A pound is a pound...

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24

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  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
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    I have a photo that demonstrates this very thing, but can't figure out how to get it to post on here :(
    Here it is (I have it on my profile, too :wink:):
    112576_5207.jpg

    Thank you ... now HOW did you DO THAT? I have been searching on here and feel like a total MORON that not one of the suggestions is anything I remotely understand :cry:
  • ladybg81
    ladybg81 Posts: 1,553 Member
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    I could not figure out how to post the pic either!
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    .
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    Thank you ... now HOW did you DO THAT? I have been searching on here and feel like a total MORON that not one of the suggestions is anything I remotely understand :cry:

    Get the link to the photo file (which you can find by right-clicking on it and seeing the "address") then put it (the link) in between tags like this:

    Capture-1.jpg

    Just make sure the tags are *lowercase* and there is the slash in the second one.
  • RENAEJAE
    RENAEJAE Posts: 1,136 Member
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    Great pix - and if they were both dropped from the top of the Empire State Building they would both go SPLAT at the same time.
  • menchi
    menchi Posts: 297 Member
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    First, you are totally right.

    However, assumptions like that are normally made in everyday language and as a science teacher it annoys me too. "The syrup is heavier than the water, that's why it sinks" I get that all the time. Density is a surprisingly difficult concept. and people tend to compare weight (or the more correct term mass) with an assumption about the same volume when they reason like this. It simplifies things. Comparing mass is something we have a lot more hands on experience with than density. So when we start changing the volume also, people get very confused. Is a whole watermelon or a whole orange more dense? You can't use equal volume anymore, the idea that the watermelon is heavier is true but doesn't help (students know this too, which makes that previous reason about the syrup even more maddening), then we get stuck in our thinking.

    Long story short (sry), we often make these assumptions to keep life simpler, but yes it's annoying to assume about the assumptions.
  • westcoastSW
    westcoastSW Posts: 320 Member
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    Obviously no one who is moderately intelligent will argue that a pound of "X" weighs more than a pound of "Y". That does not make sense to anyone and I truly do not believe that anyone argues that. I'm sorry, but I think the whole argument is just semantics.

    That said, however, here's an example. Two people with a 34-inch waist each, but one has mostly fat around the waist and one has mostly muscle. The muscular one weighs more (theoretically; all else held constant). An inch (or cm, or liter even) of muscle weighs more than the same measure of fat.

    Edited to add: it's also a convenient justification for anyone who thinks they are getting healthier but aren't losing weight. "Oh, I've replaced my fat with muscle, so I've gone down a half size in pants but the scale hasn't budged."
  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
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    Thank you ... now HOW did you DO THAT? I have been searching on here and feel like a total MORON that not one of the suggestions is anything I remotely understand :cry:

    Get the link to the photo file (which you can find by right-clicking on it and seeing the "address") then put it (the link) in between tags like this:

    Capture-1.jpg

    Just make sure the tags are *lowercase* and there is the slash in the second one.

    It seems that photo bucket hates me. I can do this if I upload the photo to my profile and get the image code, but when I do the exact same thing from photobucket, it doesn't work saying my photo or video has been moved or deleted ... when it hasn't :(
  • olyrose
    olyrose Posts: 569 Member
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    Totally agree with you! :)

    People should stop encouraging others when they have put on a few pounds by saying 'oh don't worry, youve been to the gym so youve probably gained muscle, it weighs more than fat!' They are just giving the poor cow false hope.
    Anyone in this situtation should really ask themselves if they are being totally honest with themselves ... How many times do you look at a piece of cake, biscuit or chocolate and say 'oh a little wont hurt...' but the truth is it does!!

    Great post :)

    Aargh! This drives me crazy too! I KNOW that going to the gym for one week or two did not cause me or anyone else to gain pounds of muscle. People jump to that explanation so quickly, in what I assume is an attempt to make the person feel better about any gain.
  • therobinator
    therobinator Posts: 832 Member
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    It seems that photo bucket hates me. I can do this if I upload the photo to my profile and get the image code, but when I do the exact same thing from photobucket, it doesn't work saying my photo or video has been moved or deleted ... when it hasn't :(
    You can use a photo link from anywhere.....if you have a photo on Facebook, you can use that link. If you just Google a photo, you can use that link. Etc. You don't have to take a photo and move it to photobucket in order to post it here.
  • JigglyPig
    JigglyPig Posts: 231 Member
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    Nice job wording this! Hopefully it will help some people FINALLY get it! :)
  • JigglyPig
    JigglyPig Posts: 231 Member
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    it's like "lose vs loose" and "should i eat my exercise calories". my opinion hasn't changed, but i will say. . this has been done already.

    Hahahaha the lose/loose thing drives me NUTS! It's like...really?
    Same with you're/your, too/to/two, etc. I could go on and on.

    Lol, so funny.
  • bbb84
    bbb84 Posts: 418 Member
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    :drinker:
  • Chuckw40
    Chuckw40 Posts: 201
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    I disagree, the fact that we are comparing the same volume is usually implied when talking about a substance. If I said to a buddy, "hey, what weighs more, lead or styrofoam?", should he say, "well they both weigh the same"?

    Of course not!

    Lets make it even easier, if you replaced all the fat in your body with muscle, would you weigh more or less?
  • dragonflydi
    dragonflydi Posts: 665 Member
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    It seems that photo bucket hates me. I can do this if I upload the photo to my profile and get the image code, but when I do the exact same thing from photobucket, it doesn't work saying my photo or video has been moved or deleted ... when it hasn't :(
    You can use a photo link from anywhere.....if you have a photo on Facebook, you can use that link. If you just Google a photo, you can use that link. Etc. You don't have to take a photo and move it to photobucket in order to post it here.

    OK, I may have figured this out. The only hosting site I have an account at is photobucket (have FB, but pics for this site aren't on there) ...

    Let's see if this works ....
    5lbs.jpg
  • llkilgore
    llkilgore Posts: 1,169 Member
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    I really don't think ALL of these people failed grade 1 math but it really seems that way sometimes.

    I don't know why it should. I don't think first graders are expected to know the difference between a constant and a variable.
  • kdao
    kdao Posts: 265
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    Totally agree with you! :)

    People should stop encouraging others when they have put on a few pounds by saying 'oh don't worry, youve been to the gym so youve probably gained muscle, it weighs more than fat!' They are just giving the poor cow false hope.
    Anyone in this situtation should really ask themselves if they are being totally honest with themselves ... How many times do you look at a piece of cake, biscuit or chocolate and say 'oh a little wont hurt...' but the truth is it does!!

    Great post :)

    This! :smile:
  • clw_888
    clw_888 Posts: 157 Member
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    I don't think anyone will disagree with you that a pound of fat or a pound of muscle or a pound of butter are the same weight. We all understand that a pound is a pound is a pound. As mentioned by several other posters, the issue here is volume. If you take a cup of fat and a cup of muscle, which is going to weigh more? Of course, the muscle as it in denser than the fat. That is the issue that causes the confusion. So, to sum it up, people are correct in saying that muscle weighs more than fat because it does. They are incorrect in saying a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat.

    Sorry to duplicate other posters responses if I did so!
  • Chuckw40
    Chuckw40 Posts: 201
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    Great pix - and if they were both dropped from the top of the Empire State Building they would both go SPLAT at the same time.

    If the empire state building was in a vacuum you would be correct. Since it isn't then you have to take drag into account.
  • ImBabyBunny
    ImBabyBunny Posts: 75
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    You are completely right. How do we measure body fat vs body muscle compositions tho?


    I want to know the exact same thing! I have a bad feeling I am skinny-fat *Gulps* :(

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