Thread: SW + exercise = weight gain?

I have been on SW for six months and have only managed lose 18lbs

Since this time I have also been exercising on and off and the weeks I have done plenty of exercise I have gained weight

Last week I had a fab SW week, swam 3 times and was really hopeful to get my 1 and 1/2 stone award. (Needed to lose 1 1/2 lb.) I was absolutely gutted to have gained 1 1/2 lb and was so ready to throw in the towel.

At the moment I am loving the exercise and have started a running programme at the gym and feel more confident with the exercise than I do with SW.

Does anyone else feel like this, I am really not seeing the point of continuing with SW if I get weight gains with exercise or over time, should this start to show?

I have done SW over many years to know how the plan works so its not that I don't know what to eat etc.

I am really confused with the whole SW and exercise thing, I hear so many conflicting stories!!

Excersize can increase muscle density are you looking smaller clothes wise without the weight measurement???

Hya ive bin doing sw for nearly 8 weeks and have lost nearly 2 stone with out much exercise.. My bf is in the middle of training for strong man comps and I knw that muscle weighs more than fat so if your excess weight is toneing up you maybe getting more muscular lol, soon be like jodie marsh lol

Yes, I can notice it in clothes on my bottom half, my jeans are currently a size 18, whereas I was a 20-22 but I think thats cos of the lbs I've lost!

I have a long journey ahead of me, I have about 8 stone still to lose.

there you go.. I never weigh myself and always go by how my clothes feel and how i look in the mirror!

i want to loose another 4stone, lost 2 nearly but it takes time, Patience and determination! My bf supports me but will still sit and eat a pack of biscuits etc infront of me lol.. But as for putting on weight u may notice u have lost inch,s from places on your body and not lost many lbs

The muscle weighing more than fat is a myth... a pound of muscle and a pound of fat... both weigh a pound lol

I've had the same thing recently. I've upped my exercise and had a STS this week even though I look smaller... C'est la vie. I'm probably burning fat and building lean muscle at the same time, hence a STS. It'll pay off in the long run.

A pound of fat does indeed weigh the same as a pound of muscle but it takes up a whole lot more room!

I sometimes find lots of exercise is detrimental to my weight loss on the scales but the improvement in my clothes & my fitness levels is a good pay off! Keep at it, make sure you drink plenty of fluids.

Do your waist, hip and bust measurements and then check them in a months time. I knew someone that did closer with very little weight loss, but big measurent loss

Hi

Def do measuremnents as everyone has suggested. I use clothes that are a bit too small to gauge my inch loss (very satisfying when trousers finally zip and fasten). Once I fit into one pair I move onto another pair trousers.

You have still lost nearly 1/3rd of a 1lb a week which I think is really good. Stick to plan but perhaps focus on your fitness goals as good motivation. I would say drink lots as this will stop water retention that exercise can cause, perhaps inc more calcium rich foods to help your muscles.

Before I had my first child I lost 3+ st with diet and lots of exercise/weights - I felt I looked nice and toned/pleased with body shape. After his birth (3st had gone back on as ate for Britain as soon as I found out I was pregnant and stopped all exercise). I lost the weigh again but this time just with diet, when I got to my pre baby weight I still couldn't fit into the clothes I had worn and my body shape looked lumpy and not very nice. So I gave up just put the wieght on again and had another baby. This time Im doing it with exercise, Iv only lost about 10lb but my body is looking leaner and more shapely thanks to the exercise and I feel good. Plus I found before when I finally shifted all the weight I discovered I had rather nicely defined muscles under all the flab.

Are you sure you are eating enough to fuel all the exercise? I know slimming world is not about calorie counting but I was really struggling to lose anything so I joined weight watchers to learn portion control turns out what I considered a portion was about half the amount of an actual portion. On My Fitness Pal it works out a number of calories per day, when you exercise it adds them back on for you to still have to eat them to hit your minimum calories a day to lose weight (gives you the option of losing 1lb a week or 2lb a week). There were days when I was nowhere near half of the calories I needed for the day because it was nearly all superfree foods I was eating. Hugs Crystal xx

Wow, I have found this really interesting. I lost a lot of weight years ago with SW, & didn't excercise at the time, but joined a gym once I got to target. I know I look a lot better when I excercise, regardless of relative weight. Now I'm trying to get back to target after a lapse & have been exercising regularly at the same time - and have been surprised at how slow the weight loss has been. Never thought I might not be eating enough to fuel the excercise. Food for thought!

Originally Posted by xMandyDx

The muscle weighing more than fat is a myth... a pound of muscle and a pound of fat... both weigh a pound lol

It's not a myth, its just that everybody alway describes it wrong. Of course a pound of fat / muscle / feathers all WEIGH the same but but they have different densities - if you use the same VOLUME of fat / muscle / feathers (eg a litre, or a shoebox or whatever) the muscle would weigh more than the fat which would weigh more than the feathers.

Muscle is more dense so weighs more by volume. You can weigh 14 stone and take up I dunno, a size 12. Then exercise for a few weeks and you might still weigh 14 stone but be a size 10 because the muscle takes up less space than the fat did, it's more dense.

Fab explanation Ermintrude! I've written before that my weight has plateaued for a couple of months now. Occasionally I lose half pound then put it on and am really not going anywhere! However during that time, I've lost inches everywhere and at 10 stone 6, I'm starting to get into size 10 clothes. I do a lot of running each week and one intense weights session but I can really feel the difference.

I'm just having to accept that the weight may stick, but the inch loss is still going easily in the right direction.

Thank you all for a really interesting thread, it has prompted my first ever post :0)

My weight loss has been a bit slower than I would like since I got back on the wagon in January. My clothes definitely feel looser but the scales hadn't reflected it (that said, I've shifted 17lb now so I'm probably just impatient.)

Anyway, I broke my toe two weeks ago so had to miss my usual 3 classes at the gym last week and had a loss of 5.5lb when I weighed myself on Monday.

Trying to get back into classes this week so will be interested to see the results next week.

Definitely something to think about. Thanks again