Losing inches but not weight - how?

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oremus1
oremus1 Posts: 100 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
How is this possible? one must have a surplus of calories to build muscle, yet I am in deficit. definitely.

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  • OnTheGround
    OnTheGround Posts: 78
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    NO you don't have to have surplus calories to build muscle. If you are lifting weights and eating in a deficit, you'll lose fat.
  • lillietoo
    lillietoo Posts: 4 Member
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    The way I understand it is if you have 5 pounds of fat and 5 pounds of muscle, the muscle will take up less space, it's smaller.
  • shadow2soul
    shadow2soul Posts: 7,692 Member
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    If this is a new workout routine, it is possible that you have some water retention masking weight loss. It could be (just a guess here) that you are maintaining most of your LBM and losing mostly fat. Since 1lb of fat takes up more space than 1lb of muscle, it takes a bit longer for it to show on the scale. Those are just my guesses though.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
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    NO you don't have to have surplus calories to build muscle. If you are lifting weights and eating in a deficit, you'll lose fat.

    Yes, but do you understand how much work, genes, and testosterone it takes to see an addition in muscle on the scale.......in a surplus, let alone a 28 yr old female....in a deficit?
    If this is a new workout routine, it is possible that you have some water retention masking weight loss. It could be (just a guess here) that you are maintaining most of your LBM and losing mostly fat. Since 1lb of fat takes up more space than 1lb of muscle, it takes a bit longer for it to show on the scale. Those are just my guesses though.

    This is most likely what the OP is experiencing.

    When in a deficit you lose water, fat, and muscle. When lifting in a deficit you lose mainly water and fat while retaining LBM. It's possible for some outliers to have noob gains (morbidly obese, returning athlete, severely undertrained), but those gains CAN be pretty miniscule and they do not last very long. What maintaining LBM and losing mostly water and fat means is that you can lose inches faster than the scale actually drops. And as stated, if you're new to the workout regimen, or really upping your current one your body will retain water for muscle repair. This can last a couple of weeks and you can notice yourself getting smaller while the scale isn't changing.
  • oremus1
    oremus1 Posts: 100 Member
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    Thanks - seems what RGv2 is saying is spot on.

    i know 1lb muscle is smaller than fat but denser. but what most people don't reliase is that one must be in surplus to gain muscle.

    i am not lifting but am running 5 miles a day a mix of jogging and intverals.
  • h7463
    h7463 Posts: 626 Member
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    Thanks - seems what RGv2 is saying is spot on.

    i know 1lb muscle is smaller than fat but denser. but what most people don't reliase is that one must be in surplus to gain muscle.

    i am not lifting but am running 5 miles a day a mix of jogging and intverals.

    'Surplus' doesn't mean that you'll have to eat it, too. As long as your body has 'surplus' deposits available, like plenty of body fat, it's used to make up for the difference. Lean people will have a problem, though. The last bit of fat isn't likely to be given up by their bodies, and they will at least have to eat at maintenance level to at least be able to preserve lean muscle. That's personal experience and a lot of trial and error, and it worked at least for me.
  • irisheyes321
    irisheyes321 Posts: 52 Member
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    Hi.

    i am also having the same problem.I lost 7lbs last month and was thrilled.But for the last three weeks nothing on the scales apart from losing inches which I was worried about and I started weighing my self everyday.

    But I have decided not to worry about it too much as I am still losing inches and that is great.I was so busy concentrating on the scales that it is only tonight that I looked back on my reports and added up how many inches that I have lost and its a grand total of 16 and a half inches since the start of August.

    Thank God that I did start measuring because I know I would have given up again after seeing the slow weight loss and raided the biscuit tin.:happy:

    Keep up the great work that you are doing and remember this journey is a total life change and its not just about a number on the scales and please do me one favour throw away those scales or at least take out the batteries for a few weeks.

    Liz.

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