Why do you lose inches but not weight?

Tujitsu56

I've heard this before, but it does seem to baffle me a bit. If someone has been sedentary and then starts to exercise, they'd have to increase their muscle strength right? I mean with that wouldn't the muscles in essence be growing? Even if they are on a caloric deficit, I'd think it be possible to make some gains. Maybe nothing monumental, but something. Even if it's due to how their metabolism is handling their caloric intake. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me.

Because even if you are in calorie deficit, depending on how you exercise, sleep, and nutrients you consume, fluctuation of water in muscle, under skin, etc. can keep your weight up.
It's practically impossible to gain muscle on calorie deficit. But it's not hard to have fluid in your body be retained by how the cells react to sodium, potassium and even niacin.

Jeff92se

Because even if you are in calorie deficit, depending on how you exercise, sleep, and nutrients you consume, fluctuation of water in muscle, under skin, etc. can keep your weight up.
It's practically impossible to gain muscle on calorie deficit. But it's not hard to have fluid in your body be retained by how the cells react to sodium, potassium and even niacin.

Assuming that person is that honest about their diet.

jasmineheaven

I'm not gonna lie...this is kind of getting confusing

tiggerbounce411

Muscle weighs more than fat. It is also leaner than fat.

Muscle is denser than fat so it takes less room, hence inches are lost. However there is not one that weighs more then another. A pound is a pound.

CLC900709

You could have gained muscle mass and lost fat. In theory.

This

Jeff92se

And to the OP, without knowing your diet and exercise programs (they are not viewable publically), trying to find out why this happened is like shooting skeet with a blindfold.

maidentl

DeBiKin

I've been working out and eating under my weight loss goal. So far I have only lost one pound but I lose 8 inches from waist...why is that I am losing inches but not weight?

The waist is a tricky area for measuring... It will measure larger if your stomach is full (I you've recently eaten) and smaller in the morning when you are still hungry.
Inches lost in your hips is less likely to vary as much.
Everything everyone is saying is also true about how much more space fat takes up than muscle especially since you said that you are working out.
There is also fat that is stored near the organs so you won't notice inches being lost when the scale starts dropping pounds from that area.
Keep up the good work, its all going to come together.
:flowerforyou:

maine7290

This is a good article to read: http://exercise.about.com/od/weightloss/a/losinginches.htm

and here is another one: http://www.livestrong.com/article/388780-can-you-lose-inches-not-pounds/

Rain_Howard

Ask a few doctors and see what they say. I can't count the number of times I've been told to chuck the scale and just judge by how my clothes fit. Scales are dangerous, they can make you crazy, confused and frustrated. If the jeans you once couldn't fit in are now falling off, that's a pretty good indication you're doing something right.

jasmineheaven

I've been working out and eating under my weight loss goal. So far I have only lost one pound but I lose 8 inches from waist...why is that I am losing inches but not weight?

The waist is a tricky area for measuring... It will measure larger if your stomach is full (I you've recently eaten) and smaller in the morning when you are still hungry.
Inches lost in your hips is less likely to vary as much.
Everything everyone is saying is also true about how much more space fat takes up than muscle especially since you said that you are working out.
There is also fat that is stored near the organs so you won't notice inches being lost when the scale starts dropping pounds from that area.
Keep up the good work, its all going to come together.
:flowerforyou:

THanks for the help everyone

d2footballJRC

Sometimes muscles have taken on water and glycogen to repair themselves. That is why sometimes you will see measurement differences but not as much on the scale.

ninerbuff

I've heard this before, but it does seem to baffle me a bit. If someone has been sedentary and then starts to exercise, they'd have to increase their muscle strength right? I mean with that wouldn't the muscles in essence be growing? Even if they are on a caloric deficit, I'd think it be possible to make some gains. Maybe nothing monumental, but something. Even if it's due to how their metabolism is handling their caloric intake. Maybe you could shed some light on this for me.

Increasing muscle strength can be done without putting on muscle if you're starting a workout program or returning to one. Think about it, if you laid off for 2 months and ate the same and didn't lose any weight and gained no fat, do you think you could lift the same amount in a bench press as you did 2 months ago? At that point your muscle is no longer "conditioned" to do that weight, but in a couple weeks it might be again. There are limits to strength gain on deficit and that to increase strength progressively would entail adding muscle, but you don't add muscle on a calorie deficit. To gain muscle you have to gain weight. To gain lean weight your have to consume more than you burn.

THISisTARRAN

Why does everyone lose inches except me????? ;(

I am with you on this!!! 8 INCHES off of your waist? I hate taking measurements because I'm not good at it (i know its easy, but I hate it) but I know I haven't lost 8 INCHES! OMG I'd be so happy!

havalinaaa

When I saw this thread I was really looking forward to reading a legitimate answer to a legitimate question, and instead I found... well, whatever that was.

I'm in the same boat this week, lost a full inch but the scale didn't budge. I measure at the same time/day as I weigh, and usually see a change in both, but this week just a change in measurement. I KNOW I'm not magically building muscle and losing fat in some sort of perfect cycle, and I think the weight is perhaps just water retention due to working the muscles, but I was really looking forward to a real answer. Oh well... I googled it myself and found this article (which annoyingly goes along with the fat weighs less than muscle miswording, but I can ignore that for a real answer). Not sure how legit it is, but it makes sense to me!

http://www.carbsmart.com/outout.html

excerpt that is important

let me tell you what happens when you lose a pound of fat. Your body has been saving this fat for that long hunting expedition you're going to have to go on to track, kill, dress and retrieve that huge animal. It keeps the fat in little pillows distributed throughout your body. When you start losing fat, it doesn't trust you to continue whatever insane path you have chosen that is causing the fat to dissipate. So, when the fat comes out of the pillow, it injects water as a "place holder." Sometimes that water actually replaces the weight of the fat it lost. Sometimes it replaces the volume.

Water weighs more than fat just like lead sinkers weigh more than feathers. If you stuff a pillow with a pound of feathers, you'll have a nice big pillow. If you stuff a pillow with a pound of lead sinkers, you'll have a nice (but rather hard and uncomfortable), small pillow. Now, let's say your body removes a pound of fat and replaces the weight with a pound of water. Your weight will stay the same, but you will be smaller. But, if your body decides to replace the lost fat by volume, that is a quite different story. Remember the great big feather pillow as compared to the tiny lead sinker pillow? Well, now think of a gallon of feathers and a gallon of lead sinkers. Try to pick up the gallon of feathers. Piece of (you'll pardon the expression) cake. Now, try to pick up the gallon of lead sinkers. Sucker's heavy, ain't it? So, you will be smaller, but you will have gained weight.

Eventually, your body makes the executive decision that you are not going to replace the fat you lost, and it lets go of the water. In the words of Danny Skaist: "When your body accepts the fact that they are no longer needed, the water will be expelled and the cells closed. This is known as the "whoosh."

flexgirl

Gaining muscle, losing fat. But, look at it this way.....even though the scale isn't shifting much YET (I say yet, because it will), the muscle you're building now will burn fat.

luhluhlaura

Oh my goodness.

A pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat, but the muscle takes up much less space, because it is so dense.
Fat is not dense, so it will take up much more space--even though they weigh the exact same amount.

It's like comparing a pound of grapes to a pound of marshmallows. One looks like a lot more food.

Most likely, that's what has happened--you've replaced some fat with some muscle. But on the scale, the weight of the muscle has compensated for the fat loss. Since the muscle is so dense, though it takes up less volume in your body. Leaving you with a slimmer waist.

The waist is pretty tricky though, so try measuring other areas of your body to see where else you've had fat loss.

meerkat70

The waist is a tricky area for measuring... It will measure larger if your stomach is full (I you've recently eaten) and smaller in the morning when you are still hungry.

This is definitely true. Also, slip the tape just slightly and your measurement varies wildly too.

AZackery

I've been working out and eating under my weight loss goal. So far I have only lost one pound but I lose 8 inches from waist...why is that I am losing inches but not weight?

Because scale weight loss and fat loss aren't the same thing. Please start tracking your body fat percentage and you will see what I'm talking about. Just because you haven't lost scale weight, it doesn't mean you haven't lost fat or gained lean body mass.

Formula:

Weight x BF% = Pounds of fat
Weight - Pounds of fat = Pounds of lean body mass

Example: On November 7, 2011 Jane Doe weighs 135 pounds with a 25% body fat percentage

Her results:

135 x 25% (0.25) = 33.75 or 34 rounded off (Pounds of fat)

135 - 34 = 101 pounds of lean body mass

Lets say a week from now Jane Doe weighs herself and this is her results.

November 14, 2011 results.

135 pounds 24% body fat percentage

135 - 24% (0.24) = 32.4 or 32 pounds of fat

135 - 32 = 103 pounds of lean body mass

Total results:

Weight loss : 135 - 135 = 0
BF% loss: 25% - 24% = 1%
Pounds of fat loss: 34 -32 = 2 pounds
Pounds of lean body mass gain: 103 - 101 = 2 pounds

Although, Jane Doe hasn't lost any scale weight, she'd lost 2 pounds of fat and gained 2 pounds of lean body mass.

A person doesn't have to lose scale weight, in order to lose inches.

Steven

Dear Posters,

I wanted to offer a brief explanation for the deletion of multiple posts in this thread.

It is not that difficult, in the case of a topic like this, to post constructively, like "a pound of muscle is denser than a pound of fat, so it takes up less volume, though it weighs the same."

It is extremely discouraging to members with sincere questions to have their inquiries ridiculed, belittled, and ultimately hi-jacked.

The forum guidelines include this item:

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