Losing inches and not pounds

napilibay

Hi All I joined a high intensity boxing gym 3 -4 weeks ago and have lost quite a few inches which is great, I'm not complaining. However, my weight loss has stalled during this time, what's up? I'm female, 5'5",163#.

tcunbeliever

if you are losing inches you are losing fat, don't worry about the scale, you are getting smaller

sijomial

Muscle soreness?
Which would cause water retention.... Which will work its way out in its own good time.

luv2shimmy

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

Muscleflex79

luv2shimmy wrote: »

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

SCoil123

Just guessing but water retention from a new workout and maybe small muscle gains combined would be what I think.

napilibay

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

luv2shimmy wrote: »

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

Probably also some muscle soreness and water retention. My arm and shoulder muscles are sore and we do a lot of ab work and squats. So I'm guessing it's a little bit of both. Thanks!

luv2shimmy

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

luv2shimmy wrote: »

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

There's really no need to be snide. How much muscle mass she's built would depend on a lot of different factors, but at the upper limit? Probably 1-1.5 lbs. I'm guessing less than that. But there's also accompanying water retention as the muscle tissues repair and rebuild too, so that will add to the weight as well.

singingflutelady

luv2shimmy wrote: »

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

luv2shimmy wrote: »

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

There's really no need to be snide. How much muscle mass she's built would depend on a lot of different factors, but at the upper limit? Probably 1-1.5 lbs. I'm guessing less than that. But there's also accompanying water retention as the muscle tissues repair and rebuild too, so that will add to the weight as well.

Well a woman in a surplus doing a progressive overload lifting program can gain 1 lbs of muscle a month if they are very lucky so no op didn't gain 1-1.5 lbs of muscle boxing in 3-4 weeks

trigden1991

luv2shimmy wrote: »

Muscleflex79 wrote: »

luv2shimmy wrote: »

You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest

and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

There's really no need to be snide. How much muscle mass she's built would depend on a lot of different factors, but at the upper limit? Probably 1-1.5 lbs. I'm guessing less than that. But there's also accompanying water retention as the muscle tissues repair and rebuild too, so that will add to the weight as well.

You have been grossly misinformed about how easily the human body can build muscle.

luv2shimmy

Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

BusyRaeNOTBusty

http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html/

singingflutelady

luv2shimmy wrote: »

Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

In an ideal situation while doing a progressive heavy lifting program. Definitely not the average woman. OP didn't say anything about lifting at all

Muscleflex79

luv2shimmy wrote: »

Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

the OP didn't mention lifting weights...the pound per month is under ideal circumstances with a progressive lifting program.

Wynterbourne

luv2shimmy wrote: »

Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

They weren't being snarky. They were being honestly informative. And based on the information available, they also appear correct. And for some reason, for the last two posts, you have been the one responding snide and snarky, to use your words, when it was uncalled for. No need to be so defensive. This is a learning environment and a lot of the up-to-date, informed, regulars like to make sure misinformation is not spread. It's not personal even though you seem to be taking it that way. As stated by multiple others, it's not simply some walk in the park for a woman to put on muscle even when lifting (and she's not, she's boxing) and definitely not to that extent while in a deficit. Not happening. Lifting + caloric surplus = added muscle. OP is boxing + caloric deficit =/= added muscle.