Consistently losing weight but put on 9 lbs in the last week! Help!

[YamahaV8]

I need some advice/help for what is going on. I have been going to the gym and eating better for about 9 months. Since then I have lost 25 lbs and have put some inches on my arms and chest and have been feeling really good. All of a sudden over the last 8 days or so I have put on 9 lbs and I don't know why. My eating has not changed at all and my workouts have been regular. I will go over my usual daily food intake and workout so that you guys can help me figure out why this is happening.

I work nights so the times may seem odd.
Meal 1 (12:00pm): Oatmeal, an egg and whey protien
Meal 2 (2:00pm): Chicken breast and a portion of brown rice
Meal 3 (5:00pm): Some type of meat and vegetables, rice or potatoes
Meal 4 (9:00pm): Leftovers of meal 3
Meal 5 (12:00am): Whey protein and an apple
Meal 6 (3:00am): Chicken breast and maybe a glass of milk.

I workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday and sometimes cardio on the other days. My workouts consist of a normal weight lifting routine that covers the whole body.

I hope someone can tell me what I am doing wrong or if what I am experiencing is normal. Please help.

[shakalaka]

When you're trying to lose weight and do lots of weight training along with cardio. Weighing yourself can be quite misleading, because as you do weight training you get more muscle and your weight go up regardless. Even though you would be losing fat, but the gain of muscle wouldn't let you see any actual loss on the scales, you know?

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by shakalaka
When you're trying to lose weight and do lots of weight training along with cardio. Weighing yourself can be quite misleading, because as you do weight training you get more muscle and your weight go up regardless. Even though you would be losing fat, but the gain of muscle wouldn't let you see any actual loss on the scales, you know?

I understand what you are saying. I also know muscle is more dense than fat. But a 9 lb gain in a week when I have been slowly and consistently losing weight seems a radical change though. Maybe it is nothing to worry about.

[shakalaka]

Yea I agree, I doubt that you gained 9 lbs of muscle within a week as well. But I was just generally saying how scales can look all weird when you do weight training with the aim of losing weight you know. But yea I wouldn't worry about it too much. You know this diet and routine has been working for you, so just keep doing it and check back maybe in a couple weeks.

[2Valve0]

Probably won't get 9lbs in a week but if your doing the same workouts with the same food intake it eventually stops helping you lose weight and your body gets used to that workout regime and diet. Try switching it up. If losing weight(FAT) is the issue more cardio or better diet plan.
May have to change the intensity of your weight training as well

[urban_chic]

Shakalaka is right. Also, when did u weigh yourself? Right after u ate? You should allow 3-4 hours after eating before u weigh yourself, there's maybe up to 4lbs difference. For me, there's a 5-lb difference from weighing myself after eating and when I woke up lol.

Measurements are always more important than weight. So measure yourself from time to time to monitor the difference over time.

Also, try changing up your work out routine every 2 weeks as your body gets used to the routine. So even if you spend hours and hours working out but doing the same routine and having the same diet, it will not work. Try switching up both your routine and diet.

[shakalaka]

Good advice in regards to switching up your routine actually. I just noticed you have doing the same routine for about 9 months. It's always good to switch up your routine every month or so because you don't want your body to get used to same routine. So if you keep throwing new stuff at it and keep it guessing you'll possibly notice better results.

[urban_chic]

Do the cereal diet, it worked for me for 3 weeks, then I plateaeud hahah. Just joking, dont do it. Good luck!

[YamahaV8]

All good advice. I usually weight myself in the morning before my first meal but not always. I do change my workout routine as far as what specific exercises and rep/set combinations every couple of months. I will try and do that monthly instead. I will try and track measurements also. Thanks for the advice.

[urban_chic]

It is important to count calories also if you're trying to lose weight. Basically from what I've learned, burn more calories than you consume. For me, I burned 500 more calories a week than I consumed.

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by urban_chic
It is important to count calories also if you're trying to lose weight. Basically from what I've learned, burn more calories than you consume. For me, I burned 500 more calories a week than I consumed.

That makes total sense but how do I know how much calories I burn while lifting weights or just sitting around?

[shakalaka]

You don't count 'em to the dot. Just count them generally. Cardio machines will usually show you them and weight training all depends on what exercises you do, how many reps, how many sets, how much weight etc etc. It's mostly guesstimate when it comes to weight training.

[urban_chic]

Hmm, are you trying to lose weight or gain more muscle?

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by urban_chic
Hmm, are you trying to lose weight or gain more muscle?

Trying to do both but leaning more towards building muscle.

[shakalaka]

See that's where the problem lies. Wanting to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. This was my problem for the longest time and while I did notice some results they were not proportional to the amount of effort I used to put in. At one point I was going 7 days a week and doing hour of cardio every other day with light weight training and rest of days 30 minutes of cardio with intense weight training. Sure I was seeing results but they were all mixed and not as good as they should have been considering the amount of effort I was putting here.

And the problem lies in the simple fact that to burn fat you need to consume LESS calories than you eat. And to build muscle you need to consume MORE calories than you eat.

I know it's very hard to go to the gym and just do cardio especially if you also want to build muscle. It was and still is for me. What you need to do is pick one goal and go for that, then the other.

For me I've decided now that I don't care about losing whatever the extra bit of fat I have left on me cause I still want to get bigger. So I've even switched my regular protein shakes to weight gainer meal replacement shakes. I know sounds stupid considering I also want to be get rid of the fat. But it doesn't really work like that. Wanting to be thinner isn't the same as losing weight/fat. My ultimate goal is to be still built but with no fat. So what I do now is when I am in the gym I only concentrate on intense, heavy weight training. I am taking weight gainers cause my diet otherwise isn't great, but also because I need surplus calories - more than I burn to get big and if you keep it all even, you should see bulk gains in terms of muscle and though there will be a little bit of fat gain as well (which is normal), you would generally look much better with tighter more muscular body cause of all the muscle gain contributing to your big size. And eventually once you've reached your desireable size level, you can start concentrating on cutting, i.e. getting rid of excess fat, thus making your muscles look even more toned with no fat. That build 'ripped' look, so to speak.

That's my plan for me anyway, hope this helps.

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by shakalaka
See that's where the problem lies. Wanting to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. This was my problem for the longest time and while I did notice some results they were not proportional to the amount of effort I used to put in. At one point I was going 7 days a week and doing hour of cardio every other day with light weight training and rest of days 30 minutes of cardio with intense weight training. Sure I was seeing results but they were all mixed and not as good as they should have been considering the amount of effort I was putting here.

And the problem lies in the simple fact that to burn fat you need to consume LESS calories than you eat. And to build muscle you need to consume MORE calories than you eat.

I know it's very hurt to go to the gym and just do cardio especially if you also want to build muscle. It was and still is for me. What you need to do is pick one goal and go for that, then the other.

For me I've decided now that I don't care about losing whatever the extra bit of fat I have left on me cause I still want to get bigger. So I've even switched my regular protein shakes to weight gainer meal replacement shakes. I know sounds stupid considering I also want to be get rid of the fat. But it doesn't really work like that. Wanting to be thinner isn't the same as losing weight/fat. My ultimate goal is to be still built but with no fat. So what I do now is when I am in the gym I only concentrate on intense, heavy weight training. I am taking weight gainers cause my diet otherwise isn't great, but also because I need surplus calories - more than I burn to get big and if you keep it all even, you should see bulk gains in terms of muscle and though there will be a little bit of fat gain as well (which is normal), you would generally look much better with tighter more muscular body cause of all the muscle gain contributing to your big size. And eventually once you've reached your desireable size level, you can start concentrating on cutting, i.e. getting rid of excess fat, thus making your muscles look even more toned with no fat. That build 'ripped' look, so to speak.

That's my plan for me anyway, hope this helps.

Yeah I see what you are getting at. Chances are then that I have been eating less calories than I was burning because I have not made an effort to eat a lot or purposely take high calorie shakes and I was losing weight. Now I don't know what I want to do lol. At my current state it is probably still better for me to focus on weight loss for now. But that still makes me scratch my head about my sudden weight gain.

[core_upt]

seems obvious, but did you use the same scale both times?

[UndrgroundRider]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned water weight. When you spike rapidly like this a lot of it can just be retained water. This is typical if you have a high sodium meal, especially after being on a low-sodium diet for a while.

Sometimes it works the other way around. If you diet really heavily, you can lose a lot of your normal water weight when your body burns off its stores of carbs. Shortly after you rebound and gain the water weight back.

[Masked Bandit]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider
I can't believe nobody has mentioned water weight. When you spike rapidly like this a lot of it can just be retained water. This is typical if you have a high sodium meal, especially after being on a low-sodium diet for a while.

Sometimes it works the other way around. If you diet really heavily, you can lose a lot of your normal water weight when your body burns off its stores of carbs. Shortly after you rebound and gain the water weight back.

Beat me to it.

One or two high sodium meals can balloon your water weight almost over night (really). I had some salty items Sunday morning for breakfast and by Monday morning I was 5 lbs heavier. By Tuesday morning, all gone.

Assuming you weighed yourself at the same time of day using the same scale and wearing the same clothes, I'm pretty sure it was water.

[trdjce10]

I don't weigh myself much anymore. I even have one of those fancy scale with bodyfat measurement...collecting dust right now.

I just use a camera and tape measure now. I'm not competing or anything, so I don't care how much I weigh or bodyfat %. I go to the same room, same wall with the same lighting.

[GQBalla]

Originally posted by trdjce10
I don't weigh myself much anymore. I even have one of those fancy scale with bodyfat measurement...collecting dust right now.

I just use a camera and tape measure now. I'm not competing or anything, so I don't care how much I weigh or bodyfat %. I go to the same room, same wall with the same lighting.

werd, when i was obsessed about weight i got up to 185 but got a little beefy,

now i weighed myself the other day and im at 170 and still getting stronger and look leaner.

i just use the mirror now

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by UndrgroundRider
I can't believe nobody has mentioned water weight. When you spike rapidly like this a lot of it can just be retained water. This is typical if you have a high sodium meal, especially after being on a low-sodium diet for a while.

Sometimes it works the other way around. If you diet really heavily, you can lose a lot of your normal water weight when your body burns off its stores of carbs. Shortly after you rebound and gain the water weight back.

I didn't even think of this. Good call. I can't remember exactly what I ate a week ago or over the last week but some of it may have been salty snacks. I will try watching my salt intake for the next bit and see if it goes away.

[Darkane]

Originally posted by YamahaV8


I didn't even think of this. Good call. I can't remember exactly what I ate a week ago or over the last week but some of it may have been salty snacks. I will try watching my salt intake for the next bit and see if it goes away.

It's not just salt, it's added carbs too.

Lets say you had a cheat meal with high fat and carbs. Usually right after you'll get thirsty and your body will now retain this water and weight will go up.

Don't fret this at all, in the next 2-4 days if the weight is still there then a problem might be present.

Weigh yourself on the same scale, when you wake up after the bathroom.

Just to put into perspective, I walk around at 216-220 very low carb.

I went to an all you can eat brunch buffet like 3 months ago and I gained 11 pounds in a day.

All the salty bacon, sausages etc coupled with the french toast, syrup, pancakes and sweet shit attracted water like a sponge.

I probably drank 6L of water and pissed twice maybe.

[YamahaV8]

Originally posted by Darkane


It's not just salt, it's added carbs too.

Lets say you had a cheat meal with high fat and carbs. Usually right after you'll get thirsty and your body will now retain this water and weight will go up.

Don't fret this at all, in the next 2-4 days if the weight is still there then a problem might be present.

Weigh yourself on the same scale, when you wake up after the bathroom.

Just to put into perspective, I walk around at 216-220 very low carb.

I went to an all you can eat brunch buffet like 3 months ago and I gained 11 pounds in a day.

All the salty bacon, sausages etc coupled with the french toast, syrup, pancakes and sweet shit attracted water like a sponge.

I probably drank 6L of water and pissed twice maybe.

That makes sense. I usually have a cheat meal on Saturday for my "off day". I must have eaten something and then drank a ton of water.

Another question. Does diet pop also make you retain water?

[Darkane]

Originally posted by YamahaV8


That makes sense. I usually have a cheat meal on Saturday for my "off day". I must have eaten something and then drank a ton of water.

Another question. Does diet pop also make you retain water?

That is debatable, from personal experience I'd say no. There is no actual glucose in there to attract the water.

[YamahaV8]

I just want to say thanks to everyone in this thread who gave advice. I have now lost 7 of those 9 lbs by staying strict to my diet. Good chance that it was water weight. Thanks again.