Why have I put on weight?

Keep the exercise up and the weight should come off, provided you stay off the biscuits.

The reason why you were heavier was probably because you had more water in your body or perhaps you had a shit before your first weigh in.

So you’ve been indulging for two months and then spent one day exercising? That’s not how it works. Spend two months eating a better diet and exercising more, and you’ll get back to where you want to be.

I have still been exercising, just slacked off it a little.

@Dibley It’s not just the biscuits, start a list of what you eat, including how much. It maybe crisps or ale or…....

Drink plenty of water 8 to 10 glasses a day.

@Dibley when you start exercising, meaning you go from little activity to a moderate amount, it is not uncommon to gain a little weight because you add some muscle. That weighs more than the fat tissue does. Just stick it out and it should turn the other way.

@sleepdoc Yes I know, I’m just a little impatient.

Indeed, listen to @Tropical_Willie (which is something I never imagined saying :) a food diary is a brilliant idea…. its suprising how many little things sneak into your diet that you dont even remember eating.

Write a daily log of what you are putting in your mouth. Drink lots of water (I drink a gallon) and keep up with the exercise. The best thing to do is weigh yourself only once a week – and preferably in the morning, after, well, you know.

That 7 lb. should come off easy, as you already know what to do. The hard part is putting it into play. I know. I have lost 52 lb. over the past year+ and it’s easy to get off track.

Good luck!

@autumn43 Congratulations. You must feel great.

I really hardly eat anything. I have breakfast, and then nothing else untill tea time.

1500 calories per day,at least ½ hour of aerobic exercise (walk,run.jump rope ,beat the shit out of someone )7x week,and lift wieghts 6x week and you will get rid of it in no time and be very fit :)
No bisquits for awhile either! :)

Everyone’s body weight goes through fluctuations, whether it be mild or severe. I wouldn’t worry unless you find it hard to see your toes when you look down, then you know you’ve got a problem. Don’t be hard on yourself, like so many women are.

The same reason balloons remain inflated – more has gone in than was let out. You need to burn more or eat less – not rocket science. Exercise boost metabolism and burns more – it is a shame that so many overweight people reject it.

@DarkScribe I’m not overweight.

Your weight is less important than percentage of body fat. A heavy exercise routine may actually cause you to gain weight, although you appear leaner. Everybody slips a bit in diet and exercise. Don’t beat yourself up about it, just get back on track. You can do it, sexy lady!!

@stranger_in_a_strange_land I just Fluther more than exercise at the minute. I’ll get it sorted.

@Dibley DarkScribe I’m not overweight.

Uh huh. You just made the question up – it doesn’t concern you?

Your ”I desperately want to lose my now 7lb.” was some sort of joke? You actually want to be under-weight?

Whatever your weight, or your self image, if you or anyone wants to lose weight what I said applies. Eat less – calorie wise – or exercise more.

@DarkScribe I do desperately want to lose it. If I don’t it will creep up more and I will get over weight. Underweight would be good.

Stop weighing yourself. Exercise and eat well and you will see the results in the mirror. In the beginning, your weight will fluctuate due to added muscle.

@Dibley Underweight would be good.

Underweight is good as long as it is only slight and the muscle tone is kept up. Cut back on processed carbs and start a regular – daily if possible – routine that will boost your metabolism. Brisk (not a slow saunter) walking is often more than sufficient. Walk the dog every day – borrow a dog if you don’t own one.

Maybe you don’t get enough sex?

@Facade In the beginning, your weight will fluctuate due to added muscle.

It takes a long time to build enough (noticable on a scale) muscle to offset fat loss. It will not happen at all quickly. Most fluctuations are water weight etc. Weighing should be after rising – at the same time every day. Weight fluctuates between morning and evening.

Diet and exercise can only do you good. As the saying goes
“A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips”.
Good luck. I know it isn’t easy for everyone.

@DarkScribe actually you build muscle faster than you loose fat initially. Since muscle is more dense than fat, you will commonly gain weight from this when starting an exercise program.

@DarkScribe I was going off of my own body. Apologies.

@sleepdoc DarkScribe actually you build muscle faster than you loose fat initially.

You haven’t done it – have you? Not even tried it I would guess. This is NOT so.

You can certainly tone up, but it takes time and effort to build muscle weight. Look at the massive market in supplements for gym junkies to enable them to add just a few more ounces or millimeters of muscle. You can lose a a couple of pounds a day if trying hard – a pound a day quite easily – there is no way that you will be able to gain even a quarter of that back in muscle over the period of initial weight loss.

To suggest that you can build more muscle – by weight – than you can lose fat, all within the same time period, is naive.

@Dibley Yep, I know the feeling. I like biscuits too. :}

Try eating more lean protein and veggies. Awareness of your intake of sugar and fat helps too. Increase exercise by 15 to 30 more minutes than usual.

Be sure to have breakfast, and drink plenty of water.

It takes about a week or so of this regimen to see the slightest of results. (which can be really frustrating).

Weight loss takes time, it sounds like you’re on the right track though.

@Dark Scribe… tone equals weight the muscle is becoming denser. More muscle fibers are being developed. I am not talking about bulk and muscle size. I am also talking about people who are STARTING and excercise program. They have less utilized muscles. They develop muscle strength and endurance in the first few weeks. This increases muscle mass. If you are someone who is active and decide to work out more or differently this does not apply.

Remember muscle weighs more, so if you ae exercising more, maybe you are gaining muscle mass. That is a good thing.

@sleepdoc… sorry i guess you pretty much just said that, didn’t you?

For those that think I am making this up ask some trainers about how people loose inches and their weight has not significant change.

@sleepdoc For those that think I am making this up ask some trainers about how people loose inches and their weight has not significant change.

I have no idea why you are saying this, all that I am sure of is that you are wrong and that you have NOT spent any time trying to do what you claim is possible.

Many people who make a serious effort to lose weight, with a good diet and intense exercise, can lose twenty five pounds in a couple of months. You are claiming that as they have increased by more than that in muscle weight – they have actually lost fifty pounds in fat and put on twenty-five pounds in muscle.

You ask a genuine trainer about that and when s/he stops laughing, ask them how it really works.

Building muscle is a slow process, and no matter how hard you try, you do lose some with intense weight loss. You might increase strength, your muscle becomes more efficient, but it takes time and effort to really build the sort of muscle bulk that you seem to feel is easier than fat loss. You do realise that if you double your strength – say in the amount of weight of number of reps before failure, you have not even remotely come close to doubling your muscle mass?

It’s all a matter of calories in and calories out. Exercise is important to maintain a lower weight, but diet is really the most important thing.
A biscuit with butter is maybe 400 calories. 1 hour with a trainer might offset that. It’s easier to skip the biscuit and eat an apple or a bag of baby carrots.
Have you recently changed birth control? Hormones can also cause a slow weight gain.
How old are you? Is this the “freshman 10?”
3500 calories make a pound, so if you want to loose the weight, think about how you can reduce your maintenance calories (about 10 calories per pound) by a reasonable amount plan your weight loss. If you plan to eat less than 1200 calories per day you should consult your doctor for health supervision.

@DarkScribe… you are talking about lots of weight loss, not what Dibley is talking about which is less than 10 pounds. I think your points here at not at all on target for someone like here. Her BMI does not even put her in the overweight category. For some to loose 50 pounds the would have to be near the obese category in terms of BMI. For those people who are not working out at all, they have atrophy which develops in their muscles. Over the first 4 weeks of exercise, the muscle are built which adds mass, strength and tone, NOT bulk. For these people, they loose inches off their bodies in fat without appreciable change in their weight. Individuals who by BMI classification of obese are a totally different animal. Dibley don’t take offense to this next part. Dibley who have to become anorexic to loose 50 pounds. She would have to stop eating and stop all activity for this to be possible she would have to loose muscle mass as well as fat. I am not sure that he organs and bones would weigh too much for her to actually loose that much.

@sleepdoc _you are talking about lots of weight loss, not what Dibley is talking about which is less than 10 pounds. _

Nice try.

I was responding to YOU and your naive claims, not to the OP. This claim: actually you build muscle faster than you loose fat initially.

Not so – not even close.

You claim that “initially” you build more muscle that the amount of fat lost. Anybody who really wants to can lose seven pound in a week, but they will NOT put on seven pounds of muscle – which is what you are claiming. It takes a lot of work to put on seven pounds of muscle, and a person who is not already in top shape – i.e., someone who needs to lose seven pound has absolutely no chance of putting that much muscle on. An athlete has little chance without steroids etc.

Your claim that ANYONE who wants to loose 7 pounds in a week is completely erroneous. Not all bodies are built the same. Many exercise programs intentionally use body measurements to let the individuals see their results. One of the main reasons is that initally these people have very little change in their weight and become frustrated with their progress. Even if you go look at people who use P90X, their before and after pictures are extreme in their variation, but not many of them have an appreciable weight change.

When I work out, I do gain weight from added muscle. Keep going at it, I start lose weight, presumably because I am losing some fat.

When I stop working out, I lose more weight. I have seen this time and time again as I peddle through my own physical shape.

I see where you are going @DarkScribe that you can’t put on muscles that fast – but I don’t know that you can burn off fat that fast either. When you work out, you tear your muscles, and the rebuilding process begins. If someone tells me they lost 7 lbs in one week – I would consider that dehydration along with the ingestion of laxatives…

But hey – I’m not going to pretend to be a scientific expert. For those of you who have time – I’d be interested to know the ‘real’ answer.

@DarkScribe You can lose a a couple of pounds a day if trying hard

Really? Please explain more fully

@sleepdoc _Your claim that ANYONE who wants to loose 7 pounds in a week is completely erroneous. _

Nope – it isn’t. Not many have the determination, but it is “doable”. It requires 3,500 calories per day less. Combining a calorie controlled diet with aerobic exercise (not anaerobic muscle building) it is not even difficult for those with self control – but as most overweight people tend to be a little lacking in self control, it becomes difficult for them. I have been involved with such weight loss quite often. Myself at one stage, and with many others as well. A combination of running (power walking if fitness won’t handle running) bike riding (stationary or road), rowing – kayaking is more fun. It is not hard to burn five hundred calories an hour – combine that with a reduced calorie intake and it is imminently doable.

It is pointless to keep on with this, I do it, you talk about it from a inexperienced theoretical viewpoint.

eliminate all but maybe 10% of daily recommended saturated fats. eliminate cheeses. add tomato sauces. buy whole grains, and have oatmeal in the morning with fat free milk. fruits. very little red meat or deli hams. eat 5 small meals if you can. have a tiny piece of dark chocolate everyday. Doing this has made me feel better and lose weight with minimal effort.

@DarkScribe… healthy weight loss is defined as 1 to 2 pounds per week. If you are really loosing 7 pounds a week on a consistent basis then I would wager you probably don’t maintain your weight loss. Look at individuals like the biggest loser contestants. Their life becomes weight loss, they eat more healthy than they ever have and spend more time working per day than most of us have for free time. MOST of them do not loose 7 pounds per week. They may loose 7 pounds some weeks but not all weeks. Those indiviudals have BMIs which place them as morbidly obese. You are right that I have never lost 7 pounds in a week and I have no desire to. It would not fit into a healthy long term weight maitenance plan for me. I have on the other hand lost 30 pounds over a 6 months period and had it stay off. But it begin with 6 weeks of my weight remaining the same. My body became capable of greater exercise capacity and then once I developed additional lean muscle (muscle burns calories) I begin to loose fat(fat does little for calorie comsumtion).

Lastly you are again talking about overweight people trying to loose 7 pounds in a week. When you say things like ANYONE can loose 7 pounds in a week keep in mind that there are many weight and body conscious people who will read what you say and become down on themselves for not working out hard enough or having enough self control. Most people who fall into the normal BMI category and even those who are in the overweigth category cannot and should not try to loose 7 pounds per week. Not that all this debate is totally relevant to Dibley’s question. My apoliges for hijacking the thread.

@Adirondackwannabe Possibly.

@sleepdoc healthy weight loss is defined as 1 to 2 pounds per week. If you are really loosing 7 pounds a week on a consistent basis then I would wager you probably don’t maintain your weight loss.

So? We were not discussing what is ideal, only what is possible. I did not saying that I was losing anything currently – this was years ago, and my weight is absolutely stable – I sometime have to work to gain a little if I let it drop too far. Hard to do when you avoid processed carbs.

This is wandering all over the place. If you want to continue, respond to what I said, not what you feel that I might possibly think. I am not discussing ideal weight loss or maintenance – just what was possible in response to an erroneous claim made by you.
You do not build muscle weight faster than you lose fat. That is the ONLY issue that I responded to.

Hey, I didn’t want people to fall out over this.

@DarkScribe can you sustatiate that with data?

@DarkScribe my concern is not about debating what you have seen in your own life, merely that when you make statments like “anyone can loose 7 pounds in a week” it paints a false picture for people out there who read things like this. My statement about the weight loss not happening because of muscle weight gain is not my own. I have gotten it from a few trainers with whom I have worked and like I said they were specific about it applying to people who have been relatively inactive and were starting to work out who also were in the normal to overweight range for BMI.

@sleepdoc my concern is not about debating what you have seen in your own life, merely that when you make statments like “anyone can loose 7 pounds in a week” it paints a false picture for people out there who read things like this)

Nonsense! It is not a false picture – it is just a “not as easy as I would like it to be picture.”

People who are chronically overweight have already demonstrated that they have less willpower, and many, rather than accept that their problem is a lack of determination – look for all manner of “it can’t be done – by anybody” rationalisations. It CAN be done. It isn’t easy, but is quite possible.

I am a voluntary Diabetes Educator and I only work with people who wish to control their Diabetes with diet and exercise. I have had a great deal of success – many people regard their diagnosis as a wake up call and get fit for the first time in their lives. I have seventy-somethings who walk around grinning telling anyone who will listen that the are at the lowest weight and highest fitness levels that they have ever been – even in their teens.

I have gotten it from a few trainers with whom I have worked and like I said they were specific about it applying to people who have been relatively inactive and were starting to work out who also were in the normal to overweight range for BMI.

They would be the LAST people to gain more muscle that they lost in fat. Atrophied muscles rebuilding faster that fat loss? The idea is ludicrous.

@DarkScribe I just want to point out again that you are referring to people who are chronically overweight not those wanting to loose a few pounds cause they think they could use it. That is all I am trying to say here. Not ANYONE can or should expect to loose 7 pounds in a week. Maybe anyone who is Obese by BMI standards, but not just anyone on the street can do that. I would challenge you to start measuring the people you work with and see what the change in inches tells you in relation to their weight loss.

@sleepdoc I just want to point out again that you are referring to people who are chronically overweight not those wanting to loose a few pounds cause they think they could use it.

I am referring to ANYBODY who wishes to lose weight and has the determination. You are making definitions as to type – I am not. I simply mentioned that many who are chronically overweight look for comforting rationalisations.

Not all those who are diagnosed as type 2 diabetic are overweight some are just at the high end of healthy weight range. They all do benefit by modifying diet and getting fit as far as managing BGLs.

Regarding your “challenge” – I have been involved in fitness for most of my life – I don’t need suggestions from armchair theorists regarding what works and doesn’t. As for expecting everybody to lose seven pounds in a week – I don’t and I don’t recommend it to most people. I said earlier that we were not discussing what is ideal, only what is possible. Can’t you grasp that? Most of the people who I work with are lucky to lose seven pounds in a month – but any who are otherwise healthy in a physical sense are capable of doing it within a week.

The whole thread from my point of view is about your ridiculous assertion that within the same time period weight gained from increased muscle size exceeds that lost from fat. When exercising for weight loss – aerobic exercise – muscle size increase is minimal. Even when exercising for increased strength and muscle size, anaerobic exercise, it takes a lot of exercise to put on seven pounds of muscle – far more than is required to lose seven pounds of fat – be it over a week or a month.

Wow, there is a cause for everyone afterall.

You’re eating more. Start counting calories. Memorize it until you’re adding up every little thing you put in your mouth without even realizing it. Aim for 1500 calories a day. You’d be shocked at the calories one take out meal can contain…if you’re not careful, you can wind up consuming ¾ths of your total intake allowance just for breakfast.

And remember..it is just as hard to gain weight as it is to lose. We just don’t pay as much attention to the scales when we’re gaining. We gain weight as slowly as we lose. it.

@Val123 ; I gain MUCH faster than I can loose. I have no problem gaining 5 lbs in a week if I am not watching things, but I am lucky if I can loose 2 in a week!

@Judi Really! Both gaining and losing are the exact same processes, but in reverse. It takes 3500 calories to gain (or lose) one pound. It’s like this. If it takes 1500 calories a day to maintain your weight, and you start eating 2000 calories a day you’ll gain a pound in 7 days. Conversely, if you eat only 1000 calories a day, you’ll lose a pound in a week and eventually lose even more weight than you had when you were maintaining at 1500. It just seems like we gain weight faster than we lose because we aren’t so focused on it and we’re having more fun!

I’d chuck away your scales…. most home scales are wildly inaccurate anyway.

@JeffVader But consistently inaccurate. I’ve found that home scales weigh out at 5lbs more (or less…I forget) than Dr.‘s scales. But however far they’re off, they stay that far off. So if your scales read that you weigh 110 (but the Drs scales say you weigh 105) and the next month they say you weigh 115, you’ve gained 5 lbs (and the Dr.‘s scales will read 110.)

@JeffVader
I’d chuck away your scales…. most home scales are wildly inaccurate anyway.

I have not found modern scales to be at all inaccurate. The old analogue “spring” type, yes they were very unreliable, but quality (not cheap Chinese) modern electronic torsion types are usually rated to at least within one or two percent of accuracy. Those that I use currently are rated at +/- 0.5% – as good as any Doctor’s scale. I tested a few, quite easy to do. Put a container filled with precisely measured fifty litres of water and you have a quick and readily available test weight.

@DarkScribe @Val123 Hahaha, I dare say your right, probably just that mine have gone all funky :)

You lose weight and your clothes get loose.

I lost 7 lb. in one week during my 50 lb. weight loss. I was not morbidly obese. I was in the ‘obese’ category. I daresay I still fall into the ‘overweight’ category on the BMI index – HOWEVER, I have never felt better in my life, wear a size 8 and have muscle tone that is something to be proud of. I have worked very hard and continue to do so.

The BMI index isn’t going to make me cry – it’s how you feel in your own body and skin that should inspire you to either keep up the good work, or work a little harder and reach your goal. I plan on losing 10 to 15 more pounds. But we’ll see if that’s really where I want to be. I don’t want to look gaunt just to reach what a chart calls ‘normal.’