Dozens of newcomers flood into gyms in their neighborhood every year around January 1st to begin their new lease on life and finally lose the extra weight they’ve been meaning to lose for years. Over the next 4-6 weeks, the cardio machines and group ex classes are packed, until it slowly dies back down to the gym regulars nearing the beginning of March. Out of every 100 people who sign up for a gym membership, only about 3 continue to go consistently one year later. The first three months of starting a new program are the most difficult to stay engaged. My belief is that most people get discouraged shortly after starting, because they are not seeing the results they were hoping for at all. If you have ever gained weight after starting an exercise program, you are not alone. Most people gain weight when they begin exercising before they lose weight. Not only is this discouraging, but it leads many to believe that something is inherently wrong with them, and that they will never be able to shed the pounds. I want you to know that there is nothing wrong with you, and there are several reasons as to why you’re not losing weight when you exercise.
The idea that exercise alone is an effective method to lose weight is wrong, and it is a belief even most fitness professionals hold. The truth is that exercise alone has repeatedly proven itself to not be an effective method, and by telling people that it is, we as fitness professionals are doing the public a disservice.
If you google why you gain weight after starting an exercise program, most sources that pop up will say that it is due to muscle gain. Muscle is several times heavier and denser than fat, and it is true that if you were to gain 5 pounds of muscle and lose 5 pounds of fat, you would go down in size. The problem is that you don’t put a considerable amount of muscle on within the first couple months of starting a new exercise program, so the weight you initially gain probably isn’t muscle weight either.
So if the weight gain isn’t muscle, then what is it? For the first 24-48 hours after a tough workout, the weight gain is probably water weight. When you exercise, you create tiny micro tears in the muscle, which then need to be repaired. This repeated process of reparation is what causes muscle gain over time. To repair the micro tears, your body retains more water than usual and floods the torn muscles. The inflammation is what causes soreness, but it is also a sign that your body is healing itself. This weight gain is temporary, and only lasts a few days or until your next workout.
The next prevailing reason why we gain weight when we exercise, is because we overeat. The sudden increase in energy expenditure from exercise makes us considerably hungrier. The problem is, we tend to eat more energy than we expend during exercise, causing us to gain weight. It is particularly easy when eating recovery food post workout to go overboard, or to drink your burned calories in sports drinks during your workout. This effect is only compounded if you’re someone who is also sleep deprived. I have seen clients who try to track the number of calories burned during their workout by using the calorie counter on their machine or their fitness watch, and consume a lesser number of calories after their workout, accordingly. This rarely works either, as those calorie counters give very rough estimates and can overestimate your calorie burn by up to 30%.
If you are disappointed by what you’ve just read, don’t give up on exercise. A consistent combination of nutrition and exercise together DOES lead to weight loss, and there are so many reasons as to why you should exercise otherwise. My advice is to think of exercise as a hobby to stay healthy, not as an obligation to reap the benefits of weights loss. As soon as your mindset turns to “I have to get through these push-ups or I’m going to stay fat”, you’ve already lost the battle. Exercise to get strong, gain confidence, and manage stress - not to lose weight. If you exercise to lose weight you will only become discouraged, especially in the beginning, and may become blind sighted to the immense progress you’ve already made to your health overall.