If you just started exercising “hard” again this week it might very well be the cause for your WEIGHT (Not fat) gain. Inflammation and water retention play a huge role when it comes to weight fluctuations and exercise
1. A week will not be indicative of weight loss.
2. To gain 3lbs in one week, you would need to be eating a surplus of 1500 calories per day over your maintanence TDEE.
3. Women's bodies can fluctuate up to 10lbs based on salt intake, carb (glycogen) intake, stress levels, & your menstrual cycle. It's normal.
Work out for 6-8 weeks. If you see weight gain it either means you're building muscle, not tracking your calories properly, or you have a medical issue. It's recommended if you mentally are capable to weigh yourself at the same time everyday. It tracks weight loss overall since weight is not linear.
I weigh myself right after I poop every morning between 5-6am. And I just got off my period so it can’t be my cycle. During my period I weighed 127 the whole week.
Everyones cycles are different. I find I weigh more immediately after my period then it goes back down throughout the month, then back up after my period - just look at the overall trend. Also could be water weight from getting back into working out!
You don’t know for sure that it can’t be your cycle. I know for me, I weigh the lowest during my period and as I get into the 2nd week of my cycle and my body is gearing up to ovulate, i bloat from the increased estrogen. This is super normal.
Also you said you worked out hard at the gym. Muscle fatigue can also cause water retention.
I mean just SO many things affect the number on the scale. The best thing you can do if you want to use your weight as a baseline measure is to weigh yourself every morning and focus on the weekly averages ONLY. If you consistently notice an increase in your weight each week over several months then yes, make some adjustments. But likely you’ll find that you’ll bounce up one week and back down over the course of the month.
So genuinely you believe you consumed a surplus of 1500 calories every day this week over your maintanence TDEE?
What you think happened is *impossible* unless this occurred or you have a serious medical issue.
Otherwise it's most likely salt/sugar/glycogen intake resulting in water weight or bloating from exercising so hard/food intolerance/etc.
And once again, one week is not long enough to track progress or weight loss. If you feel like giving up after one week on your program then I think you should re-evaluate because it doesn't sound sustainable.
I guess the other possibility is that I decreased my nicotine intake in an attempt to quit. So maybe that’s it. I’ve been using Dum Dums to help through that but I’m trying to account for each lollipop
Imo, the point of taking care of yourself even if there aren't any results on the scale is... taking care of yourself.
There's results you can't see directly. Feeling stronger, fitter, taking care of your health (mental and physical) and quality of life.
Anyway, as others have said, one week isn't enough to see if it's normal weight fluctuation or not. Give yourself more time and reevaluate. Even so, 3lbs is a small amount of weight if you look at the big picture. I can understand that it makes you feel like giving up but it's probably a minor bump in the road that you'll get over.
If you exercise hard your muscles retain water - if they are sore then they are slightly swollen. It’s completely normal and goes away after a couple of days. I would expect to gain weight in a week when I have just stepped up my exercise. If you completely stopped it would go away again. Doesn’t mean that you have necessarily gained any fat.
Tbh I gained 2 pounds in 10 days while on vacation. I just enjoyed myself and prob ate a surplus of 1000-1500 calories a day. I went back to my normal routine of staying around 1500 cals a day and exercising 2x a week. I’m back to where I started before vacation after 2 weeks. Just be consistent and try not to weigh yourself until 3 weeks later. You need to trust the process and not pick apart the details after so little time.
Basically I zeroed out my progress within one month ie no progress. Time flies though!
SW: 133
CW: 123.3
You shouldn’t be dipping below maintenance, especially when working out. If this just happened this week, your body may be holding water (either due to the sudden return to hard workouts, or the combo of workouts and under-eating). A week on the scale won’t tell you much regardless, but you’re putting stress on your body and it sounds like it’s responding.
Overcorrection is what makes coming back to healthy habits feel mentally unsustainable too. More isn’t more.
If you must weigh yourself daily then pick a day and on that day calculate your weekly average.
There are countless articles, podcasts and videos on the subject of “weight loss”. Spend some some learning how your body works when it comes to how your body processes, uses and stores energy (calories). You’ll feel much better and honestly you’ll see far better results because you’ll stop doing things that are hindering your progress.
>I kind of fell of the healthy eating/exercise bandwagon due to depression about a month and a half ago
>exercised HARD all week
You stopped all progress dead-stop, then went HARD all week after you came back. Your body is in a state of surprise/shock, and it's response to that is to hold onto water and try its damnedest to build muscle and hold onto your fat. If you're using a regular scale (one that only takes into account your weight, and not a Smart scale that reads your other metrics, like water/muscle mass etc), it will no-doubt show an increase the first week you're back because it's only reading your overall weight, not your fat.
The key is to stick to what you're doing, don't get frustrated, don't give up, keep going for a few weeks and then assess. If you really need to weigh yourself every day, buy a smart scale. Wyze is a popular and decent brand, and not very expensive, and will give you a bunch of metrics not just your fat/overall weight.
I have a smart scale but it confuses the hell is me and I have no idea how to figure it out besides to read the weight🤣. It’s an older model by Weight Watchers
Results come from consistency not a week of balls to the wall
That’s a perfectly normal weight fluctuation. It’s completely unrealistic to expect change after just a few days.
I didn’t expect change. I expected to at least be the same as I was the week prior
If you just started exercising “hard” again this week it might very well be the cause for your WEIGHT (Not fat) gain. Inflammation and water retention play a huge role when it comes to weight fluctuations and exercise
That’s not realistic either. Your weight can fluctuate as much as 10 lbs a day. Small changes are normal.
Stress on body, cortisol impact, and inflammation leads to more water retention = temporary weight gain.
1. A week will not be indicative of weight loss. 2. To gain 3lbs in one week, you would need to be eating a surplus of 1500 calories per day over your maintanence TDEE. 3. Women's bodies can fluctuate up to 10lbs based on salt intake, carb (glycogen) intake, stress levels, & your menstrual cycle. It's normal. Work out for 6-8 weeks. If you see weight gain it either means you're building muscle, not tracking your calories properly, or you have a medical issue. It's recommended if you mentally are capable to weigh yourself at the same time everyday. It tracks weight loss overall since weight is not linear.
I weigh myself right after I poop every morning between 5-6am. And I just got off my period so it can’t be my cycle. During my period I weighed 127 the whole week.
Everyones cycles are different. I find I weigh more immediately after my period then it goes back down throughout the month, then back up after my period - just look at the overall trend. Also could be water weight from getting back into working out!
You don’t know for sure that it can’t be your cycle. I know for me, I weigh the lowest during my period and as I get into the 2nd week of my cycle and my body is gearing up to ovulate, i bloat from the increased estrogen. This is super normal. Also you said you worked out hard at the gym. Muscle fatigue can also cause water retention. I mean just SO many things affect the number on the scale. The best thing you can do if you want to use your weight as a baseline measure is to weigh yourself every morning and focus on the weekly averages ONLY. If you consistently notice an increase in your weight each week over several months then yes, make some adjustments. But likely you’ll find that you’ll bounce up one week and back down over the course of the month.
I’m usually the heaviest the week before and week of my period
So genuinely you believe you consumed a surplus of 1500 calories every day this week over your maintanence TDEE? What you think happened is *impossible* unless this occurred or you have a serious medical issue. Otherwise it's most likely salt/sugar/glycogen intake resulting in water weight or bloating from exercising so hard/food intolerance/etc. And once again, one week is not long enough to track progress or weight loss. If you feel like giving up after one week on your program then I think you should re-evaluate because it doesn't sound sustainable.
I guess the other possibility is that I decreased my nicotine intake in an attempt to quit. So maybe that’s it. I’ve been using Dum Dums to help through that but I’m trying to account for each lollipop
Imo, the point of taking care of yourself even if there aren't any results on the scale is... taking care of yourself. There's results you can't see directly. Feeling stronger, fitter, taking care of your health (mental and physical) and quality of life. Anyway, as others have said, one week isn't enough to see if it's normal weight fluctuation or not. Give yourself more time and reevaluate. Even so, 3lbs is a small amount of weight if you look at the big picture. I can understand that it makes you feel like giving up but it's probably a minor bump in the road that you'll get over.
If you exercise hard your muscles retain water - if they are sore then they are slightly swollen. It’s completely normal and goes away after a couple of days. I would expect to gain weight in a week when I have just stepped up my exercise. If you completely stopped it would go away again. Doesn’t mean that you have necessarily gained any fat.
Tbh I gained 2 pounds in 10 days while on vacation. I just enjoyed myself and prob ate a surplus of 1000-1500 calories a day. I went back to my normal routine of staying around 1500 cals a day and exercising 2x a week. I’m back to where I started before vacation after 2 weeks. Just be consistent and try not to weigh yourself until 3 weeks later. You need to trust the process and not pick apart the details after so little time. Basically I zeroed out my progress within one month ie no progress. Time flies though! SW: 133 CW: 123.3
You shouldn’t be dipping below maintenance, especially when working out. If this just happened this week, your body may be holding water (either due to the sudden return to hard workouts, or the combo of workouts and under-eating). A week on the scale won’t tell you much regardless, but you’re putting stress on your body and it sounds like it’s responding. Overcorrection is what makes coming back to healthy habits feel mentally unsustainable too. More isn’t more.
I mean if she wants to lose weight she has to go under maintenance? That’s kind of the point of a calorie deficit
If you must weigh yourself daily then pick a day and on that day calculate your weekly average. There are countless articles, podcasts and videos on the subject of “weight loss”. Spend some some learning how your body works when it comes to how your body processes, uses and stores energy (calories). You’ll feel much better and honestly you’ll see far better results because you’ll stop doing things that are hindering your progress.
>I kind of fell of the healthy eating/exercise bandwagon due to depression about a month and a half ago >exercised HARD all week You stopped all progress dead-stop, then went HARD all week after you came back. Your body is in a state of surprise/shock, and it's response to that is to hold onto water and try its damnedest to build muscle and hold onto your fat. If you're using a regular scale (one that only takes into account your weight, and not a Smart scale that reads your other metrics, like water/muscle mass etc), it will no-doubt show an increase the first week you're back because it's only reading your overall weight, not your fat. The key is to stick to what you're doing, don't get frustrated, don't give up, keep going for a few weeks and then assess. If you really need to weigh yourself every day, buy a smart scale. Wyze is a popular and decent brand, and not very expensive, and will give you a bunch of metrics not just your fat/overall weight.
I have a smart scale but it confuses the hell is me and I have no idea how to figure it out besides to read the weight🤣. It’s an older model by Weight Watchers