You would be surprised how much sodium is in products these days. Good luck :)
  • autumnpennell
    autumnpennell Posts: 196 Member
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    Watch your sodium intake, and if you do have a little more sodium than needed make sure to drink lots of water to flush it out. You would be surprised how much sodium is in products these days. Good luck :)

    thank you!!! what is a good number and a bad number of sodium intake???
  • erikatoth
    erikatoth Posts: 26 Member
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    I can only echo what others said here. Water and other "stuff" inside you can easily add up to - yes - 3 kilos! These days i am 55 kilos in the morning, and in the evening, with three meals and 3 litres of water later (of which only a percentage got peed out by then...), i can easily hit 58 kilos.

    Don't weigh yourself every day, unless you are able to accept that your weight will fluctuate. I'd say weigh yourself every week. You will see progress without the scale, and if you weigh yourself every sunday morning, after you've been to the loo, you will see consistent and realistic numbers that go down nicely week by week.

    Also ladies, if you're on or near your period, you weigh more. It's a fact. Partly water retention, partly other reasons - you just do, deal with it, dont weigh yourself, weigh on day 6 and you'll see that there was no reason to panic.
  • lil_bear0811
    lil_bear0811 Posts: 56
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    muscles need water to repair damage done to them.

    Keep drinking, and stop going by numbers and go by how you feel.

    Unfortunately that's the hardest concept for women to learn when it comes to weight loss.
  • BigDaddyBRC
    BigDaddyBRC Posts: 2,395 Member
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    For those of you that are more fit than most on this site...GET OFF THE WEIGHT NUMBER FOCUS and look at toning your body and lowering your Body Fat percentage. By adding muscle, you lower your BF%
  • surromom2010
    surromom2010 Posts: 457 Member
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    Stop weighing yourself everyday, it won't make the numbers drop faster and fluctuation is so crazy all it will do is discourage you. Also, could be a scale problem, if you MUST do it every day, weigh yourself multiple times. Mine does that sometimes so I always weigh until it says the same things 2 times in a row. Cheap *kitten* walmart digital scale, lol.
  • H_Factor
    H_Factor Posts: 1,722 Member
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    don't ever weigh yourself at anytime other than first thing in the morning when you wake up, after you go to the bathroom, and before you eat. everything else is going to be inconsistent.

    also, you should be eating 1200 calories + most of your exercise calories. if you're not eating enough, your body will fight back, go into survival mode, and begin storing everything (which causes weight gain even though you're exercising like a mad woman and eating very little...in short, eating too little can back fire).

    and, like others have said, water retention plays a BIG role in your day to day weight. Don't sweat the scale on a daily basis...focus on a once a week number (taken first thing in the morning in the manner I described above). oh, and you haven't build any measureable muscle just yet (nor will you so long as you're eating so few calories).
  • DiannaMoorer
    DiannaMoorer Posts: 783 Member
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    I am interested in your source for muscle does not weigh more then fat. can you please provide it.

    The National Health Association is one. There are many sources on the internet. Here is a good article I copied.


    I've seen a lot of posts advising people who are new to weight loss that muscle weighs more than fat. That is not the case.

    A pound is a pound is a pound. Five pounds of paperclips weighs the same as five pounds of bricks - the composition is what's different.

    A person who weighs 150 pounds and has 30% body fat will APPEAR much different than a person of the same weight but with 20% body fat because of their body composition.

    Five pounds of fat will take up more space (volume) than five pounds of muscle; thus the more muscle you build and fat you burn, the leaner you will look.

    So, working toward a more fit, muscular physique will certainly pay off, not only in your overall health but in your appearance as well. But please don't make the mistake of thinking that muscle weighs more than fat - it does not.

    If I could insert a photo I would, but just Google Image search muscle vs. fat and you can see an illustration for yourself.
  • autumnpennell
    autumnpennell Posts: 196 Member
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    Thank you!!! So you are recommending that I DO eat all of my exercise calories??
  • autumnpennell
    autumnpennell Posts: 196 Member
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    Also, would it be good to do some some sort of eating pattern to trick my body? Like, eat 1600 calories one week then 1200 the next? and so on???
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    Comparing volume to volume muscle does weight more than fat.
  • Pocket_Pixi
    Pocket_Pixi Posts: 1,167 Member
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    A quick search in the forums would tell you its normal..

    or there is always google... you should use it.
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    Also, would it be good to do some some sort of eating pattern to trick my body? Like, eat 1600 calories one week then 1200 the next? and so on???

    That's called calorie cycling, and there's been a lot discussion of it around here. Some people are sold on it, some people (like me), are skeptical. But if you search for it, you should find some good posts and discussion.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
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    Running actually leans out your muscles so you can 'run' more efficiently.... But no you're not building muscle that fast. Chances are it's just water weight. stop freaking out. take a chill pill. and don't weigh yourself very often if you can't handle the fluctuations. BTW. how tall are you?? and another side -- our weights fluctuate on a daily basis, even through out the day - especially as women, our hormones can cause these fluctuations too. soo yea. take a chill pill.
  • Christine1110
    Christine1110 Posts: 1,786 Member
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    I would guess your mucsle are holding water.....or it's sodium. It's in everything you eat that is processed or premade...fast food.

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