The FastDay Forum

I decided for the last two weeks, I wasn't going to get on a scale. I've been watching my calories, mostly on feast days, and exercising every day, (cardio/weights) faithfully. I can feel more muscle definition and I know I'm getting stronger. I jumped on the scale today, figuring I'd get the lowest number in a while and well...I've gained 3lbs.

I feel so deflated. I know there are so many factors involved and that I should just be patient. I could use a little encouragement. Anyone have any stories how it all just came together and you started losing? Did it take longer if you were working out?

Hi sweetenough. There are some links on the site that explain why exercise makes you retain water - sorry not very techy with putting links on. But if you do a search you should find it. Also, there is a link about not losing weight.
Sorry I'm not more help. The only exercise I do is walking and I've lost weight consistently.
Good luck.

Hi, like Chris I'm not a work out person but. I understand that if you build muscle then your weight will increase as muscle weighs more than fat, so perhaps this is your answer. have you taken any measurements? They often show shrinkage even when there is no loss on the scales, good luck,

Ballerina x

[carieoates]

Hello, yes exercise can cause fluid retention. Muscle weighs more than fat. TOTM. Did you lose loads at the beginning and are now expecting the same. Not being able to see your stats, so can't help really. Are you nearing a healthy BMI maybe you are plateauing. Not easy to help without knowing more about what you've been through really.

I am not super tech savvy but I keep my weight on a different app on my phone. I started at 157, got down to 145.5 on xmas eve and after new year, I was up to 150 (two weeks ago,when I started working out faithfully.) Now, I'm up to 153. I've been mostly at 147-148. I did see great progress in the first 2 months. Now, it's just uphill and I'm at that point where I know I have to dig my heels in and stick with it. Just venting mostly and needing some support. Thanks for trying to help. I'm 5'4 and my BMI is still overweight. Hoping to get down to 130. Sometimes, I feel like I'm overanalyzing it all. In the beginning, I was just like, I'm going to try this and see how it goes, and I did well. Should I stop exercising just to see a low number? I guess I know I shouldn't. Just feeling stuck. I won't be putting the scales away anymore. I thought it was going to be good for me. Imagine my surprise! Putting my "woe as me" into Easter challenge. I'm ready to surprise myself in a good way. Thanks for letting me vent. Feeling better already.

@sweetenough, take this piece of advice, measure yourself. Use a measurment tape and measure your waist at the belly button, measure your bosom and so on. Measurments never lie, but when you start working out, muscle will weigh more than fat and you may gain even if you've lost a dress size

I find my losses so small with the measurement that 1/2 in. may mean 3/4in., one in. or none at all. I don't trust anyone else to do it. My husband always does it too loose. haha So, in fairness, yes, I've probably lost a little bit, but I'm really needing patience. My clothes feel a little better. So that's good. Thanks for your input. I'll get there eventually.

You WILL get there @sweetenough just hang on in there!

Uh, why are people saying "muscle weighs more than fat"? Muscle most certainly doesn't weigh more than fat, a pound of muscle weighs exactly the same as a pound of fat. The correct thing to say is that muscle is denser than fat, a pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. So one can gain some muscle size & weight while your waist/hip measurements are still going down, fitting into smaller clothes.

But the 3 lb gain most certainly isn't muscle, it's physiologically impossible to gain that much muscle in 2 weeks. Male body builders on a calorie surplus, not deficit, when bulking, are shooting for less than half a pound per week (if gaining more they are putting on fat along with the muscle). Female on a deficit, 3 lbs/2 weeks is not muscle. It's very likely water retention, there is tremendous fluctuation day to day for various reasons detailed in various sticky posts in these forums.

What worked for me is to weigh way more often, daily, even twice a day, once in the morning after waking, and once in the evening. (Twice a day is overkill but I got curious as to how the swings work.) I log the morning weights in a spreadsheet. This got me used to the tremendous about 4-5 pound range my body bounces up & down in within a day and from day to day, so I don't freak out as much when the scale reads higher. All you want to see is the top & bottom of the range slowly going downward over time, and don't even start to panic unless neither is budging for at least 3 or 4 weeks. I've been at this for almost half a year, and there have been many, many 2 week periods where the numbers don't seem to move at all, and the scale reads 3 lbs higher than my previous "local minimum" all the time. But with the weight log I just look back about a month, see my range is indeed at least 3 lbs lower, which gives me resolve to just continue as I have been. Only if a month goes by with no movement, then maybe one has to consider if their TDEE is below average and consider if alterations in one's intake and exercise targets are perhaps needed.

[carorees]

Hi Stephen and welcome

The reason people say that muscle weighs more than fat is because for any given volume it does. So you can be losing inches but gaining weight by converting fat to muscle. As you say, though, most of the daily fluctuations are down to water changes. This is all explained here: not-losing-weight-f27/5-2-diet-weight-gain-t1006.html
Daily weighing and using an app like Libra is easier than a spreadsheet.

I really wouldn't panic, I've found that although the scales aren't always going in the right direction, I've kept going. Simple trick - I put a particular dress on which last year was tight in all the wrong places and I stopped wearing it. Now it getting looser and I feel great........soon I'm attempting a couple of dresses which haven't seen the light of day for years! Can't wait and reading this forum when I'm fasting definitely keeps me going. Good luck

The reason people say that muscle weighs more than fat is because for any given volume it does. So you can be losing inches but gaining weight by converting fat to muscle.

The saying just doesn't make much sense to me because it's not as if one is liposuctioning out cubic centimeters of fat & replacing with an equivalent volume of muscle. It's not a conversion, these are separate processes of burning the fat in response to energy deficit needs and building muscle in response to strength training damage. Plus some people don't really understand the magnitude of effects, muscle gains are small fractions of a pound a week at best while fat loss is up to 1-2 pounds per week, and muscle gain is supposed to be very hard to achieve in a caloric deficit except for beginner strength trainers (usually one LOSES some muscle as you have less weight to drag around all day, strength training mainly helps you minimize muscle loss). So if you aren't losing over a LONG period of time (way longer than original poster worried about), it's almost certainly not that you gained an equivalent weight in muscle to cancel out fat loss, you just aren't losing the fat. And may have slightly overestimated your TDEE (online calculators are only based on population averages, won't always match you specifically, especially if a bunch of weight has been lost already) or underestimated your intake, or a little of both.

Anyway, it's the water fluctuation, people, keep calm & carry on if it's only been a few weeks.

Hi sweety like Anna london said Keep going!
Just keep on keeping on! It works...!
.i didnt lose any weight for my first five weeks then i started to lose...have kept on losing despite many times when for various reasons i have overeaten..but always returned immediately to watching cals and doing my fast and repairs x just keep going x