How fast do you gain muscle?

I have been working out (water aerobics, running, exercise bike, etc)  really hard the last 2 weeks and I have noticed that I have gained 5 pounds.  I have been eating the same as before and keeping my protein grams up and my calories within my limits.  I am starting to freak that I have gained this much weight...do I need to cut back on the exercising or do you think it is something else?

Just curious...why would you cut back on exercising?

Well when I said cut back I want to lose weight and not bulk up in muscle.  I went from 185 to 190.  I still want to lose at least another 40 pounds.

You're doing mainly cardio type exercise though. You might gain a little muscle but nothing you should worry about.  If anything increase your exercise if you're still looking to lose.  If you're getting close to goal weight don't worry about the scale as much.

Well my thought was that if I increased the exercise then I would lose the weight.  But so far I haven't done anything but gained.  I am still at least 40 pounds from goal weight so I don't think I am considered close to my goal yet.  I was so excited when I hit 185 now just getting a little discouraged with the 5 pound weight gain.

Michelle,

You just have to stay the course.  It could be water weight, maybe muscle, but muscle isn't a bad thing, more muscle will help you lose more fat over the long haul.  Check your diet make sure you're not getting in more calories than you think, up your exercise a little, keep plugging away. Those plateaus are strange. You'll wake up one day and lose 5 or 10 pounds overnight. When we get discouraged sometimes we stop exercising and start loosening up on the diet. That won't help you reach your goal at all. Good luck. Keep plugging away. Earl

I have to mirror Earl's sentiments and encourage you to stay the course with your exercise program.  Exercise is one of the keys to long-term maintenance of weight loss.  Additionally, there are so many factors that affect our weight on a day-to-day basis; it may be a combination of various factors causing your 5 pound gain over a couple weeks.   One of the other things to keep in mind is that although adding muscle mass may slow down your weight loss, it provides several other benefits.  First, muscle tissue takes a lot more calories to maintain on a day-to-day basis, so it increases your metabolism.  (The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you need every day to maintain your weight.)  In the long-run, this will help you lose weight and keep it off.  Second, even if your weight stays the same or your weight loss slows down, exercise will help reshape your body by giving tone and definition to your muscles.  So you will be much more toned and shapely than you would if you weren't exercising.  And if you're considering plastic surgery to remove excess skin when you're done, it would be great to have some nicely defined muscle underneath it for your plastic surgeon to "reveal."   Finally, I would encourage you to stick with your program for longer than 2 weeks; it takes months for an exercise program to begin to reshape your body.  I struggle with wanting results RIGHT NOW and have to remind myself that Rome wasn't built in a day (so to speak).  Be patient and you will be happy with the results.   Good luck on your continuing journey -  Kellie