Why is it so much easier to put on weight than it is to lose it?!

Mars Bar

It's so disheartening that one week of working out and losing 2lbs is undone by beers and a Chinese for a 21st birthday.

Jumping on the weighing scale today and seeing it was really disheartening.

Just wanted to rant!

Frogdog

mars bar wrote: »

It's so disheartening that one week of working out and losing 2lbs is undone by beers and a Chinese for a 21st birthday.

Jumping on the weighing scale today and seeing it was really disheartening.

Just wanted to rant!

More than likely beers and a Chinese did not undo your hard work from the week before.

Example, a few weeks ago, I was 86 kilos. I kept to a strict calorie controlled diet, went to the gym etc. and didn't lose a gram of weight after weighing myself at the end of the week. The next week I ate a few cheat meals and missed the gym on one of the three days I usually go and I weighed myself at the end of the week and lost half a kilo.

marathonic

Agreed. When I work hard at the gym, some weeks I loose nothing and others it's between 1 and 3 pounds.

When I weigh myself after a weekend of drinking and eating crap, I usually weight more than when the week of hard work started, however, this weight quickly drops when I stick at it - as in, by the end of the week, I'm the same weight as before (or lighter).

Roger Marbles

Part of the problem is that weighing scales are a rather poor method of tracking weight loss. Seeing as your body is mostly water, changes in hydration can have a profound effect on measurements. A bit of measuring tape can go a long way.

metamorphosis

Id agree with the above and id also try to remember that weight loss is not linear at all times. One great week doesn't automatically mean a loss. Go by the fit of clothes, monthly pics and a measure tape

Mellor

I had a big weekend of excess last year, lots of drinking, out all night the whole weekend.
I weighed in 2kg less

I've had really strict week and gone up on the scales.
Hydration is huge, it taked 30 seconds to add a kilo to your weight via a bit of water

Jesus Wept

Depends on the person. Putting on weight can be very difficult.

Transform

metamorphosis wrote: »

Id agree with the above and id also try to remember that weight loss is not linear at all times. One great week doesn't automatically mean a loss. Go by the fit of clothes, monthly pics and a measure tape

totally agree - people think that just because they have ONE decent week or heck a month of eating healthier and moving about more that the weight is just going to fall off them.

It takes practice, persistence and dogged determination to get fat so why would it be any different to drop the weight??

plus most people have no idea how many calories are in certain foods e.g. a latte roughly every day for a year would put you almost a stone heavier at the end of a year if this was added to a perfectly balanced intake.

eco2live

Its the salt in the food that causes water retention. Thats why it comes on and goes off quickly.

Amtmann

I have to say, for me, fat (as opposed to weight) is very easy to put on but also extremely easy to lose. I can easily lose 1kg per week, sometimes more, without too much effort.

SJM

I find that it takes about 3 days or so for any effort (good or bad) to show up. So if I exercise the results show 2-3 days later, same with eating too much.

Transform

eco2live wrote: »

Its the salt in the food that causes water retention. Thats why it comes on and goes off quickly.

thats total BS

eco2live

Transform wrote: »

thats total BS

You are mistaken. Google it. Its all over the place. Surprised you did not know that. Not at all BS.

I should have said the salt in Junk food. Are you saying that after junk food you can put on 2lbs or more of fat. Thats not possible. It is water.

Mars Bar

Thanks guys, I feel so much better now! I suppose I shouldn't be jumping the scales so often but it's there in the gym so curiosity gets the better of me.

I do an hour in the gym of weights and stretches and I cycle at least 40 minutes a day and it was nice to see that I lost about a kilo in one week. I'll keep working at it and try and stay away from the scales until Saturday.

Roger Marbles

eco2live wrote: »

You are mistaken. Google it. Its all over the place. Surprised you did not know that. Not at all BS.

I should have said the salt in Junk food. Are you saying that after junk food you can put on 2lbs or more of fat. Thats not possible. It is water.

Yeah it may be water, but it's not sodium that is causing increased water retention unless there is some abnormality of the renin-aldosterone system.

xgtdec

I know its tough to stay away from scales....on my first fat burn session i weighed myself EVERY morning.......and drove myself demented:p

Now i just get caliper tested every 6 weeks and it gives a decent way of tracking whats going up or down........no more dementia for me.....its tough but give it a go!

Mars Bar

xgtdec wrote: »

I know its tough to stay away from scales....on my first fat burn session i weighed myself EVERY morning.......and drove myself demented:p

Now i just get caliper tested every 6 weeks and it gives a decent way of tracking whats going up or down........no more dementia for me.....its tough but give it a go!

I weigh myself before and after gym sessions because you pass the weighing scale!

It's mad because I'm doing weights and if I'm building muscle, I won't be seeing too much change in the scales as it weighs more than fat. Not doing myself any favours!

What's caliper testing?

xgtdec

Caliper testing is where someone who knows what they are doing(not me)....pinches you in certain areas around the body with a calipers like the one seen here

Although the one used on me seem to have like a pressure gauge on it

Then as part of a calculation it gives you a reading of your % body fat

So say you did it now....and kept up your muscle build for 6 weeks...it would give you some good feedback as to how your building is going and %'s and the like

This is all as far as i know:rolleyes:..i stand to be corrected on any of it!

Adelie

mars bar wrote: »

I weigh myself before and after gym sessions because you pass the weighing scale!

It's mad because I'm doing weights and if I'm building muscle, I won't be seeing too much change in the scales as it weighs more than fat. Not doing myself any favours!

What's caliper testing?

If you want a simple way to track progress yourself, use a measuring tape and track your waist measurement (about an inch over your bellybutton, or the slimmest part). It's slower progress, probably you'll have to lose a few pounds of fat to lose an inch, but it's a really reliable indicator of losing fat. Personally it's my only measure of "slimness" and if my weight goes up while my waist measurement stays the same, I'd actually be happy - it's probably muscle, or at least it will only improve my figure.

Mars Bar

I'd be scared getting that done! :eek:

Mellor

mars bar wrote: »

I weigh myself before and after gym sessions because you pass the weighing scale!

It's mad because I'm doing weights and if I'm building muscle, I won't be seeing too much change in the scales as it weighs more than fat. Not doing myself any favours!

What's caliper testing?

You aren't going to see much fat/muscle change over the course of a session, any weight change is lost water due to sweat. It's not hard to drop a kilo, you should be replacing this by drinking

You won't build any muscle while in the gym, its built during rest later as you recover

You won't lose any fat either, you are burning food energy or muscle stores. Fat is burnt at various times when they are both low/depleted. Easily during sleep or the next day.

Water weight isn't caused by salt in junk food. Sometimes, for some people, you need to make sure you get enough salt/electrolytes so that you body can hold on to its water/liquids.

seanybiker

I'm backwards. Trying for years to put on weight and finally got to where I wanted a few months back then a week later I was down a bit.