Not losing weight when working out!

[HannahBrooks4 0]

Hey y’all! I used to be a personal trainer before I had gained all of my weight and I used to workout like crazy! I’ve started to get back into working out and I was doing 5 days a week! Unfortunately every time I would workout, I would weigh myself the next day (I know, I have a problem and I know I need to stop) and I would either have gained weight or stayed the same. This was going on for about 4 weeks! But the days that I didn’t workout, that’s when I lost weight. Did anyone else have this problem? If so, what did you do to continue to lose weight?

Thank you in advance!!

HW: 253

SW: 234

CW: 189

Sleeved: 10/23/17

Female, 5’6”, 22 yrs old

[RickM 1,747]

I suspect that it is probably hydration related, either not compensating enough for the workout with increased Water intake, and/or some water retention revolving around the exercise and muscle repair. It seems to be fairly common for people to stall some when they begin an exercise program (causing no end of frustration - "I'm doing all the right things!"

Probably more important than day to day weight changes, which can be variable anyway, are the week to week or month to month changes - that will give a better indication of what the workouts are doing for you (and probably not as much change in weight loss as one may expect, but you will feel better and be healthier as a result.)

[terry_trod 3]

Also muscle weighs more than fat so don’t get discouraged as your muscles continue to build your metabolism will too good luck![emoji120][emoji3]

[jess9395 5,449]

When you break down muscle (which is what you do during weight training, you break the tissue down and it rebuilds stronger) the muscles swell with Water retention as part of the healing/rebuilding/growth process.

I don’t know the medical specifics but that’s likely what you are experiencing.

[FluffyChix 17,415]

8 hours ago, terry_trod said:

Also muscle weighs more than fat so don’t get discouraged as your muscles continue to build your metabolism will too good luck!

Sorry Terry, but I have to correct this statement. A lb is a lb is a lb. It matters naught what substance you weigh, if it's a lb, it will register a lb. A lb of fat and a lb of muscle weigh THE SAME. However!!! A lb of bowling balls occupies much less space or volume than a lb of feathers--just as a lb of muscle occupies less space than a lb of fat.

[fastfoodaddictnomore 66]

Check out https://youtu.be/zCWLk5EfBh8. Doc C Vuong g talks a lot about life after WLS. This is just a 2 min video but he has many more on YouTube.

HW 270

CW 203 (edited to today’s weight)

SW 242.8

GW 135

DS Surgery date -12-8-17

I’m 42 and 5’2”

[RickM 1,747]

2 hours ago, FluffyChix said:

Sorry Terry, but I have to correct this statement. A lb is a lb is a lb. It matters naught what substance you weigh, if it's a lb, it will register a lb. A lb of fat and a lb of muscle weigh THE SAME. However!!! A lb of bowling balls occupies much less space or volume than a lb of feathers--just as a lb of muscle occupies less space than a lb of fat.

Quite correct - this also why we usually end up with some loose skin even when working out during loss - the musculature takes up less space than the fat that it replaced.

That said, it is also very difficult to actually build muscle mass while maintaining the caloric deficit required for weight loss (some will say it's impossible, but I say, "never say never" - it's would be very rare to see overall muscle mass gain during loss mode). The best that we typically shoot for is to minimize the loss of lean mass during rapid weight loss.

[jess9395 5,449]

Quite correct - this also why we usually end up with some loose skin even when working out during loss - the musculature takes up less space than the fat that it replaced.
That said, it is also very difficult to actually build muscle mass while maintaining the caloric deficit required for weight loss (some will say it's impossible, but I say, "never say never" - it's would be very rare to see overall muscle mass gain during loss mode). The best that we typically shoot for is to minimize the loss of lean mass during rapid weight loss.

Totally not impossible. My surgeon has us do dexa scans before and at a year. I gained about 16 lbs of lean body weight (and it wasn’t bone or organs) while losing 135 lbs. and I never went much above 900 calories/day for the whole year. 600 for the first six months.

I ran and did yoga. A lot. And kept my Protein grams up.

[RickM 1,747]

21 hours ago, jess9395 said:

Totally not impossible. My surgeon has us do dexa scans before and at a year. I gained about 16 lbs of lean body weight (and it wasn’t bone or organs) while losing 135 lbs. and I never went much above 900 calories/day for the whole year. 600 for the first six months.

I ran and did yoga. A lot. And kept my Protein grams up.

I never figured that it was impossible - that seems to be one of those WLS/dieting myths that you physically can't gain muscle mass while undergoing major weight loss, but I know of at least a couple of retired pro athletes who went through this and most likely did gain lean mass as they already knew how to do it from their previous life; much more common to see some who think that they will gain some by walking a couple of extra blocks.

Keep up the good work.

[jess9395 5,449]

I never figured that it was impossible - that seems to be one of those WLS/dieting myths that you physically can't gain muscle mass while undergoing major weight loss, but I know of at least a couple of retired pro athletes who went through this and most likely did gain lean mass as they already knew how to do it from their previous life; much more common to see some who think that they will gain some by walking a couple of extra blocks.

Keep up the good work.

Yeah def a myth. Takes a lot of work and an eye on nutrition, but do able!

But yeah walking around the block won’t do it nor will weight training a couple days. It takes time. Anything that turns up immediately is almost always Water related as you say.

[Kat410 423]

Quite correct - this also why we usually end up with some loose skin even when working out during loss - the musculature takes up less space than the fat that it replaced.
That said, it is also very difficult to actually build muscle mass while maintaining the caloric deficit required for weight loss (some will say it's impossible, but I say, "never say never" - it's would be very rare to see overall muscle mass gain during loss mode). The best that we typically shoot for is to minimize the loss of lean mass during rapid weight loss.

This is just not true. I appreciate this is one of those superstitions floating around. But I am one of those people who has gained significant muscle mass and correlated strength while maintaining a significant calorie deficit.

I have lost 137 pounds since May 16th 2017. I have not done DEXA scans like others, but the stats on my deadlifts, bench presses, military presses, cleans, bicep curls, rows etc speak to the added muscle mass (I am not including any improvements in Bodyweight movements given obviously as I weigh less it’s easier to do a push up.)