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98010 tn?1305899735

Why do I gain weight when I exercise?

It seems like everytime I add exercise to my healthy eating I tend to gain weight instead of lose.  After several weeks of trying to be patient and give the exercise program (mostly aerobic walking) a chance, I tend to get frustrated and give up exercising because my goal is to lose weight not gain it.  Does this happen to anyone else?  Am I not giving exercise enough time to see the benefits?  Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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Avatar universal
Girl, please let me know how you are doing!!!  I started on Jan 8th at 224 - 1st week of P90X I lost 4.2 lbs - 2nd week I'm 221.6 - I know it's only 7 oz - but damn!  For what I'm doing - tracking all my foods ensuring that my cals out exceed my cals in - eating quality foods, and to gain weight???  Frustrating... I went from a size 26 to a size 5, and now sit at an 18.... NOT happy with it... please let me know how you do!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
it all has to do with what you eat. if you eat protein, it does not let you lose weight. so if you are looking to loose weight you need to find out what kind of foods you should be eating. Micolo
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Hi,
I also gain weight when I exercise, cardio and muscle training.  However, I recently got the fitbit to track my calories burned and noticed I need to eat more in the days I workout.  I started to eat the right amount of calories and my weight stopped going up.  Maybe my body was saving calories because I wasn't eating enough on the days I was burning more calories?  You could try eating more on your workout days.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
For all of you who are asking about gaining after you work out, that is completely normal.
I worked out for about 3 weeks and I noticed that I went up 4 pounds and became extremely frustrated so, like all of you, I searched the internet for a logical solution.
What is happening is your body retains fluid, especially if you aren't drinking enough water, so drink up!
And your muscles feel sore which means they are repairing themselves and trying to defend it from any more "damage".
This is normal and if you keep working through it, your body adapts to the new changes/workouts you are putting it through and starts to drop the weight right off.
I started doing p90x and it did that for me at the beginning but I pulled through.
Another thing that helps is stay off the scale, but in order to still see progress, measure.
Measure your arm width, waist, hips, thighs and chest. Doing it at least once a week will show you that there is results and shows you that you are getting rid of inches, which is just as important as pounds.
Helpful - 0
5761539 tn?1373790238
We know :)
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Avatar universal
I average about 700 calories a day. Last weekend I started exercising to help with weight loss. Today was day 9 of exercising for me. I exercise an average of 30 min a day, some days a full hour. I gained a pound & a half over the course of the week. The last couple of days I doubled my water intake & the pound & a half I had gained was gone again in time for my weekly weigh in. So it seemed as though my weight stayed the same. I can't figure out how it's even possible for me not to be losing weight. At 700 calories a day with 1 hour work-outs, you would think my body would have no choice but to give it up right?
Helpful - 0
5593228 tn?1370533843
Thank you so much for your feed back I have a lot of fat to loss &  when I weighted in before my exercise routine this morning I was 242 after 245 (pretty discouraging!!!) Thank you again for clearing this up for me.
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Avatar universal
I see what you're saying but if muscle is denser than fat then 1cm3 of muscle weighs more than the equivalent in fat.
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Avatar universal
I can not undesrtand the number in the chart of days in the secrion mydiet. I can ser i have the calories i ate , the calories i burnt but at the end there is an other number, like a summation I dont undestand. can somebody explaim it. please
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can not undesrtand the number in the chart of days in the secrion mydiet. I can ser i have the calories i ate , the calories i burnt but at the end there is an other number, like a summation I dont undestand. can somebody explaim it. please
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can not undesrtand the number in the chart of days in the secrion mydiet. I can ser i have the calories i ate , the calories i burnt but at the end there is a sumatory that i dont undestand. can somebody explaim it. please
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
it is important to see the loss  weight in two different ways : loss pounds and body measurements (hips, waist, back, chest, thigh). if you are making exercise all days your body could gain weight but lossing fat and measurements. don't get frustated
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Avatar universal
I completely agree.. that is what just happened to me. I know better than to weight myself until weight in day.. but I will not let that get me down.. i feel great that is more important to me than what some stupid scale says..lol
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Avatar universal
I've always lost weight when I've incorporated exercise in my schedule. However, I wouldn't weigh myself. I was just looking forward to looking good. Recently, I began an exercise regime and was weighing myself too. I notice the same thing!!!!! It is frustrating AND discouraging. As a result, I did eat a little more comfort food/ snacks just as that person noted earlier! Now that I've read all of your comments, I feel ENCOURAGED enough to get back on course-----with the goal of finding a scientific answer to the weightgain during exercise question.
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Avatar universal
I also gain weight every time I exercise, even while on a strict Weight Watchers diet.  I believe it is due to cortisol or estrogen levels rising when I exercise.  It so so frustrating.  My clothes get tighter and I get fatter around the middle.  If I give up exercising, then I will sometimes start losing weight.
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Avatar universal
your advice is not only wrong,  it is harmful.  this is not a forum for anorexics,  it is a forum for people seeking to be healthier.
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4612544 tn?1357164355
whoever u r i hope u r right....i have being doing pressup and cardio and sit ups my pants which was tight comes realy right round my hip not my waist n b4 it was actually tight on my waist BUT have blady F***** gained 700grams...feel lyk crying my eyeballs out....oh n i weigh myself everyday.....i know u must be going stop dat B***h...well datz wat my frndz tell me...dea exact words...should i b worried or happy...PLIZ help
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Avatar universal
I am soooo glad you said this.. So many people think that muscle weighs more than fat. 1lb is 1lb !!!!
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4518241 tn?1355785443
Exercising in contrary to a common knowledge is not supposed to make you lose weight all it does is that it burns fats and make you gain muscle weight which is heavier than fats. But do you see yourself more fit? Because you are combining the workouts with healthy diet then am sure even if you gain weight it is going to be healthy weight that does not affect your health. Exercising also is recommended to those who are stumped on how to gain weight so usually people will recommend them doing exercises so that they gain muscle weight.
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Avatar universal
Technically, though, our bodies don't body is convert fat into muscle. We burn up fat to use as energy - our bodies create new muscle from protein contained in our food when we do exercise. The fat doesn't turn into muscle, but it may seem that way. As we lose one it is possible to gain the other. If we just diet and don't exercise, we would lose fat but not gain muscle. If we exercise hard and eat less, we will burn fat and build muscle. If we eat more and do no exercise, we would store more fat around our body and waste muscle through lack of use.
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Avatar universal
*TRICKING the body by shocking it when you eat different foods and exercises at different times of the day makes your body wonder what you're going to do next. Eating small meals with protein in every meal every 3 hours increases your metabolism from morning to night, even while you sleep. Eating 6 smaller meals one day, 3 square meals the next, then 5 smaller meals the day after, then 4 meals a day after that, making sure you watch your calorie intake but never keeping it at 1200 (the same) but never exceeding calories for maintenance weight, even changing exercises and for how long and at different times, you will see faster results. ;)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
To the ones who believe muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, you don't know what you're talking about! In volume muscle weighs more than fat. We know muscles retain water, it is still important to exercise and watch calorie intake for your body type to continue your goal to weight/fat loss. Your body is too smart because it knows exactly when to store fat and when to use it up. If you keep on eating the same amount of calories, same types of foods and exercising the same time everyday and you'll hit a plateau before you know it. You have to shock your body EVERYDAY, meaning, eating different foods at different times of the day, making sure you include protein in EVERY meal and eat breakfast within the first hour you wake up (which is a must everyday), to maximise your fat loss as you burn it with the right foods and exercise. But when you eat the right food at breakfast, it kick-starts your metabolism, providing you with a steady stream of energy to keep you going through the day.  Don't forget, if you're getting 6 hours of sleep or less a night, you are slowing your metabolism dramatically because it seems to have an effect on glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity which determines how well our body is able to metabolise energy from foods containing carbohydrates. If you do not eat the right breakfast, your metabolism stays at a slower rate and doesn't get the kick-start it needs to give you energy. Soy in particular has been found to speed up the body’s ability to burn calories as well, balancing blood sugar as well as providing a healthy snack which makes you feel fuller for longer. The idea is to eat foods than burn faster prior to exercise (up the carbs before exercise) and replace it with more protein after, using the 3 hr rule and watching your portions everyday, that way your body won't store carbs into fat. Eat a snack/meal every 3 hours and make your snacks protein only, so the body will force itself to burn fat faster. Eating differnt meals and doing different exercises at different times of the day, including calorie intake (1200 one day, 1400 the next, then 1300, then 1150, walking one day, interval/resistance training the next, spin class the next, swimming the next and so on..) is the key to permanent fast weight loss. Hope this helps.
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Avatar universal
I am 23 yrs of old and underweight(40kg). I got frustrated with my skinny appearance. I eat well. Will exercise like brisk walking,jogging help in gaining weight??
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Avatar universal
Unfortunately, it's all about what you eat. Try eating strictly vegetarian while training, and drink A LOT of water.
Helpful - 0
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