Robbiejoh's Journal, 05 Dec 20

All kinds of things can create the appearance of weight gain. It’s very unlikely that anyone can gain more than 300g of fat overnight, and weights can vary by up to 1.5 kg in the course of the day. Fluid and a full gut will appear to be weight gain. Then it all disappears in the next day or two. 

As jomo1903 said. Also,in the bigger overall plan, your goal is to recomposition your body. It is absolutely true that the scales are not important. Your goal is changes in the percentages of muscle and fat ratios. That can actually involve gaining weight. 

And gaining muscle should be a first priority, as having more muscle increases your metabolism and you burn through calories faster. So increase exercise but make sure some weight or resistance exercise is a major part of the mix. 

Jomo, I’ve bulked up a bit doing weights, and I think it’s masking a fat loss. My arms are tight in one of my favourite jackets. 

I’m having the same experience, my arms are definitely bulking up a bit. Muscle weighs almost 4 times as much as fat by volume, so if your muscle expands more than 1/4 times as fast as the fat is lost, you will put on weight. This is all good, as it will increase your basal metabolic rate and you will lose fat even faster. I think our priority should be to build as much muscle as possible so we can sustain our weight loss, calorie deprivation is not sustainable in the long run. 

I train five times a week for about 80 to 90 minutes, and walk twice a day for a total time of two hours every day. My diet is very strict insofar as I limit my calories to 1,400 to 1,600 calories a day, including protein powder. The remaining fat around my gut will just have to burn away over time. From what I’ve read, although it’s stubborn to remove, it does go away eventually. The reality is that I have had to change my mindset because I’m not fat anymore. Sometimes it’s hard to free yourself of an obsession.  

That’s brilliant Robbiejoh. What’s in your workouts? My weights workouts take up as much time as yours but I am just starting from a very low base, so the actual intensity has a long way to go. Due to some joint problems I am substituting swimming, aqua aerobics and stationary cycling for the walking at the moment. I’m pleased with the transformation that is beginning to take place, but I have to pace myself. 

My gym starts with at least 30 minutes of core exercises, which include leg raises, twists, the plank, crunches, dorsal extensions and anything else I can think of. I do this religiously because I have had a problem with my stomach. These exercises along would have added to my muscle mass because those muscles are big, although not noticeable. The other exercises are typical gym routines, but I do the big compound exercises like dips, chin-ups, bench press, rows, etc. I started from just one chin-up, now I can do eleven. I could not do dips at all. It was slow. 

I’ve just found an online twelve week body weight and barbells home program that seems pretty good. I can’t go to a gym yet. The only equipment I have is a stationary bike and dumbbells so I can load 1 to 30kg. I’ve ordered a set of resistance bands 10-50 kg too. The program assumes you have an adjustable weights bench, I don’t! So I’m faking it in various ways, like using my massage table and massage chair, which kinda works. If only there was someone who could massage me after the workout. Hahahaha. 

Jomo, that’s all you need. I’m still using light dumb bells, and concentrating on going the exercises slowly and correctly. The internet is full of YouTube people full of ideas too. Most of my workouts are without weights, but I do have a chin up bar. However, if you’re overweight, you can’t do chins. The day you do one, a new world will appear. Go for it. 

Jomo, I assumed that you were male.  

Your assumption is in the right ballpark 😂 Actually I do chin-ups of a kind in the hydrotherapy pool, but with half to a third of my actual body weight on the hand rail of the ramp into the pool. I figure it will set me up for full body weight later on.