{"id":45028,"date":"2017-03-04T09:15:21","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T14:15:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=45028"},"modified":"2022-04-27T07:54:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T11:54:10","slug":"why-am-i-gaining-weight-exercising","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/health\/why-am-i-gaining-weight-exercising\/","title":{"rendered":"I\u2019m Exercising More \u2014 So Why Am I Gaining Weight?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"I'm
Photo: Twenty20<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019re running on the treadmill<\/a>, hitting up every HIIT class<\/a> on your gym\u2019s schedule, and strength training<\/a> more than you ever thought possible. But your scale hasn\u2019t gotten the memo. What gives? This five-question quiz will help you pinpoint your problem \u2014 and get your weight moving in the right direction.<\/p>\n

5\u00a0Reasons You\u2019re Gaining Weight Despite Working Out<\/h2>\n

1. Are you cutting calories?<\/h3>\n

To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than you\u2019re taking in. (Need proof? Here are six reasons<\/a> you can\u2019t out-exercise a bad diet.) But there\u2019s cutting calories and then there\u2019s cutting too many<\/em> calories, says registered dietitian and strength coach Marie Spano<\/a>, RD, CSSD, CSCS. When you start slashing calories like a ninja, you might not be giving yourself enough fuel to really hit it during your workouts. \u201cYou just go through the motions,\u201d she says. Plus, many people who start off their days severely restricting calories end up throwing caloric caution to the wind by dinnertime. \u201cIf you don’t have enough food, you\u2019re likely to encounter sugar cravings later in the day,\u201d says Washington D.C.-based registered dietitian Anne Mauney<\/a>, MPH, RD.<\/p>\n

The fix:<\/strong> Exactly how many calories you need depends on how many you\u2019re burning in the gym, but in general, your caloric deficit (the number of calories you eat minus the number of calories you burn) shouldn\u2019t be any more than 500 per day, Spano says. (You can use one of these cool tracking apps<\/a> to help you keep tabs.) Aim to consume the bulk of your calories during the first half of your day and around your workout.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a010 Quick and Healthy Lunch Ideas You’ll Want to Steal<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Do you follow up your workouts with a store-bought smoothie?<\/h3>\n

Hitting up the smoothie<\/a> counter might not be the best way to go about refueling your muscles. (These beverages<\/a> are just a few examples of sips with seriously scary calorie counts.) \u201cMany smoothies are loaded with sugar and calories, and can completely counteract any calorie-burn you got from your workout,\u201d Spano says. Fruit, yogurt and sherbet-heavy varieties are among the worst offenders.<\/p>\n

The fix: <\/strong>Instead of buying a pre-made smoothie, whip up one of these easy three-ingredient smoothie recipes<\/a> at home. And don\u2019t slurp it down on-the-go. When people sit down to eat their meals, they wind up feeling fuller and eating less later in the day than if they had eaten while on the move, according to a 2015 Journal of Health Psychology<\/em> study<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/strong>\u00a0The 7 Best Post-Workout Smoothies for Every Exercise<\/a><\/p>\n

3. Do you constantly crave food?<\/h3>\n

This might not be a bad thing. Research goes back and forth on exercise\u2019s effects on hunger, but if your workout is increasing your appetite, it\u2019s not necessarily a big deal, Spano says. \u201cPeople eat for a variety of reasons, and hunger is often the last reason.\u201d (Hey, it\u2019s better than eating to satisfy cravings<\/a> or soothe stress<\/a>.) But, still, if you\u2019re chowing down on more calories than you\u2019re burning \u2014 even if you\u2019re burning a ton \u2014 you\u2019re going to gain weight, she says.<\/p>\n

The fix: <\/strong>Take a time-out to consider if you\u2019re actually hungry \u2014 or just bored, tired, stressed, sad, or otherwise emotional. If you are really, truly hungry, eat! Just opt for healthy fiber<\/a>– and protein-rich foods<\/a> that will fill you up such as vegetables, low-fat dairy, healthy fats and lean meats, she says. These quick and easy high-protein snacks<\/a> are a good place to start.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>Are Food Porn Holidays Making America Fatter?<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Do you read your cardio machine\u2019s calorie-counter displays?<\/h3>\n

Your treadmill<\/a> (not to mention your elliptical and stationary bike) is lying to you. Some machines may overestimate your caloric burn by up to 30 percent, according to the American Council on Exercise<\/a>. So if you put your trust in them, you could easily end up eating more calories than you burn \u2014 even if you\u2019re diligently tracking your efforts.<\/p>\n

The fix: <\/strong>Don\u2019t pay any mind to your cardio machine\u2019s calorie display. While Spano doesn\u2019t recommend living your life counting calories, if you\u2019re bound and determined to know how many calories your workout\u2019s burning, look to a fitness tracker<\/a>. They aren\u2019t perfect, but they do get a lot closer than cardio machines, suggests research<\/a> published Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise<\/em>.<\/p>\n

RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong>20-Minute HIIT Treadmill Workout to Get Fit, Fast<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Are you sleep deprived?<\/h3>\n

Weight loss comes down to healthy eating, exercise \u2014\u00a0and recovery. If you miss out on one of those, the other two aren\u2019t going to fully pay off, Spano says. And for most people, recovery, or more specifically, sleep is a big problem<\/a>. When you don\u2019t get enough shut-eye, the hormones in charge of regulating your hunger levels \u2014 leptin and ghrelin \u2014 get thrown off, resulting in intense cravings that could end up counteracting your workouts, Mauney says. Meanwhile, a 2015 Diabetologia<\/em> study suggests that just four days of sleep deprivation<\/a> causes your body to store more fat. And according to research<\/a> published in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine<\/em>, the quality of your sleep effects how likely you are to workout the next day, too.<\/p>\n

The fix: <\/strong>Stop compromising on zzz\u2019s, Mauney says. While every person\u2019s sleep needs are different<\/a>, the Sleep Foundation recommends adults ages 18 to 64 sleep between seven and nine hours each night. Get that to give your workout the best chances of working.<\/p>\n

Not a Daily Burn member? Sign up at\u00a0dailyburn.com<\/a>\u00a0and start your free 30-day trial today.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Originally published November 2015. Updated March 2017.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re exercising to shed pounds, gaining weight might be enough to make you want to quit workouts for good. These six mistakes may be to blame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,7,18],"tags":[41,289,341,352,285],"class_list":["post-45028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-nutrition","category-health","category-weight-loss","tag-diets","tag-exercise","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2weight-loss","tag-weight-loss"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45028","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45028\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}