When I exercise.. I put ON weight

So starting last week I have just started to go back to the gym and eating healthy.. and when i stepped on the scale just now. I've put ON weight. I've gained 3 lbs to be exact.  This isn't the first time this has happened, this happens almost everytime I try to be healthy.
I'm soo frustrated w/ my body, I feel like it hates me and is just trying to go against all my efforts.
Has anyone else experienced this or have any words of encouragment?

It would be much appreciated!

hey, i feel the same exact way..and i know its not b/c of muscle b/c you cant put on muscle that quick so i dont know what it is....

you're gaining muscle... it weighs more than fat. get your body fat % done and measurements and then see how those change, how your clothes fit, etc.

Original Post by auralay:

you're gaining muscle... it weighs more than fat. get your body fat % done and measurements and then see how those change, how your clothes fit, etc.

 There is 0% chance that you can put on 3lbs of muscle in a week (or even a month). 

That said, 3 lbs is well within normal bodyweight fluctations.  Unless you are seing gains of over 5lbs, I wouldn't be even concerned.

In a week it probably is not muscle, it is probably water weight.  When you begin a new routine your muscles will recruit all of the water they can  to protect and repair themselves.  Continue to drink at least 64 oz of water a day and in a few weeks of continued work out this should resolve itself.  However make sure you are eating enough, the added exercise, which is great, requires more fuel, you don't want your body to conserve calories due to not enough intake.  This will work itself out. 

Don't think short term, give it a month or two, and then evaluate how you're doing.  Write down your weight and measurements at the start, and then check them sparingly, it might be that one changes and the other won't.  Just keep with it!

Original Post by evyl:

Original Post by auralay:

you're gaining muscle... it weighs more than fat. get your body fat % done and measurements and then see how those change, how your clothes fit, etc.

 There is 0% chance that you can put on 3lbs of muscle in a week (or even a month). 

That said, 3 lbs is well within normal bodyweight fluctations.  Unless you are seing gains of over 5lbs, I wouldn't be even concerned.

 Sorry I didn't read that she said 3 lbs in a week... I just noticed that she said it happens every time she tries to be healthy and work out.

it could very well be muscle but just out of curiousity, do u watch your cals? Working out is all about calories in and calories out. Exercise and Diet are both key in losing weight unless u exercise excessively or ur an athlete. Also, if ur exercising off too many cals..that can sometimes lead to weight gain.

No, it can't be muscle.

Yeah I am definitely eating enough, I'm not counting calories too carefully but I know I eat about 1400 to 1500 a day, and I only do 30 minutes of cardio 3-4 times a week. 

I'm hoping its just the water retention so I'm gonna take everyone's advice and just keep working at it to see if I drop any weight.

Be careful about your calories. You might want to calculate them more closely for a few weeks. Changing your activity level will cause other imbalances in your body (like how hungry you feel). You body might be asking for more food than you notice. It's also easy to think you "earned" a bigger helping or two, which defies the action altogether. Newly active bodies also might crave more salty foods to account for the water lost to sweat, which goes along with the water weight theory.

When in doubt, write it down. Its way too easy to mis-remember exactly what you ate.

I have been lifting weights and engaging in intense cardio for 18 years. I know no one who isn't a professional who works out as much as I do—no one. And I assure you you cannot put on 3 lbs. of muscle in a week: no way, no how, not gonna happen.

What is happening is that your muscle is tearing as you work out. That's how muscle is built. It gets torn down and then the body repairs its. And as part of the healing process, water accumulates. That is true of all injuries to the body: hence, swelling at the site of injuries.

Over time, this won't happen anymore. When I work out—long and hard—I lose up to 3 lbs. by the end of a session. I lose lbs. of water weight, and while that largely comes back when I rehydrate, I do not gain beyond where I was initially anymore.

Of course, it could be something else entirely. As has been mentioned, you may be eating too much because you're hungrier now that you are working out, or too little to compensate for regular exercise. I couldn't say as I don't know enough about you. Also, the person who mentioned that a weight fluctuation of 3 lbs. within a day is normal is correct. I often start out the day at 113 and end at 116. The combination of drinking lots of water and having food that hasn't digested sitting in my stomach naturally makes me heavier by the end of the day. I can't imagine that anyone weighs the same thing every morning, even if they are "maintaining." The body fluctuates quite a bit—naturally.

That is EXACTLY what is happening to me!  I started seriously working out about a week ago and since then have gone from 119.5 to 122 (this morning).  And the craziest thing is...when I look in the mirror, I feel like I LOOK bigger too!  I guess it is water retention, but I refuse to believe it's because I'm not eating enough - I'm consuming about 1200-1400 calories a day and work out 3-4 times a week and would hate to UP my calories to try to lose weight (I can't seem to grasp that concept).  For the past few months I've been eating very healthy so I don't think it's because of "splurging" after my workouts.  How odd....

I guess what they say is true...weight loss is a marathon, not a sprint :)

Thanks for this post. I was gonna just say to give it some more time to see if that continues, cause u may see the weight come off in a few weeks. I also always noticed weight gain, and it would discourage me from working out. I just didn't get it. But NOW this makes sense....Good luck with your weight loss, it'll happen.

I read in fitness magazine today that most women barely gain a pound of muscle in a month of working out.. so its definitely not 3 pounds of muscle

no it's probably not muscle and I doubt it's water unless you ate something particularly high in some kind of salt within 12-24 hours before you weighed yourself. There are two much more likely reasons for the gain. First are you weighing yourself about at the same time as you did before? If not that will affect the scale. If I weigh myself I do it in the morning after I have gone to the bathroom (yes believe it or not that will affect your over all weight especially if you have to poo sorry, but it's true). Weight will naturally fluctuate throughout the day. If I weigh myself in the morning and at night I weigh more at night. So keep those things in mind when you weigh yourself, it can flux up to 5 or 6 pounds I believe.

The other thing that could have happened is you cut your calories back when you decided to excercise too. You're body went into shock and started hording fat as a defense mechanism we humans built up to deal with famines and winters with less food. You have to eat at least (bare minimum) 1200 calories a day for a small person. A larger person needs more than that though. Think of it this way as well, if you cut your calories and you start excercising then you are not just cutting the calories out of your diet, but you are also burning more calories in your day. Make sure you are eating a healthy amount for your weight and give your body some time to adjust to the shock and you should be okay.