Weight VS inches

Brandellina

Does anyone prefer measuring vs weighing? I'm starting to lean way more towards the measuring tape, but is that okay? I measured myself and lost a total of 4 inches off of my hips, 3 inches off of my waist, and, 5 off of my breasts in 7 months. But i'm only about 10 pounds lighter!!! I was told it could be muscle gain, is that true? Does anyone else experience this?

melindenmark

i much prefer measuring, I think you see results faster that way and yes muscle weights more then fat so you dont always see results on the scale
your doing great keep up the good work!

Saksgirl1

I have! I'm over the scale personally! Ok... I say that, but I still check occasionally! Usually I stay the same weight, feel like crap... take out the measuring tape and get super excited!

I've also heard though that your body can only gain 1lb of lean muscle per month? Not sure if that's true or not, but I'm going to hope not because in 3 months I've lost 3 lbs and 26 inches - there better be a lot more lean muscle than only 3 lbs at this point!

megz4987

I definitely prefer the measurements over the scale. If I'm getting smaller, I don't really care what the scale is telling me. In the first week of 30DS I lost only 3lb but 6inches all over. I don't really know how the muscle vs. fat thing works exactly. People will tell you it takes a while to actually build muscle but it doesn't make sense to me if my weight's not moving much but inches are gone, haha.
I just take it for what it is and keep on goin'!

JohnGym

I have my fat measured with calipers every Sunday. It is the best way to monitor progress. I also have to watch the scale for my sport.

Brandellina

Wow, you've all done GREAT with loosing so many inches!!!!!!! And I agree, measuring is so much more motivational, the scale just makes you want to chuck it out of the window lol! Well then, measuring it is!! :drinker:

SkateboardFi

yeah i pretty much stick to measuring tape. there's so many factors that go into your weigh in. it's a general rule of thumb to weigh yourself first thing in the morning, after you've used the bathroom and before breakfast/drinking water. but if you started a new exercise your muscles are holding onto water for recovery. or are dehydrated, or if you had a late meal and it hasn't been processed yet, OR depending on the time of the month, your weight can go up, regardless of if you weigh at the same time, on the same day, week by week, the conditions are rarely the same and so i just leave the scale out of it and as long as i continue to see my body tighten up and lose inches, i let the rest lay where it will. i MAYBE weigh myself twice a month, if that, because it fluctuates so much

luvgreen25

I keep track of both. I don't put too much pressure on the scale becuase there are so many factors that could contribute, it just seems sensless to have the added anxiety of "what will the scale say today?". As long as you're losing inches - even if it's with minimal weight loss, I say good job!

AZackery

I don't care about my scale weight. I track my body fat percentage/pounds of fat and inches. I'm aiming to lose pounds of fat. There's a difference between fat loss and scale weight loss. I have created a thread under the Fitness and Exercise titled Fat Loss vs Scale weight loss. You can read it if you like.

How I look at inches vs the scale. My scale weight doesn't determine what size clothes I wear. My body's inches does.

Michelle_M2002

I work out with a trainer twice a week. Then 4 days a week I work out on my own following the program she developed for me (and adjusts every so often as needed).

I had a two week period where my weight loss just STOPPED. I'm serious.. NOTHING.. like MAYBE a quarter pound in a two week period. The third week, a 1 pound loss, but time to do my measurements.

In three weeks, despite the scale not moving, I lost about 4 inches all over, and was down 2% body fat. My pants were fitting looser and I had go down a notch on my belt.

Remember that 1 pound of fat takes up about 2-3 times as much space as 1 pound of fat. As you work out, you loose fat but gain muscle. So it's totally possible to loose 10 pounds of fat, but put on 5 pounds of muscle. As a result, your scale would only show you a 5 pound loss...but your inches and body fat percentage would go down.

This is why you should not rely ONLY on a scale to measure progress... rely on how your clothes fit, the measurements, and how you feel overall. That scale will only show you net loss, but not your overall progress.

I also suggest taking pictures every month, or so.. so that you can SEE the progress.

Here, look at this link, it shows a 5 pound replica of fat, next to a 5 pound replica of muscle. You can TOTALLY see how muscle is denser than fat. And how you would loose inches while your weight might not change much. http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html

God bless!

SkateboardFi

I also suggest taking pictures every month, or so.. so that you can SEE the progress.

very good idea

IAMQUEEN

I hate that I'm a scale junkie "/ I only measure by how my clothes fit.

jpamplin28

I care more about my body fat percent and measurements than what the scale tells me. While I do have a weight goal listed if I get to my body fat percent and measurement goals first I don't care what the number on the scale tells me.