Are we kidding ourselves?

k2d4p

I live on a military base in Japan and we get AFN (armed forces network), as opposed to CBS, NBC, or ABC. It is ok, but one thing we have to deal with is getting most shows a season or 2 behind when they are aired in the states. I mention that to say that I was watching an episode of Biggest Loser from season 7, I think. Nine of the contestants had to go home for 30 days and one of the contestants only lost 2 pounds over the whole month home. She said that she knew she built muscle and endurance even though she didn't lose weight.

Jillian had a little fit. The show cut to her sitting and talking straight to the camera. She was very frustrated. She said she is tired of all of the BS that comes with weightloss. She said that a lot of trainers basically lie to their clients by saying things like you are building muscle in a month (which she says you can't). She said another crap statement that she hears all the time is you can lose inches even though the scale says you are not losing weight. She said most of the time most people are kidding themselves and making excuses and telling themselves what they want to hear.

I am wondering what you guys think of her opinion of this. Is she just being tough of is she right?

strandedeyes

Jillian has a point to an extent....

People sometimes gain weight due to gaining of muscle weight or sometimes don't lose... but to go that long and only lose 2 lbs and say they didn't lose more cause of that....I don't know..

Also a lot of gym trainers will lie to you like that and I do agree there and see it happening at my own gym. The trainers go through these motions with their clients, barely showing them machines and how to do things properly and one girl gained 3 lbs and the guy was like "oh its all muscle" and then two weeks later, I hear her saying "ugh I gained another lbs" and he looks at her and goes "oh you are gaining more muscle..." I just don't believe it... I have talked to this girl and she mainly does cardio which is mainly fat burning (from what I know)...

So yes I agree with Jillian to an extent but she probably was a lot tougher for the cameras

brendansmom1

Well, this is kinda hard...while I have seen changes in my body faster than I see weight loss in some cases, I cannot say that I have seen where I lose inches and not weight. I think I tend to agree with JM. Another thing, on Biggest Loser, you are talking about pretty big people with a LOT of weight to lose....in their cases, I think you should see the weight changing faster than the inches....

I do think that everyone's body is different and will respond to diet and exercise differently. I think when things stall we just need to keep making sure we are staying on track and not giving up. This is a process that will take time....

Jillian is very successful, but she is not God. I am a fan for sure, and I have her workouts and just bought her book actually...but, with that said, every word that comes out of her mouth I am not going to agree with. But, I also am a firm believer in if you want to be like (or look like!!) a person, do what they say!!

QueenofCups

I think she's probably correct,but I am no expert. I have been very frustrated with my weight loss but I am not going to make excuses. I don't know why there isn't a change, but I know that if I don't see a change on the scale it doesn't mean that "muscle weighs more than fat" or any of that other BS. 1 lb of muscle weighs the same as 1 lb of fat, and since I want to lose some 20 lbs of fat, and no inches are coming off really, I know the scale needs to reflect some progress for me to know there is some.

So although Jillian annoys me sometimes, I do think she's pretty honest at least to the level of her personal knowledge on the issue.

Barelmy

I think she was just being a *****.

Have a look at my blog on here. There was on month where the scales stood still, but I lost inches. And I know I've gained muscle; my biceps are bigger, for a start, and I can lift more. Either I'm a total freak of nature and should be in a lab, or she was being harsher than she needed to be.

Atlantique

She's correct that you are not ADDING muscle in a month. Even elite bodybuilers who center their entire lives on gaining muscle mass can only add a few pounds of muscle per year.

But I think she's full of it on saying you can't lose inches while the scale stays flat. It's happened to me and many other people as well.

You will recruit muscle fibers that you have not used in ages when you start working out. I am not an exercise physiologist so I can't explain the whys of why your muscles get more compact and firmer before they grow, but they do.

I'd have to wonder if some of Jillian's attitude toward these folks who went home was to disabuse them of their excuses?

But I absolutely agree with her that the whole "muscle weighs more than fat" is not only false, but a VERY common excuse of people who just refuse to stick to their plans or are doing massive, steady-state cardio and gaining weight.

*edited for an amzing amount of typos

Katbaran

I don't think we are kidding ourselves. I NEVER lose inches and pounds at the same time. I've been gaining and losing weight my whole life and this has proven to be true for me. I drop a few pounds, stop losing, lose inches and then the scale drops some more. IMHO, I think everyone is different, our bodies may all be human, but we all work slightly different. Some so-called diets work for some and not for others even if we stick to them to the letter. This just means we're all a bit different. It takes some tinkering sometimes to find out what works for each of us. I think its unwise to make blanket statements, particularly in the media, that discourage folks from even trying to eat better and get healthy. Just my 2 cents.

Barelmy

1 lb of muscle weighs the same as 1 lb of fat

Well, duh. What people are pointing out is, 1lb of muscle is a lot SMALLER than one lb of fat. Ie, the same *volume* of muscle will weigh more than the same volume of fat. Of course the idea that the weight of one thing will weigh more than the exact same weight of another is just stupid.

donicagalek

Hell - I told one of my friends from real life who complimented a pic of me on FB to be a real friend and point out my weak parts!

It's TOTALLY true! Too many people over-estimate the number of calories they burn in a workout because the machine or HRM gives them some ridiculous number. Some people feel that eye-balling serving sizes is accurate (maybe if you've been using instruments long enough and even then you're prone to slip ups). People kid themselves ALL THE TIME.

If you've gone four weeks without losing a pound (assuming that you think you're trying) it is NOT because you're in "starvation mode". Given that you don't have some rare medical condition, you aren't losing because your intake is greater than what you're using.

Jillian is to blame, too! She sent these people home without giving them the tools necessary to figure out how to FEED THEMSELVES! SHE FAILED TOO! She should be angry. At herself.

taiyola

I think she was just being a *****.

Have a look at my blog on here. There was on month where the scales stood still, but I lost inches. And I know I've gained muscle; my biceps are bigger, for a start, and I can lift more. Either I'm a total freak of nature and should be in a lab, or she was being harsher than she needed to be.

Same!

redefiningmyself

Jilliam Michaels is NOT a doctor. I've been monitored by a doctor and absolutely have lost inches with little scale change, and I absolutely have increased muscle in month. Not much, but its been certainly trackable.

She makes her living off fat people staying fat. For all her talk, she's laughing all the way to bank because people hold her in high esteem because of the way she is presented on TV and buy up her videos, books and assorted other stuff.

She disgusts me. For someone who has a multimillion dollar business off the misfortunes and difficulties of others should be more respectful.

Just my two cents.

Atlantique

Hell - I told one of my friends from real life who complimented a pic of me on FB to be a real friend and point out my weak parts!

It's TOTALLY true! Too many people over-estimate the number of calories they burn in a workout because the machine or HRM gives them some ridiculous number. Some people feel that eye-balling serving sizes is accurate (maybe if you've been using instruments long enough and even then you're prone to slip ups). People kid themselves ALL THE TIME.

If you've gone four weeks without losing a pound (assuming that you think you're trying) it is NOT because you're in "starvation mode". Given that you don't have some rare medical condition, you aren't losing because your intake is greater than what you're using.

Jillian is to blame, too! She sent these people home without giving them the tools necessary to figure out how to FEED THEMSELVES! SHE FAILED TOO! She should be angry. At herself.

That show is a complete farce. Read any of the interviews of the contestants who dared break their contracts to say what really goes on there.

If people could exercise themselves into fitness, everyone would be doing it. Granted, I've only ever seen a few episodes of the show because it was so nonsenical, but I don't recall seeing any advice on eating plans. I don't recall seeing any intervention on WHY these people ate themselves to near-death. No, you just see horribly unfit people forced to exercise until they vomit.

Not a sustainable plan. The contestants don't learn anything about a sustainable lifestyle, nor do they address the underlying causes of their issues with food. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them gain a lot of weight back and are in endless psychiatric care following their participation.

GaveUp

I've been working out for 2 months now. Haven't lost any weight but taking pics and seeing results. I started race walking and jogging along with squats and core workouts and yes I see muscle building in my legs.
Jillian Michaels doesn't know everything.... its always her way or the highway.

NoAdditives

For the most part, she is right. You can't build muscle when you're eating at a calorie deficit. So for those who see small gains it's most likely water retention, not muscle gain. My husband was lifting weights to get big (until he broke his rib) and he was gaining close to a pound a week. Some was muscle, some was fat. But he was lifting incredibly heavy weight, was taking a lot of supplements (like creatine), and was eating about 3000 calories and a lot of the extra calories were from protein. It's very hard for the body to make new muscle tissue, it takes a lot of work. As far as losing inches but not seeing the scale move, I don't know. For me, my inches have gone down along with my weight. It's been about 1 inch lost per pound lost.

concordancia

I don't recall seeing any intervention on WHY these people ate themselves to near-death. No, you just see horribly unfit people forced to exercise until they vomit.

The only episode I have seen did quite a bit of this - making people confront their feelings and such.

Mads1997

I will let you know if you can gain muscle or at least lean weight in a month. I went for a bio impedence test (body comp) I have the printout of what percentage of lean weight, water, fat my body contained. I go back in a week for another test. I have been lifting weights the past month and not lost much on the scales in that time. So it will be interesting to see if my lean weight has incresed.

lolabugs

[/quote]

"That show is a complete farce. Read any of the interviews of the contestants who dared break their contracts to say what really goes on there.

If people could exercise themselves into fitness, everyone would be doing it. Granted, I've only ever seen a few episodes of the show because it was so nonsenical, but I don't recall seeing any advice on eating plans. I don't recall seeing any intervention on WHY these people ate themselves to near-death. No, you just see horribly unfit people forced to exercise until they vomit.

Not a sustainable plan. The contestants don't learn anything about a sustainable lifestyle, nor do they address the underlying causes of their issues with food. I wouldn't be surprised if most of them gain a lot of weight back and are in endless psychiatric care following their participation."
[/quote]

If you watched the show more than a couple times you would see that, yes, they actually do teach better eating habits and the importance of changing your lifestyle. They also try to dig down to the psychological reasons the contestants overeat. I think the reason they break their necks with seemingly endless workouts is because they have SO much weight to lose in one season (approximately 3 months). The total weight they lose is not at a healthy rate, which I think is why most of the contestants end up gaining a lot of weight back. I have seen that the ones who are able to keep it off have worked activities into their everyday lives. A lot of them go on to become fitness instructors.

As far as the original post is concerned, I think Jillian was being more harsh than she needed to be. I think it is definitely possible to see a change in inches without a change in weight. I think it would be hard to sustain this for a month though, so she does have a point. If that contestant was truly committed to the process, she would have seen a bigger loss on the scale.

StevLL

There are so many varialbes to that question and the answer. Simple one is you must have enough calories coming in to support the energy needed to lose and workout. It is hard to eat healthy and hit all your food somedays. I can tell you I am 700 under right now, but too stuffed to eat anymore right now. One meal used to be a days calories, but now that we are eating fresh it's a lot of food.
What kind of shape were your muscles in when you started?
Whats a persons age? (we start to slow down our production of HGH which can be nil production by 30 and needs a pretty intense and ever changing routine to get it moving again.) HGH is essential for building muscle.
What is the persons body type? Ectomorphic (hard to gain muscle), Endomorphic gains muscle easier but also fat), Mesomorphic (gains muscle fastest but also fat)
I know I am tightening up and feeling stronger and since I never starved myself I still have a large framework of muscle and just a few weeks of excercise and eating healthy is changing things. I am shrinking fat cells as they dont' disappear they only get smaller and I'm rehydrating the flattened out muscle cells which, because I'm active with work and have acreage to upkeep I am layerd in fat but am still muscular. So for me it looks like I'm not loosing much weight, but truthfully my body is changing. In two weeks my weight only dropped 4 lbs, but I lost a pant size.
I am lucky as I am mesomorphic and just touching the iron I build muscle. I think she is mostly right, but only if you ignore all the variables.

FrodoB

Jillian had a little fit. The show cut to her sitting and talking straight to the camera. She was very frustrated. She said she is tired of all of the BS that comes with weightloss. She said that a lot of trainers basically lie to their clients by saying things like you are building muscle in a month (which she says you can't). She said another crap statement that she hears all the time is you can lose inches even though the scale says you are not losing weight. She said most of the time most people are kidding themselves and making excuses and telling themselves what they want to hear.

I am wondering what you guys think of her opinion of this. Is she just being tough of is she right?

Jillian Michaels is FOS. And I say that without reservation. It is easy and common for an untrained person to gain muscle while losing fat. I know that from my own experience and well the number of posts your see here on MFP and elsewhere of people freaking out that they have just started an exercise program and they can't understand why they are losing inches, but not pounds. We see that almost every day, right? And the answer is always as long as you are losing inches, don't worry about it.

Jillian Michaels is on TV because she makes good TV. She is a bully, and for whatever reason we like seeing that as long as we're not on the receiving end. She could be dishing out good observations, but we'll never know because we can't tell if she's being sincere, or just a bully. She's made a mountain of cash by being a blowhard, but she'll never be respected as a fitness expert. I guess you pays your money and takes your choice.

nadiakim

To be honest, I had a hard time last year loosing weight. I did what the experts told me, I worked out 4-5 days a week for an hour, I did the strength training like they told me and the cardio. I only lost 20 lbs over the whole year. And yes there were months I lost nothing! That said I did loose some inches during the time my weight stayed the same. And I was calorie counting as well using fitday. So what I think, is if she was doing what they told her, and her body was like mine, strength training was what prevented me from loosing weight. I am not saying you dont need it you do, but its at what point you start doing it. I still had 50 lbs to loose and all I was doing was putting muscle under the fat, but the fat wasnt going anywhere. It wasnt until this year I gave up the strength training and just doing straight cardio for that same amount of time, and bam, thats when the loss started coming. That plus their dunk tank, bod pod methods for calculating bmr, and telling you to eat more, is sometimes off. I needed less, even though I was exercising. They had me eating like 2300 calories a day it was too much. I needed to eat closer to my bmr to loose. Thats just my take.

Mads1997

So I went for my test today..............In 1 month My fat weight was down 2.8kg. My lean weight was up by 200gms. My water was also up 300 mls

So can you gain muscle in 1 month yep