Gaining weight

[JJakaSquirrel]

I have been working out nearly every day for the past 6 months. Recently noticed that I can barely fit into my jeans anymore, like the waist size is too small. I looked it up and some people say its because of water retention/muscle gain under fat and its a "bulking before slimming down" situation. Others say its because of poor diet, but I've been eating a lot better recently. So which is it? Its really bumming me out.

 

[Laura Rainbow Dragon]

You're likely to have gained muscle mass through your efforts.
Whether you simultaneously gained, lost, or maintained body fat isn't directly related one way or the other.
Weight gain is caused by consuming more calories than you expend. (Water retention and dehydration both cause daily fluctuations, but this effect is small and finite. You cannot continuously gain weight through water retention.)

This being said, a new workout regimen can indirectly affect the calories in/calories out equation in a few ways:

1. Muscle mass requires caloric sustenance to maintain it. So when you increase your muscle mass you can consume more calories without gaining fat.

2. Through regular physical exercise there is a good chance you've also developed more efficient movement patterns. So you may have decreased the amount of calories your body consumes to perform the same physical activities as before.

3. Workouts require energy. Consequently, they naturally make us feel hungry--a healthy signal to the brain that you need to eat to replenish the calories you just burned up by working out. So there's a good chance you're ingesting more calories in a day now than you did before you started working out.

4. This one is the kicker: Even though you're expending extra calories to workout now, you may not be expending extra calories overall. This is because workouts deplete our physical energy and often cause people to move less during the post-workout period than they would have done if they'd not worked out.

Overall, the combined effect of these factors may be that you're eating more post-workout to compensate for the workout's energy expenditure, but your body is also compensating for the increased energy need by making adaptations that result in lower energy needs overall.

If you're gaining weight and don't want to, you need to eat less and/or move more, but you need to make certain that the increased movement is a real total increase. So yes: workout. That's great! But also: work to ensure you are being less sedentary in the rest of your life, and that you're not overcompensating for increased activity levels by eating more than you need.


DAREBEE has some good Guides that will give you a deeper dive and also point you to the recent scientific research on these topics. I recommend starting with The Guide to Metabolism and Hunger and Overeating.

 

[Diego1978]

I have been working out nearly every day for the past 6 months. Recently noticed that I can barely fit into my jeans anymore, like the waist size is too small. I looked it up and some people say its because of water retention/muscle gain under fat and its a "bulking before slimming down" situation. Others say its because of poor diet, but I've been eating a lot better recently. So which is it? Its really bumming me out.

I recommend you rry the power cardio program.
IT is great to solve your problem.

 

[HellYeah]

You stopped smoking, right? This has a huge impact on gaining weight? But from my own experience, that's worth it. Stay consistent in moving your body, eating good and stay away from smoking and the time will get you to a healthy weight.

 

[Willow]

I have been working out nearly every day for the past 6 months. Recently noticed that I can barely fit into my jeans anymore, like the waist size is too small. I looked it up and some people say its because of water retention/muscle gain under fat and its a "bulking before slimming down" situation. Others say its because of poor diet, but I've been eating a lot better recently. So which is it? Its really bumming me out.

It‘s hard to say which of those factors is the reason for your increased waist size. It’s not as if we have a scan of your body before and after your six months of exercise. So, I have a few questions that may help you figure it out:

Did you do a lot of ab exercises in the past months? If so, muscle growth could play a roll in the increased waist size.

Where does your body store fat? All our bodies are different. As a result, when you gain fat-weight, your body might store it in different places than someone else’s body does. If your body primarily stores fat in the waist area, it’s an indication that you a) gained fat-weight, or b) gained more muscles in the waist area than you lost fat there.
If your body primarily stores fat in different areas (e.g. thighs), then it’s a slight indication that the size of your waist is not due to additional body fat.

Do you take supplements that lead to water retention in the muscles? That could play a (small) role too.

Did you over-exert or injure yourself in the waist area recently? Both might lead to swelling. Rest might help.

Did you train a lot of strength in general? Heavy strength training and weight reduction are very hard to do at the same time, because the body needs a lot of energy to build muscle. So much so, that a many people prefer to build muscle while eating more calories than their bodies need (I hear it’s called a bulk phase). Weight reduction and an increase in muscle mass can be achieved at the same time, but it’s even harder than doing one at a time.

There are a lot of stories/”workout advice“ on in the internet about how training the abs supposedly reduces waist size. That is not correct. You cannot spot reduce body fat (where you loose/gain body fat first is determined by your genes). You can, however, increase the circumference of specific parts of your body by training the muscles there.

All of that aside: Congratulations on the huge lifestyle changes you introduced these last few months! That’s a big accomplishment! Please don’t focus too much on the size of your waist if that size happens to be within the realm of what can reasonably considered healthy. If you’re working out and eating healthy (or at least healthier than before), you’re doing yourself a big favour. Don’t be discouraged by something as trivial as a pair of jeans. If you feel stronger and more energetic than you used to, there’s probably not reason to worry

Edit: You stopped smoking? That’s an excellent explanation for gaining some weight. It seems to happen to everyone. But it also means that even more congratulations are in order! You’ve done so much for yourself! Ignore that potential weight gain and keep doing what you’re doing. You’re on the right path here

 

[JJakaSquirrel]

Its a lot of abs/strength training, and if you'd ask my bf, Fert would tell you that I overdo it sometimes. Most of my fat is in my belly and sides. No supplements. My only trouble is sweets. I am a chocolate fiend, but I've been really trying to only have like 1 treat a week, and some days its really hard to ignore the call of Ben and Jerry's

 

[Diego1978]

Previously i recommended a program.I allowed myself to do it,because i had also suggested it to a girl i know, who had the same problem as you, and she solved it. The new super cut program, could also help you. I Love chocolate too, it's my comfort food. It's right to be careful about eating it, but you shouldn't completely deprive youself of it.I hope you solve your problem and feel good about your body, as happened to the girl i know.