Weight gain from exercise and increased appetite

[ooglyboo]

Hi all, I think a similar-ish question was asked recently so apologies if this is covering old ground. Anyway, I started working out about a year ago - circuits and HIIT mainly. I love it and definitely feel better and healthier than I have for years.

I just wondered though about muscle building and weight gain. I have been the same weight literally for years (I'm 46 now) at around 7st 5 at 5ft 4". I know that this is probably on the thin side of slim but this did seem to be a very natural weight for me to maintain. Since working out I now hover around the 7st 11 mark. I was wondering if this is likely to be muscle gain - 5/6 lb seems quite a lot to be just that?

I am asking partly because one of the side effects of working out has been a significant increase in appetite. Previously my appetite was a fairly reliable guide to what I 'needed' to eat - in other words I only really ate when I was hungry and to the point that I was full and I didn't put on weight for all those years whilst never feeling deprived. I seem to have lost that a bit and now feel that I have to be more careful about how much I eat in order not to gain more weight. I guess this is normal - and an adjustment period to a slightly different metabolism? Should I be more accepting of a bit of weight gain given the potential muscle building? Any thoughts / advice gratefully received.

It could be muscle gain but more likely to be a mixture of muscle and fat. A tape measure will be more instructive than scales.

Also, what are you eating more of? If it's protein then you may be feeding the muscles nicely. If it's carbs then you're probably erring on the side of fat gain.

Finally, what powers muscle gain the most is resistance work (weights). The circuits and HIIT might be building muscle if they include a fairly high proportion of resistance work. But normally cardio doesn't do much for muscle development.