Fat versus Muscle

pinkpiggy02

Fat is bigger than muscle right? 5lbs of fat looks larger then 5lbs of muscle. Doctors tell me that for a woman my height I need to weight between 130-145lbs something I noticed is some people carry weight differently. I have had friends that weighted less than me but were physically larger than me and vice versa. I played a lot of sports in high school and think I have a heavier muscular frame when people find out how much I weight they are shocked and say I’m about 20lbs heavier than they expected. I don’t think the saying “I’m big boned” is true but I think people hold weight differently. At my smallest I was 154lbs and felt uncomfortable like if I fell I didn’t have any cushion or fat to protect me or if a strong breeze came I would get blown away! Lol! I am curious to see what my body looks like at the “recommended weight”. I think I will look gross, frail and small. Or maybe it just depends on if I have more muscle than fat or vice versa. I think a person who is made up of 140lbs of muscle looks different then a person made up of 140lbs of fat. I don’t think the “you are x’x tall and should weight xxx much” makes any sense! Guess I’m just frustrated confused and wanted to vent a little. Anyone have any thoughts or opinions about this?

dorisbunker39

A pound of muscle is a pound of muscle and it will weighs the same as a pound of fat but the mass will be different.

Muscle boosts a person’s metabolism, so a pound of muscle will burn more calories at rest than a pound of fat. What does this mean? Even when you’re not exercising — you could be sitting on the couch watching TV — you will be burning more calories just by having more muscle.

Muscle has other benefits, too. It’s critical in improving bone density and helps prevent the loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging, allowing people to stay active as they get older.

Forget the average details of the statistical mass and concentrate on your instinct. You know a friend may look larger yet weigh less and a friend can look lighter and weigh more. My best friend is one inch shorter then me a stone lighter and yet wears a size 12, I wear a size 8...go figure.

There is loads I can say on this subject but I thought it would be nice for you to concentrate on more this point; one more pound muscle = more calories burnt then that of a pound of fat. Simple xxx hope this helps.

blueboxgeek

You could ask your doctor to measure your body fat percentage. A lot of doctors just go from BMI guides, which as you correctly mention do not take in to account how much muscle someone is carrying.

Those buff guys and gals down the gym could be considered "overweight" according to BMI, but they would have a very low body fat percentage and a higher muscle mass.

LivingtheLeanDream

@ dorisbunker...you sound like you know what you're talking about ...Me likey LOL
OP some good thoughts from above ^^
There was a video on youtube about the size of a 1lb muscle versus a 1lb of fat and the size was vastly different...so muscle is wayyy better than fat.

ps I weigh 14lbs heavier now than I did 20 yrs ago - I was a size 12 then, I am now a uk size 10 - all down to muscle!! :-D
People tell me I need to stop losing weight yet at 139lbs I am still considered to be on the high side of the average/normal BMI! go figure lol...the measurements and the mirror tells me all is well

bossmodehan

yes, muscle is denser and takes up less space and will make you weigh more than you look. i have been focusing on my lifting more and more in the last 2 years, am more than a stone (14lbs) heavier than my lowest weight but i'm wearing pretty much the same size clothes, or at least they fit me better because i am more shapely in the right places!

I'm happy to share my weight with anyone who asks and they often think i've got it wrong because i look smaller than they expect for someone my weight!

and it's true that it boosts your metabolism so that at rest you burn more calories...more foods? yes please!

Montarosa456

I wouldn't fret about this...
Muscle and fat weigh the same but your right they don't look the same!
It's not a problem if someone weighs less than you but looks bigger as when your walking down the street everyone notices what you look like on the outside not what the scale reading told you that morning.
I'm not outstandingly light but I'm 19.6% BF and working on 18% so I look lighter and measure smaller - But those that wear a similar dress size to me would be likely to be lighter..
We are all different - The scale shouldn't be used to measure how good you feel about yourself, if you feel healthy and wear a clothing size your happy with then that's all that matters

LumpySpacePrincess1

To make it as simple-pimple as possible: Weighs the same, looks incredibly different.
A 15 inch muscled bicep looks different to a 15 inch chicken wing. You feel me?

Hildy_J

Hey,

Unless you are pure muscle (if that's you in the pic then WOW just WOW) then I'd listen to your doctors and take their advice....

I honestly don't really know if there's much mileage in the 'big boned' theory? I suppose there must be info out there about the height/weight ratio variations of skeletons... I suspect it isn't huge.

Good luck!