# weight gain question



## ralph1968 (Dec 30, 2007)

My wife recently started a boot camp 3 days a week one hour per session. It is intense cardio and strength training. since starting 3 weeks ago she is gaining weight? Is this the norm? She has gone up a pants size. Is this normal to start and gain weight? She is getting discouraged due to the weight gain. When will she see results?


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## CleavesF (Dec 31, 2007)

Depends what this extra weight is. If it's fat, it's bad. If it's muscle, its good. 

Sometimes you have to build muscle to burn the fat, and you'll gain weight for some time and get bigger. Once you're "built" the fat will burn off and your weight will go down. 

Remember everyone's body is different, as well as perceived effort in training and exercise. If she gives it her all and really follows instruction, she's on her way. If she's half assing it and saying she's doing her best, she's getting fat. You can't drink protein shakes, carb load if you don't give the effort to burn it. 

Really look at her diet. Intense cardio and strength training should be supplemented with loads of lean protein. I hope she likes poultry and beans.


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## ColoradoVeloDude (Oct 7, 2005)

ralph1968 said:


> My wife recently started a boot camp 3 days a week one hour per session. It is intense cardio and strength training. since starting 3 weeks ago she is gaining weight? Is this the norm? She has gone up a pants size. Is this normal to start and gain weight? She is getting discouraged due to the weight gain. When will she see results?



Her body is probably freaking out at the intensity of the exercising and stressing out. When stressed, our bodies secrete a hormone (cortisol?) that tells the body to keep everything because of the perceived danger -- water, calories, food, etc.

Could be a lot of fluid retention too. If she's drinking a lot of water and her body isn't used to processing a large amounts, then this could be a cause too.

Ditto the examination of the diet. Maybe her brain is telling her to eat more because of the exercise. Too much salt will cause water retention too (careful with that fast food and other restaurant food) 

Does she have food cravings right after exercise? Recovery food is a good idea, but don't over do it. Maybe a protein bar (METRX, PowerBar, others) or a glass of the many recovery drinks out there will help. Eat right after the training session and also drink a big glass of water along with it.

My wife always gains weight when she starts to get into a regular training program. Then it tapers off and the weight loss begins after the body adjusts to the new workload and lessens the stress. 

One other thought is to go to one of the many (free) websites that have base metabolic calculators (note: you shouldn't have to pay for this -- there are many free sites). Take measurements of height and weight and perceived level of activity and the calculator will tell you the caloric intake required to operate the body for a day -- do it a couple of ways so you get a range of caloric needs from sitting still to very active. Then look at the diet and what is being consumed. That will tell you where the holes and extra calories are sneaking in. Also, you might want to adjust the diet overall a bit -- a good guideline is that a plate of food has 1/4 meat, 1/4 starch, and 1/2 veggies if you divide up in a pie shape. 

Note that you don't have to be a monk at this, just be reasonable in your eating. The reason that a lot of diets like Atkins work is because meat is a lot less calorie dense than carbohydrates. A serving of steak may have 200 or so calories but the same amount of carbohydrate (i.e., donut) may have 400 or 500. Look at a bag of peanut M&M's - you'll be surprised at the size of the bag and the calorie whallop that is in there (yeah, I know, one ginormous bag says two serving, we all know there is only one in that bag!)

Also, bodies are very sensitive to changes in diet and activity. Try to lose weight and your body will rebel by trying to keep the weight up. So, it has to be fooled a bit to do the weight loss gradually. Exercise is a great way to burn up the excess.

Tell your wife to hang in there. This is a journey and not a destination. It'll turn around eventually. 

Good luck!


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## Loraura (Jun 30, 2008)

What's she eating?

Just upping the exersize won't cause weight loss if she's compensating with extra calories.

You can 'reward' yourself for a hard workout with more calories than you earned, which results in weight gain.

How long has she been doing this new workout plan? 

Perhaps her weight NORMALLY flectuates during this period of time, and she just notices it now becuase she's on the scale every day. My weight flectuates up or down 3-5 pounds with food remaining the same (weighed and measured for accuracy) depending on hormone cycles.

I'd start with weighing/measureing food intake, and writing everything down. Calories sneak in on me, especially if I am estimating my intake.

If I were weighing/measureing my meals, and working out, and still gaining weight, then I'd try cutting more calories.

If I did that and STILL gained, I'd go see my doctor or a nutritionist.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Intense training can make your appetite go nuts. If she's eating more calories than she burns, then she'll gain weight.


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## ColoradoVeloDude (Oct 7, 2005)

Yes, which is why to go and computer your basic metabolic rate. If you eat more calories than your body needs to keep it operate, the excess is going to get stored away. If you eat less, then your body is going to tap into the excesses of before (i.e., fat) and you'll lose weight. Be careful though, if the exercise gets too intense, your body will start taking calories away from your muscles instead of your fat stores. This is accomplished in the aerobic zone, about 70% to 80% of max heart rate. Also, as muscle is constructed, more calories are burned because it takes more calories to maintain muscle than fat. The recipe is simple:

1) Burn more calories than you ingest
2) Be sensible of what you eat
3) Have a reasonable snack ready for after the workout so you don't get an attack of the munchies like some stoner
4) Stay away from the fast food - and most restaurant food for that manner**
5) Water instead of soda -- even diet soda 
6) Stretch after the workouts

** You don't have to live like a monk. Just be reasonable. Don't quit eating out, just don't do it numerous times a week. You can afford to have one day a week where you can just go and plain binge without doing too much damage to your progress. If your mind isn't happy, the rest of your body picks up on the mood and no progress is made. To gain one pound required the ingestion of something like 3,500 calories. That's like 4.5 Big Macs. I think you would get sick before you had too much food on a binge day. Even a big big breakfast (eggs, bacon, potatoes), lunch (the whole value meal thing), and big dinner (steak, potato, veggies, a few drinks) would probably put you into the 4,000 to 5,000 calorie range for the day. If you do good the other six days of the week, you still are maintaining a net loss calorie wise. 

You might also want to have your wife get a fat analysis (most personal trainer places will do them for a nominal fee). This is where they measure various places on your body, use a machine, or calipers and calculate the percent of body fat. 

Get your wife out on a bike or skiing. Both of these burn upwards of 600 to 800 calories an hour.


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## iliveonnitro (Feb 19, 2006)

I think it's worth it to have her get a body fat test done. Not a pinch test, but something more accurate like in the pool. Many gyms can do this -- all of them in universities can. It's usually between $150-300.

The second thought is that she is obviously eating more than she used to...but is it more than what she is burning in the class? An "intense" 60min cardio session is still probably only burning 500-600 calories...not including rest time.


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## Welles (Aug 19, 2008)

It could be muscle gain. The bootcamp probably includes a lot of lower body work to burn mass calories, so pants may be tight because quads, hamstrings, glutes grew. Is her shape changing? Smaller waist, bigger but firmer legs and butt? Some low to medium intensity cardio might help burn through the fat, without increasing appetite too much. Maybe a nightly walk, jog, or ride with her hubby.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

No one can gain that much muscle in 3 weeks (unless you've got some "pharmaceutical" help), especially not women. 

Also, when performed properly by someone who is good at it, skinfold measurements are just as valid/reliable as underwater weighing.


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## Welles (Aug 19, 2008)

*Variety in female body types, quick muscle gain is possible.*

I took a little offense at the suggestion that women can't go up a pant size due to muscle gain in 3 weeks without drugs. Women have a variety of body types and genetics has an effect on muscle gain as well as gender. Some women have the genetics to gain muscle quickly in response to training. I have gained enough muscle in weeklong cycling trips in the mtns so that my pants didn't fit around my quads and glutes, but my waist was noticeably smaller. Ditto for 3 weeks of swim training and bras not fitting around my back. Though the Olympic women we see on tv have undoubtedly trained for years, their bodies undeniably show that females can gain large amounts of muscle and sculpt their bodies in response to their training regimen. 
We all have different body types and it takes a bit to get to know them. The woman in question may have gained muscle, fat, water-who knows. A body fat test is a good idea, as is assessing the changes in her body shape and firmness, and maintaining a healthy diet.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

Welles- 

I gain muscle easily as well (how do you think I got the nickname "brick house"? ), but from my exercise physiology knowledge, I know that a normal, otherwise healthy woman just can't that much muscle in three weeks. It's likely that the enlarging of your legs on long cycling trips was due to inflammation. 

I don't mean any offense to anyone, I'm just trying to clue people in on the physiology facts.


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## Welles (Aug 19, 2008)

I thought she gained enough to go up a pant size in 3 weeks. That's not impossible.


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