A pound is a pound...

agent300

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.

seriously this is one of the most annoying things. i seriously wish there could be an intelligent section of the forums. and you have to know the difference between lose/loose to enter. you're/your used to be my number one pet peeve but now being on a weight loss website, lose/loose has taken over.

ZebraHead

*Looks around for that dead horse. "Now where did I leave that thing??!!"
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Found it!!

westcoastSW

*Looks around for that dead horse. "Now where did I leave that thing??!!"
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Found it!!

:laugh: WINNING! :laugh:

Losingitin2011

Yes, muscle does weight the same as fat. I think the phrase that it weighs more comes from the fact that 1lb of fat LOOKS like a lot more than 1lb of muscle. For example, I am about a size 14, and I'm still right around 200lbs. There are people who weight about the same as me who are a size 22/24. Just means I've got less fat in me than they do.

Chuckw40

Yes, muscle does weight the same as fat. I think the phrase that it weighs more comes from the fact that 1lb of fat LOOKS like a lot more than 1lb of muscle. For example, I am about a size 14, and I'm still right around 200lbs. There are people who weight about the same as me who are a size 22/24. Just means I've got less fat in me than they do.

So using your logic water weighs the same amount as air, right? I mean a pound of air is the same as a pound of water right? Think about what you are saying, does this make any sense to you?

Fill a gallon jug with water and then fill another with air and tell me which jug weighs more.

Djbass728

Well put - it helped me see the light!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tross0924

Yes, muscle does weight the same as fat. I think the phrase that it weighs more comes from the fact that 1lb of fat LOOKS like a lot more than 1lb of muscle. For example, I am about a size 14, and I'm still right around 200lbs. There are people who weight about the same as me who are a size 22/24. Just means I've got less fat in me than they do.

So using your logic water weighs the same amount as air, right? I mean a pound of air is the same as a pound of water right? Think about what you are saying, does this make any sense to you?

Fill a gallon jug with water and then fill another with air and tell me which jug weighs more.

SiltyPigeon

Really? I always that when it is stated that "muscle weighs more than fat" that there was a general consensus of understanding that the given portions of muscle and fat were of equal volumes (such as a cup or a cubic inch). With that understanding the muscle does weigh more. Also, a person containing 30 lbs of muscle would be "smaller" than a person containing 30 lbs of fat. All other factors held constant of course. There fore it is possible for two people to be the same weight and height but for one to be physically smaller than the other. Similarly it is possible for one person to remain the same weight or even to gain weight, as long as it is muscle weight, and be physically smaller than they previously were with a higher percentage of body fat. Hmmmm.... maybe that consensus was only an assumption on my part and this explanation must accompany every claim of fat vs weight from now until the end of time. Eh.

Chuckw40

Really? I always that when it is stated that "muscle weighs more than fat" that there was a general consensus of understanding that the given portions of muscle and fat were of equal volumes (such as a cup or a cubic inch). With that understanding the muscle does weigh more. Also, a person containing 30 lbs of muscle would be "smaller" than a person containing 30 lbs of fat. All other factors held constant of course. There fore it is possible for two people to be the same weight and height but for one to be physically smaller than the other. Similarly it is possible for one person to remain the same weight or even to gain weight, as long as it is muscle weight, and be physically smaller than they previously were with a higher percentage of body fat. Hmmmm.... maybe that consensus was only an assumption on my part and this explanation must accompany every claim of fat vs weight from now until the end of time. Eh.

I always thought the same thing but apparently people are caught up in semantics. They have basically decided that weight as a unit of measure is worthless since everything weighs the same anyway.

wintermama13

muscle weighs the same as fat just like a ton of bricks is as heavy as a ton of feathers. If you are doing it that way yes, but volume-wise Muscle weighs MORE than Fat!!!

MittenKitten1219

As a physics grad student, thank you! That is a significant detail lol

rachel871

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?

I think you're missing the point here - if you were going to ask the lead vs styrofoam question, you would, assumingly, be asking if a similar amount (with regards to volume, length, whichever measurement you choose) of one substance is heavier than the other, i.e. if you've got a 1ft length of lead, and a 1ft length of styrofoam, OF COURSE the lead will be heavier.

That, however, is not the point. The point is that 1tonne of lead weighs EXACTLY the same as 1tonne of styrofoam (1tonne=1tonne), but the lead would take up a hell of a lot less room!

Ms_Natalie

Hiya all,
Can we please leave the personal remarks and insults out of this thread? Let's keep it friendly...debate is fine, but resorting to personal insults makes for uncomfortable reading. I will re-read the thread and may delete some specific posts which are insulting or contain quotes from personal posts...just to let you all know.
Thanks for your co-operation

Ms_Natalie
MyFitnessPal Forum Moderator :flowerforyou:

Barelmy

Um, duh? Was anyone seriously confused by that? O_O

Barelmy

So using your logic water weighs the same amount as air, right? I mean a pound of air is the same as a pound of water right? Think about what you are saying, does this make any sense to you?

Fill a gallon jug with water and then fill another with air and tell me which jug weighs more.

Yes, a pound of air weighs the same amount as a pound of air. They weigh a pound, you just said that.

But, no, the volume of air required to fill a gallon jug does not weigh the same as the volume of water required to fill a gallon jug. There, you're comparing volume, not weight.

bmontgomery87

Stop being so obsessed with body weight and start paying attention to body composition.

ItsCasey

For the love of all that is holy ... muscle DOES weigh more than fat by volume, and that's what people are talking about when they say "muscle weighs more than fat." NO ONE thinks that a POUND of muscle weighs more than a POUND of fat.

bmontgomery87

, but volume-wise Muscle weighs MORE than Fat!!!

no.
volume and weight are two different things.

muscle is more dense.
density= mass/volume

Chuckw40

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?

I think you're missing the point here - if you were going to ask the lead vs styrofoam question, you would, assumingly, be asking if a similar amount (with regards to volume, length, whichever measurement you choose) of one substance is heavier than the other, i.e. if you've got a 1ft length of lead, and a 1ft length of styrofoam, OF COURSE the lead will be heavier.

That, however, is not the point. The point is that 1tonne of lead weighs EXACTLY the same as 1tonne of styrofoam (1tonne=1tonne), but the lead would take up a hell of a lot less room!

I hope this clears this up for you. I also hope you are satisfied with my correct use of spelling, grammar and capitalisation. (excuse the UK spelling as opposed to the US 'z'.)

As a reasonably intelligent person I of course know that a ton of anything weighs the same as a ton of anything else. That is not even in question here. The question is does one substance weigh more than another. When trying to answer this question it is not helpful to compare an equal weight of the 2 substances. You would instead compare an equal volume of the 2 substances.

In the context of weight loss we are concerned with the fact that 2 people the same height may weigh the same thing but one could be considerably thinner. How could this be true? I suggest the answer is that the thinner person has a much lower percentage of body fat. This would indicate to me that muscle must weigh more than fat or else they wouldn't weigh the same thing.

As far as the grammar thing, I only called that person out because he was putting others down for their word usage.

ZebraHead

Such a simple topic with a single logical answer. Why does it have to consume everyone so much?