Wouldn't working out make you lose more weight???

Hello

This is my first time over on this board.  I am hoping you guys can answer a question for me.

 At the beginning of October I finally broke through a plateau.  I lost 6 pounds the first week and and 5 pounds the second week.  I guess the euphoria of finally losing weight again motivated me to step up my exercise routine.  Before I was just walking 30 minutes a day/ 5 days a week.  Now I go to the gym I warm up for 10 minutes and then go on the treadmill for 40 minutes (5 minutes of that is cooling down).  I also started weight training.  I don't know the names of the machines so you will have to bear with me.  I work on my legs and arms one day and then the next day work on my chest and butt.  I do 3 reps of 25 at a low weight ( it's not too low I still feel the burn in my muscles).  I do this 5 days a week. 

This week will be my first full week with my new routine.  Today  weighed in and I lost nothing.  Why wouldn't I continue to lose weight now that I am working out? What is going on with my body that it now stops losing weight when I start working out. 

Thanks for any help or advice you can give me

When the muscles break down they swell and draw in more fluid for repair which can cause a temporary weight loss slow down or gain. This happens to everyone. You have to put your scale away for a while to keep your sanity. When you up the workouts you have to stop judging by the scale and use how your body changes as the guage.

Thanks so much for this answer.  I have been wondering about this myself.  I started going to the gym in September and have been gaining weight.  When I stop going (went away for vacation), I lost the weight.  Back to it last week and have gained again - definitely impacting my sanity.  I asked the doc about it and he simply said sometimes when you start gaining your muscles hold on to water, but didn't explain it.  Your answer makes so much sense, it just may have motivated me to go back:-)
L.

Weight is a combined measure of bones, muscle, fat, and water. If you are weight training and hydrating well, it is very possible to build muscle, lose fat, gain water percentage all while either losing or gaining weight. What we are trying to do is lose fat, not specifically weight. Most gyms like Golds, etc. have Tanika scales that measure all of these elements as well as bone density. So it's important to do these comparison tests from time to time to see how your body composition is actually changing. I, for example, have gained muscle mass (fat burner), lost fat, have been drinking more water because I was slightly dehydrated (increasing water weight) and lost 2 scale pounds in the past week. Without the muscle gain and the extra water retention I would have probably lost 5 or 6 pounds, but wouldn't be in as good shape as with this result. Clothing fit is a better judge short of a body composition analysis, but if you can also get it done a body fat caliper analysis combined with Tanika scale results are the way to go.

Gary

 You have to be careful with those Tanika scales.  Things like hydration level,time of day and more can impact it.  Best way to use it is simply to compare month to month and try to keep conditions the same.  

Great advice though for sure!

If you want a more acurate test, you can get a dunk test done or a bodpod test.

They will give you a more acurate result than the calipers or the scales

Here is some info on the hydrostatic dunk testing for body fat

http://www.getdunked.com/home/default.asp

I agree with the others and you have been given very good suggestions. I would also suggest to buy a good old fashion sewing tape measure.  Measure every area of your body and write it down. Measure every other week. I think you will be pleased with this method. Don't get discouraged and feel like working out isn't worth it. It is soooo worth it. It just takes time! Best wishes!

I agree with what everyone else has said. Once you get close to your goal weight, weight is a very inaccurate measure of your fatness level.

For example, my clothes are fitting looser and today I was able to zip up my wet suit myself because I'm smaller. But my weight is exactly the same on the scale as it was a few weeks ago. And it's actually higher than it was at my lowest weight even though I'm as small as I was at that weight, smaller in some parts of my body.

But, one the opposite side of the scale, last year, during the off season, my weight stayed the same but my clothes all got tighter. I was working out less and losing muscle and gaining fat.