working out everyday, why am I gaining weight?

Question

I am 24 years old, 125 pounds, and I am trying to get down to 118-120 lbs. Iknow that a healthy weight loss is 2lbs per week, wo I have been working out m-friday two hours a day. one hour weights, one hour walking at a steady pace, with 8 sets of stairs. I have been eating very healthy, non fat milk and special K cereal, light n fit yogurts, and sensible chicken breast dinners. I lost 3 pounds in one week, and now I gained one the next week. I write down my weight every saturday morning....and today I should be at 123, but I am at 126. I started at 128 by the way. aaarrghh so frusterating! Overall I am pretty happy with my body, I just want to lose the fat in my tummy and thighs. and I am very small boned, so fat shows on me.

wow thanks for all the great support!

Answer 1

You're gaining muscle. You should have taken all of your body measurements before you started exercising/eating right so that you could now compare your current measurements to see where the fat is going away. That way you'll know you're making progress and won't feel bad when the scale goes up.

Answer 2

Firstly, muscle weighs more than fat. Let's face it--the number on the scale isn't important unless you're weighing in for a boxingmatch or something like that. Throw your scale out the window. Now you can look at the situation clearly. You don't really want to lose weight but you want to be more toned. At 125 lbs. your tummy and thighs probably didn't have any fat--they just didn't have any muscle or tone. Don't worry about it--you don;t really have much weight to lose. Keep working out. Give up the chicken. Don't eat fat free yogurt because the fat in yogurt is good fat omega 3's and 6's and such--same with the non-fit milk. Milk is so bad for you. It has so much calcium that it flushes a lot of the calcium out of your body. you can't absorb calcium from milk or yogurt. Broccoli is a better source of calcium. Special K is garbage cereal--there's more nutrition in the box it comes in. Kellogg's tested radioactive cereals on orphanedges in the 1970's. If you are serious about getting into shape you should really research nutrition and find a better diet. None of the foods you mentioned are at all healthy. But the important thing is you don't want to lose weight, you just need to tone that weight.

Answer 3

Hey silly you are probably gaining muscle weight not fat. First of all you shouldn't go by what the scale says you should go by how you feel and how your clothes fit. Now if you are not satisfied with where you are at it is probably just because this process is going to take a little bit of time. If you are lifting weights that much some people bulk up more and faster than others so you could have shed some fat and replaced it with muscle which is going to make you weigh more. I know everyone says that you need to lift weights to speed up metabolism but I am personally a big fan of running, pilates, and bikram yoga. I am about the same age and size as you and I find that my exercises work way better than any weight routine and the running makes a huge difference. Good luck!

Answer 4

You are gaining weight because you're working out so much.Muscle weighs more than fat (and also looks better). An hour a day, 3-4 times a week, along with really healthy eating will do the trick. Your body starts to burn fat ONLY after 45 of exercise. So, keep that in mind. Also, try to watch how much you eat--are you eating too much, or too little??

Answer 5

The first week sounds like loss of water weight (sorry), the weight gain now is probably building muscle mass. Keep up the cardio work out - that is the best way to get rid of fat. You can lift all the weights, and do all the crunches in the world, but unless you are burning fat with a good cardio, no one will be able to see those muscles, because they will still be covered in fat! Keep hydrated with water; -fruit juice, and sports drinks have a lot of sugar- which if not burned off/used as energy, will be converted in the body and stored as FAT! Good Luck !

Answer 6

Weight is unreliable to measure progress. You should get a body fat reading and measurements of your waist and gauge the results that way. Part of your problem is that muscle weighs more than fat so in working out you may gain muscle weight which is not a bad thing.

Answer 7

You are putting on muscle, which weighs more than fat. Keep up the good work, as the extra muscle will burn calories for you. Your weight will fluctuate a bit which is why some people give up. Weigh yourself less often. Have you tried swimming - great for a general workout, especially on the thighs.

Answer 8

Fat weighs less than muscle. You may be losing weight in fat, but you are gaining muscle. Don't worry, if you keep up the way you are doing, you should lose a few pounds really fast.

Answer 9

Muscle mass weighs more than fat so as you are lifting weights and gaining muscle mass your weight will not drop the way you had intended. My suggestion would be to do one day of weights and one day of running and alternate your workouts. Otherwise, your body will become accustomed to what you are doing and you will lose the results you are searching for.

*Also, running/walking will help you become leaner so try running/walking more than lifting weights.

Answer 10

When you workout fat turns to muscle. And muscle outweighs fat. But it's about health not the number you weigh. I could use a good workout myself. And by the way, Sodium will make you retain water, making you weigh more.