Running and Muscle Gain?

BethanyMemola

Hello everyone,

I’m 19 years old, and over the past 4 weeks I have been running 3 miles a day and eating around 1200-1300 calories a day, with maybe one rest day from running in between (the running is a new thing started 4 weeks ago). I’m also 5’2 and 130.0 pounds and I’m trying to get to 125. I stepped on the scale this morning, and I haven’t lost any weight. However, my clothes are baggier, I went down a pants size, and my before and after pictures look like I’ve lost 10 pounds. But when I step on the scale? Nothing. Why is this? I feel like running doesn’t build that much muscle, but I look smaller despite the scale not moving. I also heard that women don’t gain muscle as fast as men, so I’m wondering what is going on. Will the scale ever move? Let me know what you think. I’m trying to have patience this time.

knightmagic

your body can change very rapidly from stimulus. Running will create muscle especially if you just started a few weeks ago. I never did any real lifting until 7 months ago and in these 7 months i've added around 15lbs of muscle. Measure yourself now and continue what your doing. You may not have much fat to lose or your losing fat and adding muscle at the same time (body recomp) which is great! keep rocking!

AnnPT77

Sadly, you don't gain muscle that fast.

A quarter pound a week of muscle mass gain would be a really good result for a woman, under ideal conditions (twice that, for a man). Ideal conditions include a well-designed progressive strength training program faithfully performed, excellent nutrition (especially adequate protein), relative youth, and a calorie surplus.

You're meeting the "relative youth" condition, and maybe the good nutrition one. Running can add some muscle if it's new to you, but slower than a strength training program would. So, slower than a quarter pound per month of mass gain is probable.

What's more likely IMO is that you're experiencing some water-weight changes, could be for many reasons, one of which would be your exercise routine, while losing some fat; but the water is hiding fat loss on the scale. Being differently located than the fat, it can leave you looking/feeling slimmer, but weighing about the same.

If this is happening, it will sort itself out over the next few weeks. Hang in there!

This is a good read:

https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

Unless you're quite petite and inactive, 1200 calories (accurately measured) may be too aggressive a goal for you, for keeping health risk at a minimum. (It was too agressive for me personally, at age 59, 150-some pounds, 5'5", when I lost weight back in 2015).

Now, I'm not saying there's "starvation mode" where your body "holds onto fat" (that's a silly myth). But targeting a too aggressive low calorie goal can increase water weight weirdness, and sap calories out of daily life activity through subtle fatigue, as well as being a health risk, so it's a Bad Plan. Another thing I'd suggest reading is this:

https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/

Fast weight loss isn't necessarily the best weight loss.

Wishing you the best!

jjpptt2

Just for some perspective...

If you look smaller and clothes are fitting more loosely, why do you care what the scale says? Seems to me those first 2 criteria would be FAR more important than the second, no?

Now, to your question...

Scale weight reflects a number of things, many of which you have very little control over. If you're confident in your logging, then trust the process... especially given the progress you're seeing off the scale. If you are that hung up on scale weight, then I'd suggest a weight tending app as that can be far more indicative of what's actually happening, and it can help curb some of the emotional response many people experience when weighing in.

briscogun

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Daveybaseball

BethanyMemola wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I’m 19 years old, and over the past 4 weeks I have been running 3 miles a day and eating around 1200-1300 calories a day, with maybe one rest day from running in between (the running is a new thing started 4 weeks ago). I’m also 5’2 and 130.0 pounds and I’m trying to get to 125. I stepped on the scale this morning, and I haven’t lost any weight. However, my clothes are baggier, I went down a pants size, and my before and after pictures look like I’ve lost 10 pounds. But when I step on the scale? Nothing. Why is this? I feel like running doesn’t build that much muscle, but I look smaller despite the scale not moving. I also heard that women don’t gain muscle as fast as men, so I’m wondering what is going on. Will the scale ever move? Let me know what you think. I’m trying to have patience this time.

Could be that u have just lost water weight or dropped inches off your waist. Sometimes those don’t show up numbers wise on a scale. Also if u have an app that can track your calories for when u run and workout that could be helpful. I use MapMyRide when I go for walks. The more your body burns in a day the more calories you can eat. Weight loss isn’t quick or an over night thing. When I lost the weight it took months. I didn’t notice any real changes in my weight until about 1-2 months in as its a slow process. Also weight tends to fluctuate up and down. Make sure u weigh yourself at the same time every time you do. Also having a couple rest days a week could be good as with everything especially exercises you want to make sure you don’t over do it. It is also important to make sure you eat enough and the right foods. A healthy mix of protein and fiber and vegetables can help. The great thing about most vegetables is they don’t make you gain much weight and you can eat a lot of them.

janejellyroll

Daveybaseball wrote: »

BethanyMemola wrote: »

Hello everyone,

I’m 19 years old, and over the past 4 weeks I have been running 3 miles a day and eating around 1200-1300 calories a day, with maybe one rest day from running in between (the running is a new thing started 4 weeks ago). I’m also 5’2 and 130.0 pounds and I’m trying to get to 125. I stepped on the scale this morning, and I haven’t lost any weight. However, my clothes are baggier, I went down a pants size, and my before and after pictures look like I’ve lost 10 pounds. But when I step on the scale? Nothing. Why is this? I feel like running doesn’t build that much muscle, but I look smaller despite the scale not moving. I also heard that women don’t gain muscle as fast as men, so I’m wondering what is going on. Will the scale ever move? Let me know what you think. I’m trying to have patience this time.

Could be that u have just lost water weight or dropped inches off your waist. Sometimes those don’t show up numbers wise on a scale. Also if u have an app that can track your calories for when u run and workout that could be helpful. I use MapMyRide when I go for walks. The more your body burns in a day the more calories you can eat. Weight loss isn’t quick or an over night thing. When I lost the weight it took months. I didn’t notice any real changes in my weight until about 1-2 months in as its a slow process. Also weight tends to fluctuate up and down. Make sure u weigh yourself at the same time every time you do. Also having a couple rest days a week could be good as with everything especially exercises you want to make sure you don’t over do it. It is also important to make sure you eat enough and the right foods. A healthy mix of protein and fiber and vegetables can help. The great thing about most vegetables is they don’t make you gain much weight and you can eat a lot of them.

Losing water weight will absolutely show up on the scale. It's water *weight*.

Vegetables tend to be lower in calorie density so you can eat a higher volume of food for lower calories overall. But for someone losing weight, eating a "lot" of vegetables can still impact weight loss especially for people shooting for a lower deficit (like OP probably is).

jjpptt2

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

janejellyroll

jjpptt2 wrote: »

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

Yes, it's a real thing.

AnnPT77

jjpptt2 wrote: »

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

Yes. It's not unusual for electronic scales to "remember" a weight for a short period, so that if someone steps on/off the scale, tiny variations (errors) won't be obvious. (I'm sure you know that the precision of many is such that they'll tick up or down a little on an immediate re-weighing, which causes some people to lose confidence in the scale.) Typically, a dramatically different weight (as if a different person) will make it reset, so I've seen people say they take a dumbbell or something, and hold that on a subsequent weighing to get the scale to reset.

ETA: Not all scales work this way, just some.

I hadn't previously heard of them "remembering" for as much as 24 hours,though. I assume PP knows his scale's behavior, so not doubting him . . . just doubting that that's common.

ccrdragon

AnnPT77 wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

Yes. It's not unusual for electronic scales to "remember" a weight for a short period, so that if someone steps on/off the scale, tiny variations (errors) won't be obvious. (I'm sure you know that the precision of many is such that they'll tick up or down a little on an immediate re-weighing, which causes some people to lose confidence in the scale.) Typically, a dramatically different weight (as if a different person) will make it reset, so I've seen people say they take a dumbbell or something, and hold that on a subsequent weighing to get the scale to reset.

ETA: Not all scales work this way, just some.

I hadn't previously heard of them "remembering" for as much as 24 hours,though. I assume PP knows his scale's behavior, so not doubting him . . . just doubting that that's common.

My digital scale also remembers (at least for awhile). What I do is weigh myself, then tap the scale with my foot to reset it, rest my foot lightly on the scale until it registers a weight, then tap it to reset it and weigh myself again. Since there was an intervening weight that is not as much as I actually weigh, the result seems to be more consistent with my actual weight. I repeat this 2-3 times and then average the weights for my daily value. The numbers will vary because of variations in foot placement and wiggles while I am weighing, but the average seems to work consistently for me.

Oh, and to address the original question, as long as you are making progress with visible results, how important is the number on the scale? Lots of results (like getting slimmer) have nothing to do with the scale number and its random fluctuations.

Jthanmyfitnesspal

It's hard to believe, but our bodies are still growing at 19 years of age. This is a very important thing to factor in. Good nutrition is essential, along with exercise, sleep, and many other factors to make for a healthy body and a great life.

Concerning running, muscle gain, and weight loss: I can imagine your relatively young body will respond very quickly to running. Your legs will gain mass and elsewhere will lose. The immediate changes are due to fluid retention (being "pumped up" in the leg area) just as @AnnPT77 says (she gives very good advice), but, as you keep training, you will see significant changes.

Consistency is the key, but I think it's really fun, even at my great age of 59yrs. Have a blast!

janejellyroll

AnnPT77 wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

Yes. It's not unusual for electronic scales to "remember" a weight for a short period, so that if someone steps on/off the scale, tiny variations (errors) won't be obvious. (I'm sure you know that the precision of many is such that they'll tick up or down a little on an immediate re-weighing, which causes some people to lose confidence in the scale.) Typically, a dramatically different weight (as if a different person) will make it reset, so I've seen people say they take a dumbbell or something, and hold that on a subsequent weighing to get the scale to reset.

ETA: Not all scales work this way, just some.

I hadn't previously heard of them "remembering" for as much as 24 hours,though. I assume PP knows his scale's behavior, so not doubting him . . . just doubting that that's common.

My anecdotal experience is that my scale does remember at least 24 hours. I weigh myself each morning and if I hit the same weight for 4-5 days in a row, I'll grab something heavy and jump on the scale, then weigh myself again. My "new" weight is always different, which leads me to believe that my scale is retaining the previous weight and giving it to me again the next day when I'm within a certain tolerance.

yirara

AnnPT77 wrote: »

jjpptt2 wrote: »

briscogun wrote: »

One thing about scales, mine has a "memory". Its a digital scale, and when I step on it will "remember" me from the day before and give me the same weight I was yesterday. "Oh, you again? Here's the number from yesterday in case you forgot...".

If I take out the batteries it resets and I get an accurate "new" reading. That might be what's happening with your unit too (if its a digital scale).

But if you are seeing changes and clothes are fitting better, than keep it up!

Is that a thing... scale memory?

Yes. It's not unusual for electronic scales to "remember" a weight for a short period, so that if someone steps on/off the scale, tiny variations (errors) won't be obvious. (I'm sure you know that the precision of many is such that they'll tick up or down a little on an immediate re-weighing, which causes some people to lose confidence in the scale.) Typically, a dramatically different weight (as if a different person) will make it reset, so I've seen people say they take a dumbbell or something, and hold that on a subsequent weighing to get the scale to reset.

ETA: Not all scales work this way, just some.

I hadn't previously heard of them "remembering" for as much as 24 hours,though. I assume PP knows his scale's behavior, so not doubting him . . . just doubting that that's common.

When my last scale broke sometimes last year (probably not good to keep it in a humid bathroom without proper ventilation for years) it would remember a weight range! That was completely weird. I logged weight over two weeks and always ended up within the same 300gr each day. I found it odd and bought a new one. Then I got a whoosh, and still ended up there on the old scale, while the new one did go down. Do scales get alzheimer? Looks like it.