Pilates and Weight Gain

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My problem is that cardio makes me soooo hungry. To lose a few pounds, I actually cut back a bit on cardio so my appetite wasn't threw the roof.

NP - I have had this issue. Last time I trained for a half marathon, I ended up gaining weight because all the running was making me so ravenous afterwards. A better approach for me during the pandemic has been doing IF in addition to working out more. I run in the mornings but don't eat until the afternoon. One thing its done is train my body not to expect to eat right after running so I've gotten over that post workout urge to carb load. And then when I finally do eat in the afternoon, I can eat pretty much anything I want. I've been able to lose 15-20 lbs this way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To gain fat or muscle you need to be eating in a calorie surplus. So in short, you gained weight because you are eating more calories than you were burning. Now could some of that weight gain could be muscle, yes, but putting on 2+ lbs of muscle is not easy, so my bet would be it's mostly fat. Now if you like how you look and feel, and if your clothes are fitting better then forget about the scale and a few pounds.

Um, nope.

You can gain muscle without eating a calorie surplus - you just have to focus on getting enough protein, which is what builds muscle.

Pilates will strengthen muscle and help build it if you’re eating properly.

Don’t worry about the number on the scale so much as the way clothes are fitting. It’s possible to be the ‘right’ number on the scale and a weakling too. You can also get lots of cardio and be weak. As we age our muscle mass diminishes more and more rapidly year after year - you have to work at keeping it, and Pilates is a great exercise for that.

I work with elders and it’s made me realize how incredibly important it is to keep that muscle mass intact. I’ve cared for lots of slender ladies and men who struggle to get up and down from a chair because they’ve let their muscle tone go to shit. Learn to love Pilates - and some gentle weight training - and not only will your clothes fit well, you’ll stave off dependency on others as you age.

You might gain some muscle in a deficit if all stars align but you will not gain weight, because you will shed fat and likely more of it than what you add in muscle mass. OP says she is heavier which implies she was in a surplus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To gain fat or muscle you need to be eating in a calorie surplus. So in short, you gained weight because you are eating more calories than you were burning. Now could some of that weight gain could be muscle, yes, but putting on 2+ lbs of muscle is not easy, so my bet would be it's mostly fat. Now if you like how you look and feel, and if your clothes are fitting better then forget about the scale and a few pounds.

Exactly. It’s unlikely you gained 2 pounds of muscle from Pilates. Especially if you are not eating at a surplus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Despite what people on this board say, most people need cardio to take weight off. I don’t think most of the DCUM population is doing the type of intense weightlifting work that gets you slim and ripped without cardio (it’s definitely not a couple of Pilates classes per week).

Cardio burns very few calories. People need to eat at a deficit to lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My problem is that cardio makes me soooo hungry. To lose a few pounds, I actually cut back a bit on cardio so my appetite wasn't threw the roof.

+100
Too much cardio is detrimental for weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Decrease your caloric intake to see the visible impact of your pilates workouts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Six months ago I was running a lot (training for a half marathon) and had reached my goal weight. Unfortunately, I got a hip injury and decided to dial it back on the running. Almost immediately, I gained 5 Lbs. I started Pilates (using the reformer) 2-3 times per week and have done that since October. I like the Pilates a lot and it makes me feel strong all over my body, particularly areas like my core and shoulders that I have never really focused on from a workout perspective. I think that I am building muscles through Pilates that I didn’t use before. I feel much stronger than when I started Pilates in October, when I could barely do a crunch.

However, despite the consistent Pilates, I haven’t lost any weight and if anything have gained another 1-2 lbs since starting. Is it possible that the weight gain is mostly muscle, or am I just telling myself that? Has anyone else experienced a weight gain when they started a new workout routine that involved building muscles?

OMG, OP. Weight is just a number. How you look and feel is most important.