Does Your Weight Bounce Around Like A Ball?
Frustrating isn’t it?
In the fitness world, often times for those just getting started the most common questions we hear are, “WHY am I not losing weight?,” or even “why am I GAINING weight doing these exercises? Shouldn’t I be LOSING weight??!!”
The common thought is that it’s your body “trading off” fat for new muscle. To some extent this is true. However, the thing is your body can not gain or lose more than about 1 – 2 lbs of body fat or muscle per week. That’s the “science” of it. It is VERY difficult to add even this every week of true mass over water weight.
“But my weight is going up or down up to 5 lbs per DAY!” These daily fluctuations are primarily water weight. You see, your body can lose water VERY quickly, especially when put under intense exercise. In fact, you can bounce around up to possibly 5 or 6 lbs in a day from just water gain/loss.
With people who are “first-timers” in fitness, or haven’t worked out in a long time, those initial weeks of intense exercise can be deceptively discouraging because your body has to “learn” how to cope with the new stress on the body from exercise. In these first 2 to 3 weeks, you’re muscles will likely be sore and fatigued. This is caused by microscopic “tears” in the muscles from the tension placed on them that have to heal and repair. This is also normal, so don’t let this idea bother you. During this time, one way you’re body will “cope” is by retaining water to protect your muscles. After a short period, this process will slow down and that extra weight will “go away” as your body adjusts to your routines.
You will get a more accurate assessment of your progress by taking your measurements at the beginning and at intervals throughout your particular routine or program. We recommend every two to three weeks. What you’ll see, if you’re placing the proper stress on the body (exercising with the proper form, frequency, intensity and RESTING) AND eating healthy, is that you’re body’s total inches will begin to drop and progress will be reflected in your measurements and you begin to feel your clothing fit a bit more loosely.
Catch this video from Insanity creator Shaun T about other things that may be causing you to not lose weight…
4 Responses
Great post, I’ve never actually looked at it like that before. So if I quit drinking water will that help? Ha ha, just kidding. I do ask myself that question a alot, “Why can’t I lose weight?” However, I think I know the answer to that question; I need to work on the diet/nutrion part of the equation. I do think this keeps a lot of people from continuing there workout plan and diet. They don’t stick with it long enough to see the progress. Most people expect instant results and when that doesn’t happen they give up and I think this article will shed some light on the subject and help some of those people stick to it long enough to see the results.
Once we started getting better about it, it really did surprise me how FAST the weight came off… even when I got to my goal. I had to start eating more to try to slow it down… but that only made it go faster at that point. That’s another reason, and he talks about it in that video, that people have trouble losing weight. They have to understand the timing and amount of food to eat. I’m putting down around, if not slightly over, 3000 calories/day now. My metabolism is so high that I am barely gaining anything, and I’m trying to gain. If I bump it down much at all, I’ll start dropping again. There comes a point that your metabolism just “kicks in” and then it’s like adding logs on the fire, the more you eat, the bigger the fire. Sounds wrong, but, it works. Thanks for the comment!
When I tried T25 about 5 years ago I found I lost inches way more than weight. People were noticing when I was 2 weeks in. This was a good reminder for me in case I don’t see those results as quick this time. 😊
If you’re working hard and doing your best… you’re more likely to see those inches go down faster than the pounds. That’s why we always encourage y’all to take those measurements! 😉