got fatter after starting resistance training..

S

sugarkick

New member
i'm 20 years old and am 165cm or 5ft 5 and just started resistance training about 4 months ago. before i started the training, i weighed 47.5kg. i then trained twice a week only pausing for a while when i fell sick. my training routine includes both cardio as well as resistance training. however, after 4 months of training, not only have i gained weight (my weight now is 51.3kg), my friends have even commented that i look like i've gained weight (which presumably means i look fatter). not only that, my thighs look a little bigger and my jeans feel slightly tighter. i know that according to my previous height and weight i would be considered underweight, but i was fine with it and didnt want to gain any weight.

as for diet, before i started training, i used to eat anything i wanted (and didnt exercise at all) and i wouldnt put on weight at all. i continued eating whatever i wanted while i was training but have tried to eat more healthy foods recently. still my weight remains around the 51kg region. can someone tell me what's going on? even if i gain weight because muscle is heavier than fat, shouldnt i look slimmer because 1 pound of muscle takes up less space than one pound of fat? i really feel like giving up exercising.
 
Hey Sugarkick,

Sorry to hear of your frustrating experience! I know how disheartening it can be to go through the opposite experience of that which you hope for.

First and foremost, body composition changes are not and should not be measured by the scale. It's misleading and not accurate. Instead, take measurements and even pictures of yourself to track progress effectively.

With that said, your nutrition is most likely the culprit. If you could give a detailed and honest description of what you eat, how much and when that will help in being able to get a better understanding of what may be amiss. If you could also post more detail about your training regime (both cardio and weight training) - like duration, exercises and equipment used, we could get a better idea of what's going on there as well.

And let's get real here. You want to lose weight, but you're only focusing on one avenue of that - and that's exercise. Nutrition is also a big component and being healthy isn't just about doing one or the other. It's both working in unison with each other. Expecting anything different while doing the same things (eating whatever you want, minus a few healthy items) is not a sound or effective approach and it leads to exactly the place you are at - frustrated.
 
thanks for your reply. a typical day's diet would be something like this:

breakfast: two slices of wholemeal bread with jam and a glass of fresh milk

lunch: fried noodles or fast food (mcdonald's or pizza)

dinner: brown and white rice mix eaten with steamed fish, stir fried chicken and stir fried vegs

snacks/supper: butter bread twists (the kind from waitrose)/almonds/soy milk

the thing i dont get is why my nutrition would make me gain weight when i've been eating like this all along before i started training and i didnt gain weight.

my training regime is:

10 mins warm up on treadmill
lunges with 4kg weights (3 sets of 15reps)
bench press; 15kg (3 sets of 15reps)
chest fly; 4kg (3 sets of 15reps)
assisted chin ups (3 sets of 15reps)
leg curls; 25kg (3 sets of 15reps)
shoulder press; 3kg (3 sets of 15reps)
bicep curl; 4kg (3 sets of 15reps)
tricep rope pulldown; (3 sets of 15reps)
back extensions (3 sets of 15reps)
crunches (3 sets of 20reps)
20 mins run on treadmill at speed 10km/h (may extend to 30mins if high energy)

hope this gives a clearer picture!
 
So, you went from 104 to 112 lbs in 4 months. That is roughly an excess of 28000 calories over the 4 months, or approximately 230 calories a day.

So, if you continue doing what you're doing, and cut 230 calories per day out of your diet, you should stop gaining weight. Cut a little more and you should start to get back down to your previous weight if thats what you want.
 
sugarkick said:
thanks for your reply. a typical day's diet would be something like this:

breakfast: two slices of wholemeal bread with jam and a glass of fresh milk

lunch: fried noodles or fast food (mcdonald's or pizza)

dinner: brown and white rice mix eaten with steamed fish, stir fried chicken and stir fried vegs

snacks/supper: butter bread twists (the kind from waitrose)/almonds/soy milk

the thing i dont get is why my nutrition would make me gain weight when i've been eating like this all along before i started training and i didnt gain weight.
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Two points I'd like to make about this.

First, if you're eating the same as you did before and what you ate before maintained your weight, then you should be losing weight now that you are burning extra calories through exercise.

So the obvious thing to me would be that you aren't really eating the same things you ate before and in fact, are overconsuming.

Secondly, without the proper micro/macronutrients you really can't expect much more than what you're getting right now out of exercise. I'm not saying you have to eat raw eggs, broccoli and chicken every meal but you can't expect your body to respond to the demands of stressful exercise without the proper nutrients to heal and regenerate.

Your workouts look fine. And just so that you are aware, average female puts on about 1/2 lb of muscle a month - so unless you're superwoman - I highly doubt the weight you've gained is a result of an increase in lean mass. I'd wager to say it is a combination of fat and water retention and a lot of crap stuck in your system ala food choices (lots of high fat foods and lots of sodium).

If you don't like the results you are getting, then you're going to have to re-evaluate the necessity of 'eating whatever you want'.
 
Secondly, without the proper micro/macronutrients you really can't expect much more than what you're getting right now out of exercise. I'm not saying you have to eat raw eggs, broccoli and chicken every meal but you can't expect your body to respond to the demands of stressful exercise without the proper nutrients to heal and regenerate.

Your workouts look fine. And just so that you are aware, average female puts on about 1/2 lb of muscle a month - so unless you're superwoman - I highly doubt the weight you've gained is a result of an increase in lean mass. I'd wager to say it is a combination of fat and water retention and a lot of crap stuck in your system ala food choices (lots of high fat foods and lots of sodium).

If you don't like the results you are getting, then you're going to have to re-evaluate the necessity of 'eating whatever you want'.
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Exactly what I'd say as well.

Your diet is not well balanced and when you start putting additional stress and strain on your body via increased exercise, you need more nutrients - not more food, more nutrients - than before.

Exercise is good for a variety of reasons, but what you eat is by far the most important part of losing weight. It's probably 80% or more of the equation.

If you really want to lose weight, then you have to rethink your eating habits. Eating junk food for lunch every day can't happen. EAting toast with jam for breakfast every day can't happen. Eating bread and butter for supper every day can't happen.

It's just a decision you have to make.
 
breakfast: two slices of wholemeal bread with jam and a glass of fresh milk

lunch: fried noodles or fast food (mcdonald's or pizza)

dinner: brown and white rice mix eaten with steamed fish, stir fried chicken and stir fried vegs

snacks/supper: butter bread twists (the kind from waitrose)/almonds/soy milk
Click to expand...

Wow lots of breads and grains.Try replacing all the grains and breads with good, fresh carbohydrates. I am a big advocate of the paleozoic diet.
 
I would second what Ajcurl is saying. Definitely axe those things like the butter bread twists and the pizza. Carbs made from refined white flour will put weight on the fastest as the body converts it directly into glucose and what does not get burned gets stored as fat. Also watch the fast food lunches, there are always lots of hidden calories there.
 
I would also agree with everything that everyone else has said. I would also ask another question....which is a little personal, but have your bowel movements changed at all? If they are less frequent, you may have some junk stuck in there. For that I would recommend a mild natural detox. They have some excellent detox teas at a natural foods store. The teas should have natural herbs or items like cranberry or ginger, etc.
Another thing I would recommend is a natural liver flush. This is a little hard to choke down, but it really does help flush out toxins from your liver.
If you have a blender, put in about a cup of orange juice, a teaspoon of fresh grated ginger, two tablespoons of olive oil, and a clove of garlic.
Just remember not to go overboard on the detox or liver flush. Once a week should be fine, and if you are not having regular bowel movements (two a day), then increase your fiber as well.
I wish you the best of luck in your journey!
 
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