Weight training immediately stalling weight loss?

[NYCypher]

As soon as I start working out with weights (like day 1) my weight loss stops or at least takes a long break. This has happened to me many times in my life.

I know I will start losing weight again very soon and I think I'm looking better over these last two weeks but my only real question is WHY DOES THIS HAPPEN?

I'm 34 years old, 6'3" 233lb (started at 250lbs)

I cut back my eating, nothing drastic and mix in some cardio. I drop water weight right away 5-10lbs in the first 3 days and then consistantly lose weight every week (1.5-4 lbs). Week 5 I started weight training and haven't lost a pound in 14 days! I'm keeping my calories in vs out right about the same all I did was add in about 15mins of weights every other day or so.

Info about me 

I log EVERYTHING - I rarely eat foods that I can't fully and accuratly log (ex chinese food). 

I have a 15% faster than average motabolism (according to my endocrinologist's breathing test)

I only log my lows on the scale - So I know when I've lost weight

I've been averaging -1300 calories per day by eating roughly 2300 cals and buring 3600 per day.

[Raviv]

I found the opposite - if I'm running, then I stop losing weight, but when I'm weight training, I do better.

How long have you been weight training this time around?  The first week or so, you typically won't show any weight loss, not because of muscle gain (it's not that fast) but because of stress to your muscles (which is a good thing).

Also, your weight will tend to be higher the day after a good workout, so if you work out on Monday morning, then Tuesday morning will not show any loss.  If you take that Tuesday as a rest day, then Wednesday morning will be a lot more accurate.

I don't know your workout schedule, but don't minimize the benefit of a rest day.  Work hard on your workout days, but don't do it every day or your muscles will never have the chance to recover and rebuild stronger.

One more thing - be wary of the calories burned while weight training.  It's one of those things that's really hard to quantify, so if your Fitbit says it's something like 600 calories for a 30 minute workout, then that's highly unlikely.  If it's telling you too many calories burned, then that could be a problem and throwing your net calories off.

[JadeenAshley]

a lot of times your body with hold onto water in the muscles when you start weight lifting, have you ever heard of that?

[NYCypher]

Thanks for your reply.

I haven't stopped much in the way of cardo, just stopped walking my dogs as much since it snowed but my calory count in and out has remained the same.

My weight can fluctuate about 5lbs in a day so I only log my low weight and I haven't seen a new low in 2 weeks now.

I don't log my "weight training" workouts with fitbit as they are not all that intense and are relativly short 15-25 minutes. Whatever my elevated heart rate translates into calories burned is what it is.

[NYCypher]

Yes JadeenAshley  Water retention was my best guess as to what was happening, I was wondering if anyone would say that.

[Mukluk4 · Accepted solution]

Yes, muscles will intake water as part of their repair process, part of why Creatine just after a workout is so effective.

What are you doing for your workouts?  How often?  Are you following a program or just winging it?

[JadeenAshley]

Hey , sorry this emailing is a little confusing lol can you message my
direct email at jadeenashley@gmail.com or find me on facebook messanger at
Jadeen Ashley from New Jersey - sorry much easier to communicate hahah!

[NYCypher]

I did P90X a few years ago and got in really good shape but with 2 kids now the time commitment is too much. So I do a lot of the same exercises.

[Dominique]

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@NYCypher wrote:

I did P90X a few years ago ... So I do a lot of the same exercises.

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Actually, the switch makes a lot of sense to me: P90X is based on the (IMO non-sensical) idea of "muscle confusion". OTOH, doing the same exercises (not necessarily forever, but at least for blocks of 3-4 weeks) will allow to monitor your progress. Efficient resistance training is based on the principle of progressive overload: how can you monitor your progress if you keep changing things up everyday (as per P90X)?  

[Dominique]

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@NYCypher wrote:

My weight can fluctuate about 5lbs in a day so I only log my low weight. 

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Everybody’s weight fluctuate intraday, mostly because of water. The solution to this is always weighing yourself first thing in the morning, after trip to the bathroom and before eating/drinking anything. This way you should have comparable weight data, especially since you’re a guy (for women, it’s more complicated, because of hormonal cycles).

What you may also want to log is measurements, especially your waistline: inches (centimeters) there are often more important than overall pounds (kilograms). A shrinking waistline is a sure sign of fat loss, even if your weight doesn’t change much.

In spite of the limitations inherent in the method used (BIA), body fat % can also be useful (if supported by your scale, eg. the Fitbit Aria). At least, this has been my own experience (with the Aria).

[Dominique]

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@NYCypher wrote:

I'm 34 years old, 6'3" 233lb (started at 250lbs)

I've been averaging -1300 calories per day by eating roughly 2300 cals and buring 3600 per day.

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How long did it take you to go from 250 to 233 lbs? Asking because a 1300 cal. deficit is very large. Granted, you had quite a lot to lose starting at 250 lbs (BMI: 31.2), but you can’t sustain a large deficit (or even a deficit at all) forever. It may be a good idea to eat at maintenance, or even at moderate surplus, for a couple of weeks before starting the next "cutting" phase. This will let your body recover from the stress induced by the continuous deficit. Your burning 3600 calories in average indicates (as per this calculator) you have a high activity level, although this is not visible in your public profile (only to friends). High activity is another source of stress to your body. This all adds up, sometimes more isn’t better.

Doing resistance training (weight lifting) is a good idea in any case, regardless of its immediate impact on weight: you won’t get fatter from merely lifting weights. If/when eating at a deficit, you should minimize muscle loss. If/when eating at a surplus, you should gain muscle (and maybe a little bit of fat too, but that shouldn’t be a concern in the long term).

All in all, I wouldn’t be worried about short term fluctuations in weight. What matters are longer term trends.

[NYCypher]

I've attached a screen shot of my weight loss. I know the first 7lbs is water but then my weight loss is pretty steady until Jan 15th when I started doing some free weights (15-25 minutes 2 out of 3 days)

At 250lb I'm over weight but most people don't think so. At 233 where I am know people think I'm in good shape but I have a decent gut. I think I probably need to lose another 20 of fat and gain 15 in mustle to be where I want.

My fat seems to go away from my face and extremities first and my core is always last. My body type at the moment is that of an out of shape athlete but according to BMI I just got out of the obese range a couple weeks ago. While I know I wasn't in shape at 250lbs it would be laughable to call me Obese.

Also I always weigh in just as you described, in the morning before food, after bathroom.

[NYCypher]

I woke up this morning at the same 233 which prompted me to start this thread but I just got off the elliptical for an hour and weighed myself and Bang! 229.5 - Now I know its not the most accurate weight since I just sweat out all that water but at least its a new low 

[JadeenAshley]

have you ever done any of the new ones? I do the 21 day fix and it's only
30 minute exercises so with kids its more doable!!

[JadeenAshley]

I do a lot of at home work outs, I work and commute about 3 hours a day so
by the time i am home i can NOT get to a gym, they have helped me get in
more shape then the gym believe it or not!

[Dominique]

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@NYCypher wrote:

My body type at the moment is that of an out of shape athlete but according to BMI I just got out of the obese range a couple weeks ago. While I know I wasn't in shape at 250lbs it would be laughable to call me Obese.

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Yes, BMI mostly applies to the general population, but not to individual people with an athletic build. For instance, this Fitbit friend of mine would be borderline obese according to BMI (BMI: 29.8):

So if you are tall, have large bones and carry a lot of muscle, BMI shouldn’t be used to evaluate what your optimal weight should be.

[Dominique]

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NYCypher wrote:

OK, so your 250 -> 233 lbs weight loss occured in less than 4 weeks (26 days). That’s more than 4 lbs per week, which is a lot. I don’t think it would be wise to attempt to have the next 17 lbs weight drop also occuring in less than 4 weeks. Better take more time and be more gentle on your body, this would most likely make your weight loss more sustainable too.

The fact that your weight loss stopped just as you started to introduce weight lifting is probably just a coincidence. For one thing, I don’t think 15-25 minutes would be long enough to have any noticeable impact, no matter how heavy stuff and how intensively you’re lifting. More likely you hit a plateau that you would have hit without the weight lifting.

Even with great genetics, you’ll have a hard time building 15 pounds of muscle with 1 to 1.5 hour of weight lifting per week, especially with a very aggressive deficit. Could be a good idea to reallocate the time you’re dedicating to exercise: less steps (15 to 20k per day consumes a lot of time), longer lifting sessions. Granted, this will burn less calories, but you can afford to reduce your current deficit. Your weight/fat loss will be slower, but why be in a hurry? 

[NYCypher]

The first 7lbs was just water weight. This rate of weight loss is actually
me trying to do it in a sustainable way. I used to try to do the elliptical
for an hour a day and eat 1300-1800 calories per day with the occasional
binge of 3000-4000. This resulted in me losing a bit over .5lbs a day. I
would drop 30-40lbs and then slowly put it back on over the year and once I
hit 250lbs do it all over again.

But fitbit has shown me that I burn enough calories in a day that I don't
need to be nearly as drastic. I no longer feel deprived allowing myself to
much larger amounts. I'm really excited to see what this leads to because it
feels like something I can do long term.

[NYCypher]

I should give it a try. I guess I've been resistent to it because I felt like p90x was/is great and all the other videos were just a new way to make money but its just not possible to do 1-2 hours aday with p90x the way my life is now.

[KrazyManDan]

I haven't done P90X, but I have done P90X3 and really liked it. Especially since all the workouts are only 30 minutes (some are closer to 35 with the cool down period) and there is a good variety.