I'm stumped, is this normal?

[LeoDiablo2]

Usually I'm not that confident to speak up and ask for help but I am a bit worried about this.

I started the Paleo diet for the past 5 days and my average intake of protein each day is about 130 grams and about 60 grams of carbs. I forgot to count my fat intake. I gained 5 pounds. When I weighed myself this morning, I was so disappointed that I wanted to give up. I know I won't but it makes me sad. *Embarrassed - I weighed 284 but now 289* I know that's a high number but I am trying hard to lose weight which I used to be at 315. I fell off Paleo for almost 2 months and gained about 8 pounds up to 284 and now since I started going back on Paleo for the past 5 days, I gained??

This is what I usually have during the day:

Breakfast - 2-3 eggs, 2-3 bacon

Snack - about 10 almonds or piece of fruit

Lunch - tuna with veggies or grilled chicken salad/veggies, sometimes 1 tbsp of almond butter or 1/2 avocado

Snack - depends on my schedule at work, it's either green tea or another piece of fruit or 10 almonds

Dinner - it's either grilled chicken, salmon, shrimp, or lean pork with a side of veggies

Snack - sometimes nothing or a protein shake with whey/creatine after a intense workout with jiu jitsu

I drink between 64oz to 80 oz of water daily.

Only once have I cheated, I had 1 cookie. Just one!

Sometimes I add olive oil/vinegar mix to the salad. Soon would like to try coconut oil.

In the past 5 days, I have exercised 3 days out of 5. It's either jiu jitsu, bodyweight exercises, or walking outside with my dogs.

Should I be also counting calories?

I'm confused... any insight would help. Should I keep going?

[scott82962]

Body weight is a tricky thing. I'm a pretty slim 200 pounds at 6'1". My body weight can swing 5 - 7 pounds just by weighing my self at different times of the day, how much of what I've eaten, etc. At your BW I'm guessing it's even easier for a swing like this to occur. But don't get discouraged! You're got a good source of scientific and anecdotal evidence on this site to tell you that you're making the right choice concerning diet. Keep at it, do whatever strength training you can (actually as much as you can!) and let us know how it's working.

BTW - my dietitian/marathon running wife (someone called me a nutter once, but she's the real nutter!!) suggests always weighing yourself at the same time of day. Mornings (after then big pee!) provide me the most consistent and I believe accurate reading.

[LeoDiablo2]

I do weigh myself *naked* in the mornings even after I do my bathroom routines. :-( I'm not giving up because I have recalled Paleo helping me to lose weight from 315 to 284 in 3 months. BUt I just don't recall experiencing the swings like this in the very beginning of the diet. So yes I'm naturally disappointed but like I said, I'm not giving up. If you have any ideas of how I can tweak my diet or perhaps do I need to do more cardio?

[Top Boss Ultra]

Count calories and see if the same thing happens next week. If it does, just lower your calories a little. I don't think more cardio is the answer at all.

[Waldo]

The number on the scale is in general within about +/- 5 lbs of your true average weight (assuming the scale doesn't suck), you can drop that a bit as you get better at weighing yourself.

Remember, the human body takes in and lets go about 10 lbs of water a day. That easily hides any fat weight movement in the short term (to gain 5 lbs in 5 days you would have had to eat 17500 calories over your maintenance amount, that doesn't accidentally happen, that is a big time binge and if you did it you would know it).

The issue with water is why there are two schools of though with weighing yourself, ditch the scale and do it rarely, OR do it frequently, write it down, and graph it so that you can extract the actual trend (where it is obvious if you are at a high water point or low water point when you establish a trendline, without the trendline you have no way of knowing this).

The scale does not capture how much your fat weighs. It captures how much your fat, bones, muscle, digesting food, and water weighs, all of them but your bones change over time.

[Guest guest4729]

There is absolutely no way that every time you weigh yourself you'll be under the same conditions. Perhaps you still have food in your digestive tract or you have more water sloshing around inside of you. Perhaps you did gain a little perhaps you stayed the same.

Whenever I weigh myself I sometimes get really disappointed when it's about the same as a week before. But then I remember IT ISN'T YOUR WEIGHT that makes you in shape or fit, it's HOW YOU LOOK AND FEEL.

Do you feel better after starting Paleo? Yes? If so, then you've already done something successful. Don't stop eating Paleo and don't give up just because you didn't lose weight after 5 days. Keep eating clean, keep working out and remember that that's only a number on your scale. Not a life sentence.

[Corbab]

In the short term, the scale can be fairly deceiving. Body weight fluctuates based on a huge number of factors, not just net calories. If you can, weigh yourself once a day and calculate weekly averages. It won't give you immediate results, but in a few weeks, you'll notice the general downward trend in your weight.

Your diet looks fine, and cardio probably won't give you any real advantage. If you can and want to, consider adding a day or two of weights per week. Building muscle will help your fat loss effort, and it feels awesome.

[LeoDiablo2]

You're right about incorporating more strength training in my schedule. Since I'm new to this fitness thing. what's the difference if I added more cardio or added more strength training to my week? Won't cardio help me lose weight since my number on the scale is high?

Again, I'm positive that I'm doing what I should be doing and won't give up!

[Knightwatch]

Were you using creatine while you were "off" paleo, or are you just starting a cycle of it?

[Waldo]

You're right about incorporating more strength training in my schedule. Since I'm new to this fitness thing. what's the difference if I added more cardio or added more strength training to my week? Won't cardio help me lose weight since my number on the scale is high?

Again, I'm positive that I'm doing what I should be doing and won't give up!

Strength training helps to preserve muscles. Most people desire losing fat when they lose weight, not fat+muscle. Cardio does nothing to preserve muscle mass. You will lose muscle, possibly a significant amount, if you diet and do cardio only. Strength training at a decently high intensity is comparable to jogging when it comes to calorie burn in a given amount of time.

This isn't to say to not do cardio. Cardio, especially low intensity cardio, is without peer when it comes to the ability to burn gobs of calories (you will fall over dead weight lifting before you reach the number of calories you could burn in a 5 hour walk).

[LeoDiablo2]

I did not use creatine when I was off Paleo. I just am now starting it. Is this something I shouldn't be doing? I wanted to preserve, repair and build muscle growth. Any advice would be appreciated.

[Waldo]

Were you using creatine while you were "off" paleo, or are you just starting a cycle of it?

Huh, I didn't notice the creatine up there. Creatine will usually cause you to gain several pounds of water weight when you start using it (within your muscles).

[Waldo]

I did not use creatine when I was off Paleo. I just am now starting it. Is this something I shouldn't be doing? I wanted to preserve, repair and build muscle growth. Any advice would be appreciated.

You are using creatine without weightlifting? Creatine makes your weightlifting efforts more productive, it doesn't do the work for you though.

[Knightwatch]

I did not use creatine when I was off Paleo. I just am now starting it. Is this something I shouldn't be doing? I wanted to preserve, repair and build muscle growth. Any advice would be appreciated.

It's not that you shouldn't be doing it, it's just that it may not be necessary for you given your current regimen. But that's neither here nor there. The reason I ask is that people will often experience an damn near immediate bump in body weight when they start a creatine cycle. That could definitely account for a few pounds right there.

Don't get discouraged, and keep up the good work! You'll get there!

(and for what it's worth, strength and cardio are both outstanding tools to getting fit and losing weight. consider the fact that each pound of muscle you add will, itself, burn a bunch of extra calories every day just to stick around. definitely worth adding in some strength training, even if you don't make it your main focus. there are lots of 2 day a week programs out there geared for fighters; your jujitsu would likely benefit from it. best of luck!)

[LeoDiablo2]

I do weightlifting with dumbbells and barbells but not as often as I want to. I have only used creatine twice right after my weightlifting plus jiujitsu session. Maybe I should back off creatine for a while and stick with whey protein only? I'm learning as I go along...

[scott82962]

Creatine, as I understand it and have used it, gives your muscles the ability to work harder for short bursts and should be taken before the workout. I don't believe it does anything to preserve or maintain muscle fibers. I have only used creatine for short periods of time, maybe a month, prior to some sort of strength competition. I was quite surprised at how quickly I put on weight, all other things being equal during that time. I believe it has something to do with muscle tissue retaining water.

Whey protein is a good choice for building muscle mass, but it is also a source of extra calories which you may want to avoid. My suggestion for you, and about 80% of "the rebellion" would be to eat paleo, do strength training hard 3 or 4 times per week, and cardio 2 or 3 times per week for 20 minutes.

Oh yeah, and have fun.