Gaining Weight after Exercise

I feel the absolute best when I get some form of exercise in my day. I strive for 10k a day, and I have been adding short bursts of jogging intervals during my walk.

I just made myself snort, “burst” sounds as if I’m sprinting. My jog, in reality is like, but not quite a brisk walk.

I’m no spring chicken anymore. At 57 years old I might look ridiculous “jogging” but if I can make someone laugh when they see my gimp jog, then I’m good with it.

When I was a kid, around twelve years old, during a track meet, I won first place in high jump, long jump and 100 yard dash. That was a lot of 12 years ago, almost five- 12 years ago.

These days I’m not winning any competitions except for surviving my walk/gimp jog without croaking. That’s a win in my book and I’ll take it.

Skin Catching Up

The other day Andy (Captain) gave me the most unexpected compliment. Of course, had he known that I took it as a compliment, he would’ve had a smart ass quirk and took it back.

I said, I am really having a hard time with all the wrinkles, especially on my face. Without batting an eye, he said, “You’re shrinking, so of course you have some wrinkles”.

The whole “shrinking” got me..

Anyway, I hope my skin catches up, but if it doesn’t; I guess I rather have more wrinkles than to be fat.

I Digress

I digress, back to the title of this blog. “The One, Two Roller Coaster”.

During my newish lifestyle, I have been on a quest to move my body. You know, “A body in motion stays in motion”.

However, I noticed when I walked and exercise my smart scale would become a complete moron. And would tell dirty rotten lies that I had gained one to two pounds.

To test the theory, I stopped the 10k a day for four or five days and oh freaking shock my scale was brilliant again.

10k A Day

Clearly, not exercising isn’t the answer. And obviously I am obsessed with my somewhat smart scale. I want movement in the positive direction.

So down the rabbit hole I go, to know why I gain weight after exercise? My feet and hands told me the answer, but I wasn’t listening.

Listen to Your Body

Usually I am pretty good at listening to my body. And am able to connect the dots. This one made me feel like an idiot because it was so obvious.

After each workout, or “gimp jog,” my feet, ankles and hands were swollen. I thought my feet and ankles were swollen due to pounding the pavement. And my hands were swollen from swinging them.

Part is accurate; part is a “One, Two Rollercoaster”.

Patience

It’s rather common to gain a few pounds after starting a new exercise routine (it’s un-common to know this information).

I believe this is the number one reason for so many giving up on exercise after just a few weeks. Especially when they do “everything right”.

• Exercise
• Healthy diet
• Quality sleep
• Lower stress

All four of the above are important factors but there is more to the story.

The more I know, the more patient I can be, hence the “rabbit holes” I traverse.

Why?

Why you may gain weight after exercise?

The human body is incredible at self preservation.

When you exercise, you create micro tears in your muscle fibers. Yes, even when you gimp jog.

In the attempt to protect and heal the micro tears of the muscle fibers, your body triggers inflammation and surrounds the micro trauma with fluid.

IE; water retention= water weight

But wait, there’s more!

Your muscles have stored glycogen (a form of carbohydrate) for energy. When you have taxed your muscles, your body may produce more for the needed energy. Glycogen binds with water.

IE; Glycogen+Water= water weight.

Muscle Mass

When the word “Mass” is used, one might think of being large muscles. More likely the word is to describe the density of muscle.

Meaning muscle is heavier than fat. A pound of muscle is the same as a pound of fat. The difference is a pound of muscle is smaller in volume than a pound of fat.

Hence the importance of not only weighing yourself regularly but also documenting your measurements.

You can do this with a tailor’s tape or simply noting how your favorite jeans fit.

Food

Your food doesn’t need to be complicated on the carnivore diet or lifestyle. That being said, it doesn’t have to be boring either.

Some carnivores in the carnivore community may think it’s blasphemy but I believe spices are the spice of life.

Here are some of my favorite recipes I created while I was living a keto lifestyle. I shared some on my cooking channel, ‘Bells Keto On The Go” 

The first recipe I changed to lower the carbs even more to be in line with a Ketovore diet. You can watch the original video right here; 

Recipes

Or below is the simple recipe. You will need a six cup nonstick muffin pan and a mixing bowl. I chose a six muffin pan because that fits in my small convection/microwave/air fryer oven on the boat. I use the air fryer option but you can also use a convection oven. This recipe can also be changed to fit your palate as well. I like spicey food but the mild version is also yummy.

• 4 eggs (whipped)
• 3 slices of thick bacon
• 3 tablespoons of cream cheese
• 1 oz of raw cheddar cheese (I got mine from Costco)
• Slap Your Mama Cajun spice (hot)

Line each of the muffin pan cups with a half slice of bacon. Add 1/2 tablespoon of cream cheese to each muffin. Divide 1 oz of raw cheddar cheese into 6 portions and add to muffin pan. Whip four eggs and pour over each of the muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until bacon is fully cooked.

Carb Manager

You can find the macros here; https://www.carbmanager.com/

The next meal is my absolute favorite. I crave Ribeye Steaks almost daily (I don’t eat them daily but could easily). I know the purist out there might bust my chops but I do add spice to my steaks too. And I don’t eat them mooing either. I am a medium heat (hot pink middle) kind of gal.

Start with a 10oz ribeye with nice marble of fat. I rinse all my meat before I prep it.  In the article below, I explain why I rinse meat before prepping.

(https://bellsrides.com/90-day-carnivore-challenge-week-4-update-is-it-too-expensive/) 

• 10 oz Ribeye (Costco is the best deal)
• Slap your mama cajun spice (hot)
• Chipotle powder
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• black pepper
• pink Himalayan pink salt

Cook in the air fryer at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. (All ovens vary, use a meat thermometer for preferred temperature) Optional topping of blue cheese crumbles is amazing.

Hang In There

Now that I have the explanation for the weight gain after exercising, I can have more patience with the process. The weight gain is a temporary situation and will regulate with time. In the meantime, I am going to eat meat and be happy.

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Michelle Wishart

Bell