The scale is NOT an accurate measure of your progress

hope7327

The left photo was before my 30 day workout and clean eating program. The right photo is after.
I gained 2.4 pounds according to the scale. But I lost so much fat and gained muscle!

KonaKat

Congrats! Muscle is more dense than fat so it can be reflected in a gain when measurements decrease. This is a good article on "why scales lie."

http://www.naturalphysiques.com/87/why-the-scale-lies-by-renee-cloe

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

If only muscle was that easy to gain.

You gained water weight which is repairing your muscles.

ISweat4This

Way to go! You look great!

albin9072

Hello,actually what's your goal here gain or lose weight...you can achieve any goal here with the help of exercise and nutrition ..
I hope you will best here.

valkongr

Depends on what is your goal. Is your goal to lose weight? Then the scale is number one on the most accurate measure. Is your goal to gain muscle? Then probably the mirror is a good measure. There is a difference between a 250 lb swarchenegger and a 250 lb overweight.

singingflutelady

So where's the 2.4+ lbs of muscle you claim to have gained? You look great but it isn't muscle gain. You are retaining fluid

Cortneyrenee04

The scale is way down on the list of tools for me. Thinking about getting rid of it!! Great work

sardelsa

You look great!

While I agree that one shouldn't measure success by the scale alone.. the scale is a very useful tool to know if you are losing, maintaining or gaining in order to reach certain goals.

deannalfisher

I wish I could gain muscle sooo quickly and easily (haha)...even after 4months of solid training - weights and cardio, I only managed to get 1.2lbs of lean muscle mass (compared via two different body comp analysis)

skymningen

You do look great but... 2.4 pounds would count as "daily fluctuation" in my measures. It is unrealistic for a female to gain 2 pounds of muscle in 30 days.

middlehaitch

Wow, you have done your first post and posted the same thing in at least 3 sub-forums. Well done.

It is water retention not muscle gain.

Lifting heavy, and having a diet that is on point, eating in a surplus, a woman may gain 1lbs of muscle in a month under ideal circumstances.

Cheers, h.

sardelsa

Also not to be discouraging, but gaining muscle is HARD.. especially to lose fat too as someone already pretty lean like yourself. Not sure how much muscle you could gain in 30 days, most likely not 2.4lbs. As you start training it is very common to retain water as the muscles repair. Still, keep doing what you are doing!

RuNaRoUnDaFiEld

I feel like I'm stuck in ground hog day!

VintageFeline

I "gained" 3lbs overnight. Muscle, fat or water from the all salt in the Japanese food I had yesterday? You decide.

TavistockToad

You look like you just put on a new sports bra and smiled, holding a different pose.... :drinker:

singingflutelady

Cutaway_Collar wrote: »

The right picture - the tummy clearly shows some ab improvement. So there is a difference.

Looks like maybe a little more definition but her pose and lighting is different. Doesn't look like more muscle.

TavistockToad

TBF though, I'd be quite happy with a stomach like that!

singingflutelady

Cutaway_Collar wrote: »

Muscle gets distributed all over the body. Not just the stomach. This is not a debate. It is true that the scale does not mean everything.

True but 2.4+ lbs of muscle gain in a month is more than what a woman on steroids would hain. You have to be realistic. A woman may, if they are very lucky, gain 1 lbs of muscle while eating at a surplus and doing a progressive overload lifting program. Not sure why people think muscle just magically appears.

SeikoMonster

The scale is just another metric to measure by.
When you are at a not overweight, its not the best tool to judge by, but it is a tool to provide data.

You look great, and should be happy with your progress no matter what the scale says.
Start taking other measurements. Such as bicep, thigh etc. I find it best to have someone take a picture of the measurement for me. That way I know I am doing it the same tightness/location/flex every time.

deannalfisher

am I the only thing who thinks this is a preamble to a - hey do my 30 day challenge with me to lose weight?

middlehaitch

Oddly enough, once I saw that it was the posters first post, and on 2 sub-forums, at that time, I did check for a link in her profile.
There wasn't one.

Cheers, h.

cityruss

I assume we are to message you for details of the 30 day wonder cycle and associated supplements and products.?

sgt1372

Weight always fluctuates day to day but it is the only hard data that you can rely on to determine weight los with any precision.

If the daily fluctuations bother you, you can use Excel (and some apps) to calc a 7, 15 or 30 day moving average to minimize the fluctuations which will allow you to just focus on the trend.

The day to day variations don't bother me much because they don't fluctuate much but I still use Excel to plot a 7 day moving average which hardly fluctuates at all.

Muscleflex79

different pose...different outfit...different lighting...no mention of a progressive lifting program....as others said, no chance whatsoever it is 2.4 lbs of muscle (while losing "so much" fat)...I'm with others, just waiting for the "contact me to find out how I did it" post...

PaulaWallaDingDong

I was 250 lbs of pure blubber. The scale definitely matters in my case.

TR0berts

deannalfisher wrote: »

am I the only thing who thinks this is a preamble to a - hey do my 30 day challenge with me to lose weight?

No. No, you're not.

deannalfisher

TR0berts wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

am I the only thing who thinks this is a preamble to a - hey do my 30 day challenge with me to lose weight?

No. No, you're not.

it just smells like so many of the shakeology sells I see on facebook...

LauraInTheWater

Congrats! That being said, the scale has been my number one helper in progress check and it does bum me out when people tend to knock it as a means of support for some of us. Different people find success using various tools, but I have found that steadily seeing the scale going down is encouraging. At the same time, a steady increase lets me know I need to change up my diet or exercise routine. I mean "steady" not just one or two days of fluctuation or water weight.

ninerbuff

To say it's NOT an accurate measure of progress would be false. It's pretty obvious when someone loses 20lbs on many people.
You look great, but realize that in 30 days you likely didn't gain 2.4 of muscle unless you were on some insane progressive lifting program, eating a surplus and maybe a little "help".
2.4lbs can be just a daily fluctuation of water in the body.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

collectingblues

TavistockToad wrote: »

You look like you just put on a new sports bra and smiled, holding a different pose.... :drinker:

Yup. There's a very obvious hip pop in the right side. Hip pops do wonders for making the appearance of one's abs seem smaller.