My Weight is going up, not down . . . Yikes!

[jtota]

Hi everyone! I am new to the Cathe message boards and I have a question for anyone who can help.
I have started working out again to prep for sts and to get a jump start on my New years resolution, and I was shocked today to find that I had gained 6 pounds in the last 2 weeks instead of going down or maintaining. My holiday was not all that bad b/c I don't overly enjoy the typical holiday meals. I did have some sweets here and there but I should have at least maintained with all of the new exercise. I am currently doing 3 total body cathe workouts (M, W, F), 2 vinyasa yoga workouts (T, R), and walking on my treadmill for 30 min each day with Sunday completly off. Someone please tell me this is just muscle or water retention or something . . .

 

[jansherman]

Hey jtota,

I'm sorry I can't offer an explanation of what happened to you, but I wanted to tell you that I had the exact same thing happen to me about a month ago. I gained 5 lbs. in two days, with absolutely no changes to my eating or exercise. In fact, I was probably exercising harder and eating a little less than normal. I know I didn't gain 5 lbs. of muscle in two days!

I'm also sorry to say that mine didn't disappear within a few days or a week like it should have it was water weight or hormones. I have been eating super clean and hitting the metabolic-type workouts pretty hard, and so far have lost 1 of those 5 lbs. This has never happened to me before, and I really hate that there is no reasonable explanation.

Hang in there - it totally sucks , but just know that you're not alone.

Jan

 

[jtota]

Thanks Jan, for your encouragement. I have worked out with weights since high school and have never had this happen before. Normally if I work hard I lose fast. I spent the last 6 years having babies and watching my weight go up and down again and again. Now that we're done having kids I'm finally ready to really get back on track. And finally (hopefully)getting to go on our honeymoon after 10 years of marriage helps too!
This weight gain in the last few weeks is not very motivating. I have been very intrigued over the last few years with pilates (reformer workouts) and power yoga but have always worried they would not be enough. However,I did always manage to at least lose a few pounds.
Past experience tells me that weight training is probably what I need but I don't want to look like a body builder and "gains" and not a part of my plan. I just want to be sleek and toned. I am really hoping I am not making a mistake by recommitting to weight workouts and by investing in STS.
I guess at this point I am experiencing information overload, and all of the choices are confusing. And then there's this new 6 pounds . . . What's a girl to do?

Sorry to ramble!

 

[jansherman]

I've never had any luck with Pilates or Yoga workouts. I taught both of them for years, and neither did anything to improve my body. I like the way yoga makes me feel, but I don't think it's enough of a workout for me.

I've had a lot of luck with kettlebells - in fact after I started using them I got rid of my cellulite and became so much more firm and defined. I've also found that doing total body workouts and interval-type cardio has helped me far more than when I did body splits and hours of low intensity cardio. I had ordered STS, but then cancelled it because I knew that I wouldn't go back to body split workouts, and I would never replace kettlebell workouts with STS. I may order the plyo legs if it's available separately...

Have you had your body fat tested since you gained the 6 lbs, or taken your measurements? The only thing that stopped my from jumping off the roof after my 5 lb gain is having my bf tested and finding that it had gone down 1% and I'd lost an inch off my waist.

Maybe we should believe what everyone says about the scale - it's not an accurate measure of how our bodies are actually changing, and it doesn't differentiate between muscle and fat...

 

[jennifermaria]

This seems to be a common thing that's been happening to a lot of us! I've gained 9 pounds in the last 8 weeks (1-2 pounds a week--not even up and down fluctuation, but steady up creep, grr), and I haven't drastically changed anything either. I generally eat pretty well (90% clean) and haven't really slipped in the last few weeks since the weight gain started, and my exercise has actually increased a notch (ramping up in marathon training, and we're in double digit mileage now). It's very frustrating *sigh*, especially since this is the most I've weighed since I lost 30 pounds on WW three years ago, not to mention I've now managed to gain 1/2 inch in my waist and hips .

I'm being super disciplined in eating right now, really paying attention to clean foods and changing my strength workouts to heavier weights so I can build more muscle (I'd been doing kettlebells for a while, so I wonder if my muscle building has stalled) and increase my metabolism, but I'm not sure how long it'll be before I see an impact there. At this point I'm just hoping to stop the bleeding and have one week where I MAINTAIN, not gain. People usually hate plateaus but right about now I'd give just about anything for a plateau LOL.

Hope you can figure out what makes a difference--I'd love to get some suggestions myself!

Jennifer

 

[lcobb2]

Past experience tells me that weight training is probably what I need but I don't want to look like a body builder and "gains" and not a part of my plan. I just want to be sleek and toned. I am really hoping I am not making a mistake by recommitting to weight workouts and by investing in STS. I guess at this point I am experiencing information overload, and all of the choices are confusing. And then there's this new 6 pounds . . . What's a girl to do?

Sorry to ramble!

Just my thoughts, but try not to worry too much about looking like a bodybuilder. Unless you make a tremendous amount of testosterone or are on steriods, it is extremely difficult (and takes a very long time) to build a lot of muscle mass. I've been lifting weights for eight years and lift as heavy as I can for 8-12 reps. Also, depending on your body type (ectomorph, endomorph, mesomorph), it will impact how you lose weight. Considering the weather, what you've eaten, your lifestyle, etc....all of this factors into your weight. Consider as well if you are retaining water or if Aunt Flow is visiting.

 

[CHARLIZEBOND]

I would suggest you keep a log of your food. But mainly, it's pretty common to gain a few pounds when starting back with exercise. It's an adjustment phase. I don't really know the science of it all. But strength training in particular will do that to you. It's mainly water retention. Don't worry. It freaks me out every time. Don't let it stop you from continuing. Eat clean and forget about the scale for a little while.

Good luck and Happy New Year!

 

[jtota]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It helps to know that I am not the only one experiencing this. I have posted in the diet forum about "eating clean". I suppose at this point I am quite confused about what to eat. No carbs, no fat,low fat, low calorie, 6x/day, 3x/day . . . what in the world are we supposed to do? With all of the conflicting info out there it's hard to figure out what is correct . I do agree with the idea of logging what you eat. I have done this in the past and it helps me stay on track. I have also used WW before, but every time I try to increase my protein intake it knocks my points way out of whack. As far as my measurments go, they seem to be the same as they were 2 weeks ago, but I put on a pair of my jeans yesterday and they were tighter than ever.

Anyway . . .
Today is December 31st and I am more determined than ever to figure this out. Due to some financial issues I am going to be a stay at home mom through the summer so I have plenty of time and no excuses to stop. I really want this to be the summer that I am not embarrassed to put on a pair of shorts or take my kids to the pool. I just turned 31 and it's time to get this baby weight off. Since we are still waiting for STS I ordered CLX and will be starting that next week when it arrives on Monday. It should help me prep for STS. Of course now I'm worried that the split format in STS will not be right for me.? But I did decide that my long-term plan is to complete CLX, then a full round STS, then p90x, the maybe another round of STS or p90x+. That's a full year if workouts! One program at a time and I'm on my way!!

 

[Timber99]

I am in the same boat! Doing all the right things and seeing a gain instead of a reduction. And mine is both on the scale and in my clothing. Ugh, it's killing me! Granted, I was screwing off for a while but have been back to it and the results are coming slooooooooooow. I am back to my workouts and they are quality. I get that good soreness that I hadn't been getting for a while. I am eating relatively well. I guess I wouldn't expect a loss this time of year, but the gain is killing me becuase I am really not going crazy and pretty strict.

So, my answer is that I am going to keep going and try to get some more endurance workouts in for the next couple of weeks. As of tomorrow, I will go back on South beach Diet Phase one for 2 weeks and see if that gives me a boost.

The only thing you can do is make some changes, stick w/it all and hope for the best! eventually you should see the results kick in and make it all worthwhile!

 

[Sunshine1528]

The only thing I have to add is that you need to figure out what works for you as we are all different. Body types, age, hormones . . . and then once we figure it out it all changes !

I've spent the entire year working on different exercise and eating plans and am finding some that work and some that don't. And then remember that switching it up should help too.

And if it gets real bad, maybe have a physical with blood work done just to make sure there are no underlying issues.

 

[RapidBreath]

watch out for estrogens

Many protein powders have soy in them and I find that stuff makes me hold onto/put on fluff aka fat! So, if you had been doing the post workout protein shake I suggest switching to a post workout hard boiled egg or piece of chicken. I know it sounds like an odd suggestion but a lot of the guys I know say that real food is much more effective than processed food and that extends to protein powder. Try switching that out for whole foods.

As to some of the other questions about clean eating, I suggest the following:
Eat Eat Eat. no seriously. Eat as much vegetable (non-starchy) that you can manage. Eat lean sources of protein and as much of the good fats as you can. Those other fats are critical to fat loss because you need them in order to get to the fat in your cels. Your body does not make all of the fat chains and you have got to get them from somewhere. Flax, fish, evening primrose, borage oil. You get the idea. Coconut oil, Olive oil, walnut oil. All these are good ideas.

Also, you might want to get your hormones checked as well as your thyroid.

I would suggest one of the "getting ready for summer" rotations from Cathe to try in January while you wait for STS. You might be real happy with that. And if you aren't doing one interval wo a week I would suggest adding one of those too. Good luck! I know just how hard it is! I've been fighting obesity for over 11 years and only really been successful in the past two years. I've gotten 77 pounds off but its taken two years to do it. The trick seems to shock the body. Both with calories and carbs. As well as with workouts. Just to give you an idea, I do cardio 6x a week, I eat the majority of my carbs immediately post workout, and I do yoga 3x a week in the evening. I alternate between wogging and step wo. If it rains I do kick boxing. I don't know if that helps at all. Its real easy for me to put on fat and muscle.