Water Retention. During exercise, your body tends to retain more water to repair muscles and replenish glycogen stores. This retention can cause temporary bloating and a feeling of increased size in the stomach area. It's a normal part of the recovery process and essential for muscle repair.
Water Retention: Intense workouts can lead to temporary water retention, especially if you're consuming more carbohydrates or sodium. This can cause bloating and a fuller appearance in the belly area.
There are many reasons why people gain belly fat, including poor diet, lack of exercise, and stress. Improving nutrition, increasing activity, and making other lifestyle changes can help people lose belly fat.
Water Retention: Intense workouts can cause your muscles to retain water as they recover. This can lead to temporary weight gain. Dietary Changes: If you've increased your caloric intake to fuel your workouts, this could offset any weight loss. Pay attention to portion sizes and the nutritional quality of your food.
We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
You can easily pinch the excess fat because it builds up under your skin. When hormonal imbalances cause abdominal weight gain, the fat accumulates around your internal organs (visceral fat). Your belly enlarges and takes on an apple shape. You may look extremely bloated instead of like you're carrying extra weight.
You can't reduce fat from specific parts of your body by exercising that body part; our bodies simply don't work that way. With sit-ups or other abdominal exercises, you're toning the abdominal muscles but not burning intra-abdominal fat.
Working out can cause short-term weight gain as your muscle mass increases. Post-workout inflammation may cause temporary weight fluctuations. Workout plateaus, supplement use, and dietary changes can also stall your weight-loss efforts. Try not to obsess over the number on the scale.
A temporary increase in abdominal size post-exercise is usually nothing to worry about. It's a normal response to inflammation, water retention, increased blood flow, and digestive shifts. This swelling is generally short-lived and should subside as your body recovers from the workout.
Unhealthy eating is the biggest driver of big bellies. Too many starchy carbohydrates and bad fats are a recipe for that midsection to expand. Instead, get plenty of veggies, choose lean proteins, and stay away from fats from red meats. Choose healthier fats in things like fish, nuts, and avocados.
Aerobic exercise includes any activity that raises your heart rate such as walking, dancing, running or swimming. This can also include doing housework, gardening and playing with your children. Other types of exercise such as strength training, Pilates and yoga can also help you lose belly fat.
It's usually large and bloated but can also be small and round, depending on genes and other factors. It involves visceral fat accumulation in the lower abdomen and typically feels hard to touch. A PCOS belly is also characterized by a high waist-to-hip ratio of >0.87 (apple body shape).
The Takeaway
That full, swollen, tight feeling in your belly can also be more likely to occur if you're dehydrated, swallowing too much air while exercising, or have been eating lots of high-fiber or carbonated foods and beverages, experts say.
Stress belly refers to abdominal fat caused by increased cortisol levels, overeating, sluggishness, and other effects of stress. Stress belly is not a medical diagnosis. The condition contributes to overall weight gain and obesity and can cause medical issues.
Bloating, or swelling due to a buildup of fluid in the tissues can cause weight gain. This may be due to menstruation, heart or kidney failure, preeclampsia, or medicines you take. A rapid weight gain may be a sign of dangerous fluid retention. If you quit smoking, you might gain weight.
Glycogen binds with water as part of the process, which can add 1 to 3 pounds of initial water weight gain. The effect, however, is short-lived and should end in a few weeks to a month.
Gaining weight while working out is totally normal — especially when you start. Here's what you need to know about why you're gaining weight, and when weight loss will kick in. You've been working really hard at the gym and trying your best to stick to a healthy diet (you go, you!).
Stage 1: Fast weight loss
In the beginning, weight loss happens pretty rapidly. Over a period of 4-6 weeks, you'll likely see a noticeable difference in your body weight [1] — either on the scales or by the way your clothes fit.
You're eating the wrong things
Research has shown that diet has a greater impact on weight loss than exercise. Be sure to eat enough fruits, vegetables and healthy protein, and try to avoid ultraprocessed foods or items with added sugar.
Lack of sleep is associated with elevated levels of the hormone ghrelin (which promotes hunger) and reduced circulating levels of leptin, the hormone that suppresses appetite. Because of this, not sleeping enough can lead to increased levels of appetite and hunger and an expanding portion of belly fat.
Hormonal belly is when a person gains weight around the abdomen due to hormonal fluctuations. This could be due to changes in thyroid, adrenal, reproductive, or other hormone levels.
In general, though, weight loss can be delineated into three stages: rapid weight loss, gradual weight loss, and maintenance. The length of each stage depends on the individual, Michelle Routhenstein, R.D., preventive cardiology dietitian says.