When I exercise, I don’t lose weight. But when I stop exercising and just eat less, I lose weight

[shivang]

@woollybear Hey!! I’m literally going through the same exact thing. I’m 4”11 so not too far off from you, and not a lot of calories to work with either. I lost like 20-25 pounds this past year and I didn’t work out either, I just ate less. I was thinner and got a lot of compliments too, and it did make me feel good too, because I had never been thin like this before. I started strength training January 10th, but have actually been consistent for the past 4 weeks, and I’m eating so much more too because I’m also trying to hit a certain protein goal. I also gained about 10 pounds and it put me into a spiral, in the back of my mind I knew you’re not supposed to look at the numbers on the scale but I also used it as a reference, because I still wanted to be thin, just build some muscle because my legs were too skinny. What has helped me is thinking about the fact that since I’m now in a high protein diet, yes I’m going to weigh more. Protein takes longer to digest, and it’s in our body longer. Also going from barely eating to actually eating meals with certain macros is a drastic change, it’s normal to gain some weight, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing. Maybe our bodies needed it. Some of it could be water weight, since we’re working out and drinking way more water. If you started strength training like 4-6 weeks ago It could also be water retention that our bodies will eventually adjust to. My weight has been fluctuating like crazy. On Saturday I woke up and was 105lbs, later that night i was 110. Next morning I was 108lbs. Yesterday i was 105lbs when I woke up. This morning I was 107lbs. I was really close to giving up going to the gym too, and go back to just eating less and being thin, but I’m determined to get stronger and actually love my body, don’t give up! I hope I was able to give some reassurance. I’m still a beginner and learning about nutrition and our bodies. These are just things some people on this subreddit have told me, and things I have read, they honestly helped me a lot!

 

[078956]

@woollybear Not sure how old you are, but I’m 33 and I’ve had this issue before. Age has shown a difference though with things. In my late 20s I just dieted for 6 months and looked very slim, was sitting at 108lbs. At 32 I was 102lbs and looked skinny fat. That was without diet or exercise.

Your body will adjust where the fat muscle goes as you age. The scale can really be less relevant to how your body looks. It’s okay to eat a little less to drop lbs, but defining the muscle and helping your body sculpt appropriately is okay too.

I’m just recently starting back with cleaning eating in smaller portions, cardio and yoga. Going to add more strength in next month after sticking with the habit. A weird trick that always helped my belly feel flat in the morning though was to take biotin right before bed. Idk why, but it worked for me.

 

[cosmobrain]

@woollybear Do you think maybe there's something in the extra protein diet that's causing some bloating? How long did the weight gain take place?

 

[woollybear]

@cosmobrain Maybe. It was one week I noticed my stomach having slightly more belly fat. Probably only a pound or two of belly fat but I pay attention and notice.

I drink fair life core power protein shakes maybe it’s the dairy??

 

[pitterricherd]

@woollybear It's not belly fat, it's bloating.

 

[sweetkf]

@woollybear Try cutting the shakes. They have crappy thickeners that cause bloating (carrageenan). I’m the same way and had to cut them out completely and it made a huge huge difference. I started leaning back out quickly.

 

[woollybear]

@sweetkf Damn. What about vegan protein shakes that are plant based?

 

[sweetkf]

@woollybear I dunno. I don’t drink pre-mixed anymore due to the thickeners and use oat milk without them.

 

[shadowd]

@sweetkf I have had a similar experience with this recently!

 

[ayakuro]

@woollybear A pound of fat is 3500 calories. It’s pretty hard to lose a pound of fat in a week—you’d need to be in a strict 500 cal/day deficit.

That goes the other way too—you’d need to eat 500 cals a day over maintenance every day for a week to gain a whole pound of fat and it’s very, very unlikely you’d gain 1-2 lbs in one spot aka belly fat.

Similarly, exercise will not make your belly flat and/or the opposite, you cannot spot reduce especially in a week. Your likely problem is what you’re eating and the bloat it causes, and maybe some water retention from changes to your activity.

In general you will not ever see or keep results without consistency. This isn’t about exercise vs diet, it’s about not being consistent. Life happens and consistency is hard, because life is wild and sometimes we don’t have time to work out and other times food choices are hard, so this isn’t inherently a problem—but it’s most likely the bottom line for these particular changes.

I don’t have a period so I don’t know much here but, that changes things too. Depending on the week women will carry a bit more water and/or bloat.

It’s also worth nothing that women have organs and “flat” stomachs are pretty difficult to achieve. Women who do achieve that sort of aesthetic through exercise and diet have genetics on their side, and most likely a temporary diet or something equally unsustainable. In your case it sounds like you maybe didn’t eat very much for a couple weeks (unsustainable) and then increased calories and changed your while hitting the gym. Some changes are to be expected. If that’s the lifestyle you plan to keep up with and it’s sustainable, then you’ll level off in a couple weeks with consistency.

 

[georgehay]

@ayakuro I mean, no offence but I don’t really agree with your last paragraph at all. If it’s so difficult why do I know so many thin women with flat stomachs that have been thin their whole lives? They’re not some unicorn, they are literally everywhere.

 

[ayakuro]

@georgehay Because of genetics. That’s literally it. It’s a combination of body fat percentage, where you carry your weight, and the location of your organs and condition of muscles. Sure exercise and diet can help but, it’s not a guarantee. Same reason some women can carry a child without really “showing” while others have a bump immediately.

 

[noendinsight]

@woollybear This seems awfully like problems with blood sugar. I'm not a medical professional but this remind me a lot of my hyperinsulinemia. Have you ever had a glucose load test? Or at least measured your fasting and postprandial (an hour after eating a meal) blood sugar?

 

[sharpton]

@woollybear I’m wondering if there’s a reason you haven’t mentioned your actual weight or measurements. In your situation, I’d be measuring inches, not lbs (or kgs) primarily. I think the reason you’re not mentioning these things is because the difference is actually very small/mostly in your head. Which is fine! But that’s a different problem to navigate vs complaining about gaining weight when you know you’re doing all the right things.

 

[lisa79]

@woollybear I FEEL THE SAME EXACT WAY

 

[kbakers]

@woollybear Reading your comments, I get you want to “look” a certain way. But just a reminder that you’ll pay in the long run for not exercising. and your heart is a muscle, too, that needs to be worked. You’re not a slave to a craving. You’re in control of how much, when, and what you eat.

But your post and your comments just seem like you trying to rationalize why you shouldn’t exercise.

 

[phillip]

@woollybear Exercise for health, diet for weight loss. The amount of calories you burn working out is often neglible, and if youre like me, youre hungry afterwards and end up eating it back anyways. Making permanent changes to your diet is the only way to lose weight and keep it off. Exercise to feel good and be healthy

 

[tjobbears]

@woollybear I agree this happens to me too. Congrats on your weight loss though, a great achievement! How did you loose your initial weight, do you know how many calories you were on? I’m hoping to do the same and starting from similar height and weight to you.

 

[meteorstorm]

@woollybear I mean you said so yourself. You didn’t exercise for 2 weeks and saw your belly got super flat. Most probably you lost the pounds as well. You just can’t suddenly lose that much weight or body fat in that short amount of time.

It seems like those are benign weight caused by either water retention and bloating. Not true body fat weight. It’s up to you to decide whether you are fine with it or not. There are definitely people who are more prone to bloating and inflammation than others and you could be one of them.

 

[blastcat]

@woollybear You’re not alone, this happens to so many women. Including me. Try walking and some dumbbells once a twice a week to maintain muscle, and just make sure your diet is balanced . Keep it simple since that seems to work better for you!