gaining muscle instead of losing weight -- please help

[zaziejolie]

hello all

i am a young woman who has spent the last 3 months living and working on a farm. as well as all the physical labour, i'm also riding horses, so you can imagine the calories i'm burning! my diet has remained the same on the farm as it was off the farm, but i am gaining weight! this totally floors me, as i can't think of any reason for this aside from gaining muscle weight. my clothes fit the same as they always have, and i haven't noticed any changes in my body. i've gained about 7 or 8 pounds, totally crushed, as i really thought i'd be losing weight.

can anyone shed some light on this, or any explanations that may help me understand why i am gaining weight instead of losing it?

thanks!

 

[dwwise83]

What are you eating? You could be eating a lot more calories than you think unless you are carefully tracking your intake.

 

[KaraCooks]

If you're doing that much physical labor and gaining weight, then your diet has not remained the same. Or if it has remained the same, then you were eating a lot more than you thought before you started working at the farm.

Even if you've put on a ton of new muscle, you have to be eating more food to do that. Muscle doesn't just develop out of nothing - you have to be eating enough food to create that muscle.

Perhaps you could write down what you eat in an average day. It would help to see what you eat and we could give you better advice about what might be the issue.

Also talk about what you do every day at the farm as far as the type of physical exertion you do.

People who are overweight generally tend to underestimate the food they eat and overestimate the exercise they do (especially if they've been inactive most of their lives). I know I did it at first and still have a tendency to do it, if I'm not careful. It's a pretty commong thing.

 

[Reiki9]

It all falls down on your eating habit. What I see is that you are eating more than what you should be consuming. Try to eat fruits and vegetables and lessen little by little your carb intake so that you wont feel week during your activities.

 

[bigpaparn]

what is wrong with muscle..yes it is heavier than fat..but much more appealing..instead of watching the scale..maybe focus more on the mirror..not to mention more muscle = burning fat.

 

[Doc Bunkum]

what is wrong with muscle..yes it is heavier than fat..

Here we go again...

I always thought a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weighed the same amount.

A pound of muscle is more compact/dense than a pound of fat.

It isn't heavier than fat.

 

[bigpaparn]

Here we go again...

I always thought a pound of muscle and a pound of fat weighed the same amount.

A pound of muscle is more compact/dense than a pound of fat.

It isn't heavier than fat.

touche...