gaining weight or gaining muscle

[sharona]

hi
can anyone explain what is happening to me
lately (last 2 months)i have noticed that i have gain weight and some of my shirts r tight on the back and hands and shoulders, but i don't think that i eat more than usual. i don't keep a diet but i don't eat like mad.
i know that i have muscle underneath the fat, i have a pretty good body for 39 years with 5 kids,(according to my husband)
so am i gaining weight or is it muscle?
how can i tell??

thank u

sharona

 

[kathryn]

Both: since "weight" can be anything from fat to muscle to internal organs to bones (the latter two you won't gain!). I think what you're really asking is if you are gainiing fat or muscle. I think it's the latter.

The areas where your clothes are tight suggest that you are gaining muscle there (though I don't get the 'hands' part. You wouldn't gain muscle in your hands, and not much fat either, unless you gained appreciable fat all over, so the only thing I can think of for hands would be swelling of some sort.)

Sometimes, one gains muscle before losing fat, so you will get 'bigger,' but may get a bit smaller again once you start losing fat.

 

[sharona]

thank u
'hands' i mean the bicep area. the funny thing is the i lost inch in the belly area but i gain in the thigh area. again no food orgy at all. i hope u r right about gaining before loosing, i wonder when the gaining stops

sharona

 

[kathryn]

>'hands' i mean the bicep area.

I never would have gotten that from 'hands"! But muscle increase would explain that.

> the funny thing is the i lost
>inch in the belly area but i gain in the thigh area.

That makes sense to me: losing fat in the belly area, and building muscle in the thighs.

If you don't like the 'growth' you are getting, you could add in some more cardio (which burns some of the calories that could otherwise fuel muscle growth) or do some circuit workouts (cardio/weights) instead of separate weight workouts.

 

[sharona]

i don't mind the change in my body cause it a good change the problem as i see it that if things will keep this way i will have to buy new cloths because the old ones start not to fit.
I'm so sad i have to go shopping}( :9 :7

sharona

 

[Aquajock]

Hi, Sharona! I'm glad YOU'RE glad that you're gaining muscle, which I agree with Kathryn is the most likely explanation for the increases you're seeing in your upper body and thighs. Muscle mass is very important for overall health, and is an indicator that you are getting more athletically powerful.

You may indeed have to go shopping for new clothes, darn the luck.

Ah well.

IT'S HANUKKAH, ISN'T IT?!?!?!

:7 :7 :7 :7 :7

a-jOCK