Is Exercise Making You Gain Weight? Yes, and Here’s What You Need to Know

You are more likely to gain weight when exercising than to lose it.

This happens as your body tries to adapt so that the next time you do the same exercise, it becomes easier to do it.

It does this by increasing the amount of muscle in your body and this is what leads to that increase in weight.

So the "weight" shouldn't stress you.

But you have to now understand that exercise is never really meant to make you lose weight or even body fat.

Think about it.

Even if you do lose weight or body fat while exercising, you will have exercised for weeks, while experiencing muscle soreness, forcing yourself out of bed in the morning or dragging yourself to the gym after a long day's work and no matter how disciplined you were.

Furthermore, the progress is likely to be very little or even worse, you are more likely to gain even more weight, which will stress you even more because you don't have the knowledge above, making you feel like giving up and feeling like, "no matter what I do, I don't lose weight."

Sad.

It's not worth it.

In fact.

People who claim to have lost body fat while exercising, are more likely to have lost it, not because of the exercise but because of the other habits they picked up when they started to.

This is why they almost always gain all the weight back when they stop exercising or playing sports.

This happens a lot to athletes or people who used to be physically active at a certain time in their lives.

This happens, not because they're not exercising anymore but because when they stop exercising, they stop all the other habits naturally and subconsciously and that's why they gain the weight or rather, the body fat, back.

But exercise has other benefits.

Benefits that are easier to see in a relatively short amount of time such as improvement of mood, energy and mental health.

All in all, your "weight" doesn't matter when it comes to how healthy or fit you are.

Like at all.

Never let the scale tell you that you should feel insecure or uncomfortable.

Don't let it define you.

If you like what you see in the mirror.

Can wear what you want and make it look good.

Can do basic movements and chores without running short of breath.

These are all that matter.

Even if the scale calls you overweight.