Why Am I Gaining Weight Even Though I Work Out!!!

This was the question that had me stumpped recently!

I realized last month that I had hit a plateau in my weight loss – I started the year at 113kg, went down to 112kg then stuck…nothing -I tried worked. So Googleing this question, I found out that my body could get used to my work out routine and this could cause the rate of weight loss or toning to slow down; and that changing the routine/regime could help in maintaining and jumpstarting consistent weight loss.

This weight loss/healthy living lifestyle, it really is not easy…

Anyway, as I am committed, I decided to join a gym near my house that has instructors who are reputed to be very helpful and hands on. So that is the path that I am on now….I am still swimming but once a week. Then I use my kettlebells only when I cannot make it to the gym…at least for this season. Now I am doing 20-30minutes on the treadmill, 30minutes on the cycler, 15 minutes lifting weights (to tone my abs), and 5 minutes (I have never been able to do more than 5mins on this brutal machine) on a horrible step machine  (don’t know what it’s called), and 10minutes on a cross trainer. I mix it up, but spend about 90minutes in the gym every other weekday and 2 hours on Saturday morning. Again, I am committed, I must get back on track and end this year at <100kg.

You would think that with all this work the excess would be falling off like leaves in autumn, right? WRONG!!! I was devastated when one week in I weighed myself and did a double take when my scale read 115kg!!! I was like…it must be the coffee creamer, so I ditched the coffee creamer. Three days after and another scale check and I saw 116kg!!!!!!!!! WHAT THE @@@&&&%%%????? I almost called my doctor… I was gutted. So I did what I always do when stumped, I searched Google. The result of my search was quite enlightening and reassuring; at least I am not going mad. I realized that:

a.   I am not the only one who has experienced this

b.   There is a story behind the post workout weight gain

c.    It is temporary

So, if you are like me and you just started a new work out plan/regime and you notice that instead of losing weight your scale is actually going the other way, this is for you! And I hope what I learned reassures you as it did me.

So why does this happen?

I found out that when we start a new work out program (like start jogging 20minutes each morning) we normally experience muscle soreness – the more intense the work out the more intense the soreness. This soreness/pain is our body trying to protect itself (similar to when we go into starvation mode when we reduce food intake drastically and gain weight). Physiologists refer to this protective soreness as delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). Basically, what is happening is that when we work out we are breaking down the tissues in our muscles, making them inflamed and slightly swollen as the breaking down causes fluid retention. This fluid retention is the reason behind the weight gain sometimes as much as 5kg! This weight gain can last for up to 3 weeks into the new program, and if we stick to the new program we begin to see major [but reasonable] drops in weight via our scales.

In my opinion, this can be disconcerting if you don’t know what to expect when you start a new work out regime but the payoff is ‘kind of’ worth it – especially if like me you have plateaued in your weight loss. I actually think that I can use this DOMS-thingie to facilitate my weight loss and change my routine (probably go back to swimming vigorously and four times a week kettle-belling in a few months) so that I can start the cycle again to dodge plateauing. Another payoff is that the increased intensity required to experience the DOMS also revs metabolism – so it is ‘kind of’ worth it.

One thing to note though…the temporary weight gain as a result of DOMS only lasts a for approximately 3 weeks – less if you are lucky (I waited about 3 weeks before seeing the drop in my weight); so if you keep adding weight after three weeks it’s best to look at your calorie to energy expended ratio (food in vs energy burnt). To effectively lose weight, we must always expend more energy than we are taking in (in calories) – and that is usually a culprit. So be cautious.

 

From experience I know it’s easy to say I worked out last night so I can cheat and have that extra bar of chocolate (GUILTY!!! J). When I did that, I was simply undoing all of my hard work. So I reckon, if I work so hard, I might as well help myself and zip it!

Right?

What do YOU think?

 

 

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