That's Fit

I have a problem. I'm gaining weight. I hate that. Even when it's OK that I'm gaining weight -- I'll explain why it's OK in just a bit -- it really bothers me. You see, I've spent much of my adult life weighing about 142 pounds (I'm about five feet, seven inches tall). Then I got cancer, spent more than one year in treatment, and came out weighing closer to 150. Women enduring breast cancer treatment often gain up to 30 pounds, so I was lucky, really -- but I'm frustrated too, because I never wanted to weigh 150. So, I did something about it. I overhauled my diet and upped my cardio, and I landed at 135 pounds. Now, that's a number I really liked. It felt good on me. But now, it's slipping from my grasp.

Lately, 139 has been staring at me from my bathroom scale. It's OK, everyone tells me, because I've been lifting weights -- like, lifting weights to the point of actually seeing my tricep, and a little cut on the top of my shoulder, and a bicep when I flex. My legs are more toned than ever too. My body feels firm, solid, strong. My clothes fit well. Some even feel looser than normal. But I weigh more. What's the deal?

Well, muscle weighs more than fat. And I'm apparently shedding some fat while gaining some muscle. The reason I'm weighing more but feeling roomy in my shorts is because I'm tightening my body, dropping some inches even. Essentially, there's less of me. Yet what remains is heavier.

I admit I feel a lot better now as a strength trainer at 139 pounds than I did as a non-strength trainer at 135. Still, the number bothers me. And I hope like crazy I get accustomed to seeing it -- perhaps even seeing in tick upwards a bit -- because it seems this is the way it's going to be if I continue to pump iron. And I do plan to continue -- just bought new 10-pound weights, in fact, because my six-pounders are no longer heavy enough. I just need to adapt, adjust, wrap my ahead around my new weight. I don't see any other choice.

Are you losing fat but gaining weight? Tell me how you cope.