Short-term weight gain from overdoing exercise?

[MichelleAkers]

Can anyone shed any light on this for me?

I just spent four days packing boxes and hauling 'em down a bunch of steep, narrow stairs. And living essentially on Atkins bars. (Yeah, I know, FAR from good -- but all of this was apropos of a close friend having committed suicide 9 days ago. I didn't hit the Haagen Dazs aisle, or any other carbs, for that matter... so I'm not going to give myself ANY grief about Atkins bars.)

So, I worked myself into the ground. Pretty stiff and sore. Probably got about 3000-3500 calories a day and 30-40 net carbs, as I said most of it in Atkins bars... so no sugar alcohols, but lots of glycerin. Probably lots less sodium than I normally get (I'm a saltmonger).

Wasn't dehydrated, but I wasn't drinking as much as usual.

Not constipated. (Not with all that glycerin, LOL!)

And in 4 days I gained 6+ pounds.

Now, I just KNOW this has to be something to do with stiff, sore, overworked muscles hanging onto a bunch of fluid. Or something. Figuring in a couple days it's going to drop right back off. But meanwhile -- can anyone actually, like, explain this??? (I'm not alarmed, just mystified.)

Thanks!

-- Michelle

[laughingW]

Briefest article ever from Men's Fitness. Add the heavy exercise to the water retention from dehydration:

Weight-training bloat - Instant Size - water retention at beginning of exercise programme - Brief Article

Men's Fitness (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/), May, 2002 (http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1608/is_5_18/)


IF YOU'RE JUST starting out on a weight-training regimen, don't be surprised if you happen to gain three or four pounds in the first few days. No, this doesn't mean that you'll look like you have a gland problem by the end of the week. Inflammation can make muscles enlarge and swell, trapping water in the muscles, says William Kraemer, Ph.D., an exercise scientist and professor at the University of Connecticut, in the Georgia Tech Sports Medicine & Performance Newsletter.

Also, Kraemer adds, your muscle cells naturally uptake water after a workout.

[MichelleAkers]

Okay -- BINGO! Thank you!!!

-- Michelle

[isisrose]

Stress may also be a factor, if I understand it correctly it raises cortisol levels and that can cause some weight gain. I wouldn't beat myself up too much on it and just keep moving forward.

[Sharvo]

Entirely avoiding the how-long-to-make-muscle-and-muscle-weighs-more-than-fat-thing my experience with the Day Break and Ingulgence bars was:

Early days on PP while I was still fighting cravings and a couple binge-y times after that I have had up to 3 in a day. What I noticed was
* I definitely gained weight from water retention plus
* (hope this is not too much information) the alcohol sugars seemed to pull liquid to the bowel as part of the laxitive effect.
So there seemed to be a double-whammy for weight gain.

After a few days of abstinance the effects would wear off and my weight came down. Overall, depending on the calories, carbs etc, my weightloss over that period tended to stall.

Sounds like maybe you've experienced both - gain of muscle (which weighs more than fat) and water. Let us know what happens over the next week.

Good health,
Sharvo

[maxlharris]

What LaughingW said.

And Atkins Bars. I have said everything I have to say about how bad a choice they are. I would eat them instead of bread, or sugar, but if I were interested in improving my health, they are a marginal improvement over carbage. And the glycerine, they will cause you to retain water.

[nougat]

so sorry for the sad loss of your friend.

[isisrose]

Entirely avoiding the how-long-to-make-muscle-and-muscle-weighs-more-than-fat-thing my experience with the Day Break and Ingulgence bars was:

Early days on PP while I was still fighting cravings and a couple binge-y times after that I have had up to 3 in a day. What I noticed was
* I definitely gained weight from water retention plus
* (hope this is not too much information) the alcohol sugars seemed to pull liquid to the bowel as part of the laxitive effect.
So there seemed to be a double-whammy for weight gain.

After a few days of abstinance the effects would wear off and my weight came down. Overall, depending on the calories, carbs etc, my weightloss over that period tended to stall.

Sounds like maybe you've experienced both - gain of muscle (which weighs more than fat) and water. Let us know what happens over the next week.

Good health,
Sharvo

Actually muscle doesn't weigh more than fat...a pound of anything weighs a pound. It just takes up less space for the same amount of weight. For instance a Brick that weighs a pound is going to take up a lot less space than a pound of feathers, but both will still weigh a pound.

[Roadstr]

Actually muscle doesn't weigh more than fat...a pound of anything weighs a pound. It just takes up less space for the same amount of weight. For instance a Brick that weighs a pound is going to take up a lot less space than a pound of feathers, but both will still weigh a pound.

I always thought that feathers weighed more than bricks, hmmm, goes to show what I know. :rolleyes: However, muscle is more dense than fat and muscle will weigh more given the same volume. Guess that's what everyone understands anyway... just thought I would put it out there.

When Dr. Kramer said, "Inflammation can make muscles enlarge and swell, trapping water in the muscles" when one first starts out on weight-training regimen he probably wasn't referring to the regimen as eating Atkin's bars and carrying boxes! LOL! Perhaps you gained because a little more muscle was added and eating 3,500 calories of junk added a little more fat.