How can my body be getting smaller without any weight loss?!

wendix

I don't do enough exercise to be building muscle so I know it's nothing to do with that but it's annoying that, although I can see my clothes are looser and my stomach, hips and thighs appear tighter, my weight is not changing on the scale at all.

anyone any ideas why this is?

traceytoo

you must just be losing inches ?? no idea how to explain it .. :-( but clothes feeling looser must feel good ....

cazamaline87

I wouldnt mind an answer to this myself. Since I embarked on getting healthier ive gone down two jeans sizes and I know i feel better but when I get on the scale at the doctors, its all "tut tut not lost any have you!"

I dont quite understand it! Im going to carry on any way

We must be doing something right!

Lyadeia

Maybe you are retaining water? Do you eat a lot of foods with sodium? Are you drinking plenty of water? There's lots of other reasons why bodies hold on to water but those are the 2 most common.

morganadk2_deleted

Yes , look at this


http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3926473&SPShared=TRUE

foxyforce

Yes , look at this


http://www.sparkpeople.com/mypage_public_journal_individual.asp?blog_id=3926473&SPShared=TRUE

I absolutely loved it, and the pictures helped. This is why I don't do weekly weigh ins anymore! At least I try not to. It discourages me to always see the same number when my body feels tighter, then I think "Great, I am a brick house!" but not in the good way, in the sarcastic way.

Great journal!

wendix

that's a great article it's amazing how the body works.... losing inches but absolutely NOTHING in weight.

Liatush

That was one heck of an article!! Who knew you can see such a difference within the same exact weight??? Thanks for sharing that

JillyBean819

Thank you, thank you, thank you for posting this topic. I step on the scale every other day (perhaps too often?) and my weight is up and down. My thighs appear to be getting smaller and I don't feel so much like sasquatch when I walk around but I still feel discouraged by the fact that my weight has barely gone done.
Even though people say this is common it is still good to know that there are others experiencing the same thing.

myofibril

I don't do enough exercise to be building muscle so I know it's nothing to do with that but it's annoying that, although I can see my clothes are looser and my stomach, hips and thighs appear tighter, my weight is not changing on the scale at all.

anyone any ideas why this is?

Short answer: You are losing fat (and possibly muscle mass) whilst retaining water, particularly through glycogen refuelling (assuming you are exercising) which balances out the numbers on the scale.

Long answer: Lean mass (or fat free mass) includes everything your body consists of except for fat. In other words: internal organs, water, bone, muscle etc. Now if you are in a calorie deficit and / or not doing any kind of resistance training it is highly unlikely that you will be increasing any MUSCLE mass. In fact it maybe decreasing. However that does not mean your overall lean mass will decrease or stay the same as it also contains water weight.

When you exercise it exposes your muscles to stress and depletes glycogen reserves held within them and liver. Glycogen is a conveniently available source of quick energy for the body. It is stored with a ratio of approprimately 1 gram to 3-4 grammes of water. Water weighs a suprising amount in case you hadn't guessed. Therefore when you refuel your body following a workout your body weight increases. In addition your body will also retain water for the process of any repair that need to be made to the muscles following exercise as well as other functions.

Lean mass incorporates certain things such as internal organs and muscle tissue which closely adheres to the skeletal structure. In other words it is more tightly connected and packed closer to the skeleton. Fat on the other hand, particularly subcutaneous fat (the stuff under your skin) in contrast with viseral fat (the internal stuff) is loosely connective and therefore more prone to the effects of gravity. For example, you will notice that when you lie horizontally, fat deposits usually fall or move and redistribute themselves more closely to their true positions. Lots of people will notice a slimmer, flatter stomach as a result. However, when they stand up gravity then forces the fat deposits downward and they then push outwards when it reaches the lowest available point giving the "muffin top" appearace depending where you store the majority of your fat.

1lb of fat occupies more space than 1lb of muscle as it is less dense. Therefore when you lose fat, even a small amount like 1lbs of the stuff, you see a reduction in measurements and overall size a lot quicker. However this is balanced out by increased water weight which can fluctuate by about 2 - 5 lbs per day for an averge. If you want to know what 5lbs of fat looks like in terms of size then check out this link: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/health/theskinny/blog/fatblob.jpg

You can see by the size of the fat deposit in that photo that if you lose 5lbs of fat which is balanced out by 5lbs of water retention you measurements will certainly change, sometimes by a noticeable amount, but the number on the scale will remain exactly the same.

If you hadn't guessed by now simply going off the scale is a poor measure of your body composition.

2hdesign

Muscle and fat are very intriguing... and I had the head knowledge, but as a visual person those pictures are fascinating!

BobbyDaniel

I don't get it either, but it happens and the fact that my clothes were fitting me better last summer actually helped keep me going because nothing was causing that scale to budge! You hit walls from time to time on the scale, just have to keep the faith and keep going, focus on the big picture and overall good health.

wendix

there are some really great answers here thankyou!

SamWTFx3

The aricle above was really great! I'm gonna go take some pictures right now! :]