Intro and question

S

stephanied

Cathlete
Hi educated crowd,
I am relatively new to the forum (1 other post!) But i thought first i would like to introduce myself, and also ask this great group a question.
My name is Stephanie, hailing from Toronto, Ontario, Canada! Fellow vegan, working as a registered dietitian and teaching nutrition here as well. Been a die hard Cathe follower for about 3 years now!
My question is about gaining bulk. I have upped my cardio and weights (cardio 4 days/week, MIS/MM 3 days/week. I've noticed however my clothes are tighter? I think i'm bulking up? Now' i'm a pretty clean eater, but a notorious calorie restrictor except Saturday when i go clean eating nuts! Any thoughts about what this weight gain is? I dont really want to bulk up, and frankly, never really experienced this before!
Thanks so much
Steph
 
Welcome, Steph!
Good to see another fellow vegan joining the board! There are several of us here.

As for your weight gain, it could be several things:
1) you mentioned you just increased your weight training. Sometimes, when you do that, the body tends to hold on to more water weight in the muscles, as 'protection' from the added stress. Once your body figures out that it's not a bad stress (aka: gets used to the new routine), the fluid retention should go down.

2) more intense exercise often means a bigger appetite. You may be eating more (or maybe craving more calorie-dense foods?) because of this.

3) your calorie restriction could be working against you, as you suggest in your Saturday binge.

You didn't say where the clothes are tighter. I've had to increase my bra size (band only, darn!) after doing a P90X rotation because of the increase in muscle in the upper body---which I subsequently lost. I'm now doing P90X again, but trying to stay about the same size while exchanging muscle for some fat...we'll see how that goes!).

Tightness in the thighs can be muscle development (or a combo of muscle and that fluid retention).

Tightness in the waist is the one I'd worry about, because, unless you are doing weighted side bends or other resisted oblique work, that size gain is usually not muscle, but fat.

Hope you figure out what's going on!
 
Another without any answers but wide open welcoming arms. Wow, a nutritionist! Cool job. Bet you can add a lot around here.
 
Thanks so much
I'm so happy to be part of the forum, and happy to answer any nutrition related questions i can. I'm actually a clinical dietitian, so hospital based with HIV patients.
Kathyrn, and all, thanks so much for you response, i'm actually thinking about cutting back a bit on the exercise, too much lower body i think. Kathyrn, you are so knowledgable! I really appreciate your response. I like to challenge myself, but dont really have an interested in getting bigger! The challenge however comes from lifting heavier, which equates to bigger!
Its definately lower body clothes tighness, havent seen a scale go up.
Thanks so much
Steph
 
Hey!!! I live in Hamilton, just down the QEW from you! Welcome. I don't have any answers for you, but wanted to say hi to a fellow Canuck;)
 
Hello
I see your posts all the time, Hello back!
I was hoping a fellow Canadian would respond. Are they're many others? Maybe we could get a group together!
Steph
 
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