Inches vs Weight

karirenae

Why is it that ive been hearing lately and noticing personally that inches seem to come off faster than weight? Ive lost some inches, went from a 16-12 in about a month and half... which is AWESOME but ive only lost approx 20 lbs... any other diet ive tried, mostly low cal diets, the weight goes down but it takes forever for the inches to catch up...
This happening to anyone else? Or am I just weird..

karirenae

forgot to mention that im doing 20g or less a day. Ive just heard low carb in general causes inch loss over weight..

DianaElena76

Maybe because fat doesn't weigh very much? I'm not sure, just guessing.

KnitOrMiss

The same amount of weight in fat takes up more body space than the same amount of muscle. Muscle is far more dense, fat is more...well, fluffy, for lack of a better term. So you are losing more fat and gaining more muscle, so the weight drops slower than the inches... Does than make sense?

Dragonwolf

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

The same amount of weight in fat takes up more body space than the same amount of muscle. Muscle is far more dense, fat is more...well, fluffy, for lack of a better term. So you are losing more fat and gaining more muscle, so the weight drops slower than the inches... Does than make sense?

That's only partially true. You can't gain muscle easily without putting forth some serious effort, the only exception being "newbie gains," where you might gain a little muscle solely because you haven't used them...like...ever, and you suddenly are doing.

That said, LCHF is known to spare more lean body mass than standard calorie restriction. As a result, the "weight" you are losing is mostly fat. Since fat isn't all the dense, it doesn't take a lot of weight to lose several inches if your body is pulling most of it from one place (which can happen especially if you're insulin resistant, and the body stores most of the fat in the midsection).

Additionally, LCHF also often cuts out a lot of the big culprits of food intolerances, so it's possible your size drop is from the removal of something that is causing you systemic inflammation and bloating. Without that bloating, your size goes down, even if your weight doesn't.

KnitOrMiss

I hadn't even thought about the inflammation. Awesome point.

Thanks for clarifying on the muscle requiring effort point also.

GrannyMayOz

Yup, I have most definitely lost size, but only 2.2 kgs (almost 5 lbs) on the scale. Even my husband can see the difference in me. Trust me, he is *not* one to say so if he can't!

KnitOrMiss

GrannyMayOz wrote: »

Yup, I have most definitely lost size, but only 2.2 kgs (almost 5 lbs) on the scale. Even my husband can see the difference in me. Trust me, he is *not* one to say so if he can't!

I've lost ten pounds (around 4.5 kg if I did my math right), 4-5 inches (roughly 10-13 cm, I think), and a full pant's size. I figure as long as I feel great, I'm gaining health every day, the scale will follow when it is good and ready! LOL

GrannyMayOz

KnitOrMiss wrote: »

I've lost ten pounds (around 4.5 kg if I did my math right), 4-5 inches (roughly 10-13 cm, I think), and a full pant's size. I figure as long as I feel great, I'm gaining health every day, the scale will follow when it is good and ready! LOL

It's so gorgeous of you to do the conversions for us metric folk Knit! And you're tracking so well!!!

cdn_beaver

I've been at this for years and there has been numerous times where the scale has remained the same for months but my shape changes. Clothing getting baggy = fat loss.

Quatroux

Body builders cut and bulk in endlessly repeating cycles because it is so hard to add muscle and burn fat at the same time. It is also hard to add muscle without also adding fat. The ideal cut is to maximize the inches you lose and minimize the pounds you lose. This means you are holding on to more muscle while you burn fat. Conversely, being able to add pounds without also increasing your inches (ex waist) is a great sign that you are keeping fat gains to a minimum while adding muscle.

We can learn from this traditionally body building approach. Keto seems to be the best diet for protecting muscle during weight loss. A scale is an OK measure of progress, but your mirror is much better. You are getting more fit - not just losing weight.