Hard Cardio Making Me Gain Weight?

So I bought myself a new treadmill a week ago. I'd only used a stepper until that point.

Before I used it for the first time, I had lost a few pounds and was 118 on Saturday. I used the treadmill twice on the weekend: once on Saturday for about 25 minutes (about 15 minutes of jogging, 10 minutes of power walking), and Sunday for 40 minutes (powerwalking, with 2 or so minutes of jogging at 10 minute intervals). I think I may have been on the stepper for about 20-30 minutes on Sunday morning, as well. When I did my morning weigh in on Monday morning, I was 120 pounds. I ate more than usual on the weekend, but certainly not so much that I'd put on 2 pounds, and especially not after all the exercising I did. Does heavy cardio do anything for muscle? I was thinking that maybe I'd gained some muscle weight in my legs or something. I normally eat about 1500 calories a day. A little less during the week when I don't have as much time to do a lot of exercise. Still, I thought that ONLY weight training builds muscle, and cardio burns everything. 

Anyone able to tell me what's going on? I'm trying to get to 105 lbs. by the middle/end of June! If I'm building muscle, how do I know whether I'm actually making progress?

i'm not exactly sure what's goin on but don't we all have natural fluctuation?

i know if you weigh yourself every week or less, you can see if there are any valid changes besides water weight from day to day.

and it should be less aggrivatin that way too

It's water retention in the muscle, to various reasons. One of them recovering muscles tend to store more water.

Other reasons: http://primusweb.com/fitnesspartner/library/w eight/scale.htm

i seem to be having the same type of problem...cardio does burn more calories, so maybe we are consuming more calories then we think in response to the cardio...i have always incorporated running into my workout but i have been running harder, and longer...i think that it may build muscle in addition to burning fat...i can feel a difference in my legs, and they say muscle weighs more than fat...in the long run, we will benefit...for greater muscle mass causes for the body to burn cals while resting, but this comes in time...if youre looking to merely shed pounds for immediate results...then maybe hard cardio isnt the approach, probably just greater amounts of walking will do.

thanks umney durak! your link was actually super informative. especially after my freakout on the gym scale yesterday! nice work

Thanks, all! Umneydurak, that link made me feel sooooo much better. I guess I'm just too impatient. When I lost weight in my teen years, it seemed as though I never fluctuated. Everything just fell off. I suppose I'm expecting it to be as easy as it was, then.

:)

Original Post by sizz_leteen:

Thanks, all! Umneydurak, that link made me feel sooooo much better. I guess I'm just too impatient. When I lost weight in my teen years, it seemed as though I never fluctuated. Everything just fell off. I suppose I'm expecting it to be as easy as it was, then.

:)

If only. I'd lose 5lbs cutting out my evening Twinkie when I was a teenager

NEWS FLASH!!  Exercising and controlling/limiting your calorie intake will induce weight loss...lol.   But you don't measure true weight loss in a matter of days, it's weeks or months.   Any exercise will firm and tone muscles and make them "feel bigger", but true gains in muscle mass, usually require a calorie excess to fuel the growth, so to gain weight by exercising in the long term, you have to eat more than you normally consume.  If you aren't doing that, then don't worry about temporary fluctuations.  Count your calories, stick to the program and it will work.  Oh and for more effective cardio both for weight loss, heart health and athletic performance, try High Intensity Interval Training.  Not hard to find on the net and it works much better than straight, steady pace cardio exercise..

Also muscle is heavier than fat, so you probably lost inches but your muscles are forming thus the weight gain.

Original Post by aishah1952:

Also muscle is heavier than fat, so you probably lost inches but your muscles are forming thus the weight gain.

 That is completely impossible since she stated she's done cardio like twice

Original Post by spirochete:

Original Post by aishah1952:

Also muscle is heavier than fat, so you probably lost inches but your muscles are forming thus the weight gain.

 That is completely impossible since she stated she's done cardio like twice

Well, it's the first time I've done it on my treadmill. I'm used to doing cardio on the stepper. Been doing it for a long time. But I had never noticed any weight gain a day or so after using the stepper. I'm not used to doing it long and hard like I've been doing it on the treadmill. 

Original Post by spirochete:

Original Post by aishah1952:

Also muscle is heavier than fat, so you probably lost inches but your muscles are forming thus the weight gain.

 That is completely impossible since she stated she's done cardio like twice

Well, it's the first time I've done it on my treadmill. I'm used to doing cardio on the stepper. Been doing it for a long time. But I had never noticed any weight gain a day or so after using the stepper. I'm not used to doing it long and hard like I've been doing it on the treadmill. 

Also your body weight changes through out the day. I know mine can change as much as 10 pounds.

reasons it changes:

Bathroom usage (if you weigh your self after going to the bathroom your weight will be lighter than before)

Food (yes the stuff you put in your mouth has weight to it)

If you want a good representation of your weight weigh your self once a week at a set time, away from any meals and either before or after you go to the bathroom. More than once a week and the changes are harder to notice.

I weigh my self on monday mornings at 6:00 after going to the bathroom, and just before showering and eating breakfast.

you really have to take a step back from the scale and stick with the cardio, regardless of what the scale says.  look at how obsessed your opening post looks, worrying about 2 pounds over a week, rationalizing that you could have built muscle.  the fact is, if you're watching what you're eating and you're running on your treadmill, you will lose fat and become more fit.  what you actually weigh really doesn't matter; what you look like in the mirror is what's important, right?  whether or not you lose weight, if you look better and function better, that's really what fitness is about. I really hope you read and understand this post.