I Exercise, Eat Well, Weigh the Same?!

adamb83

I see this ALL the time:

Question: "I'm working out so hard and watching my calories... I'm noticing my clothes are looser and I look better, but I haven't really lost any weight! What's going on!?"

Answer: "Well, ya know, muscle weighs more than fat, so you're probably fine!"

Reality:

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. They weigh the same.
Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. They weigh the same.
Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. They weigh the same.
Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. They weigh the same.

I'm going to keep blasting that everywhere until every single MFP user gets it!
(Sorry - but it's driving me BONKERS).

One pound of muscle and one pound of fat weigh the exact same amount - ONE POUND. The difference?

One pound of fat takes up much more physical space than one pound of (lean) muscle does. So - although you might drop a few pounds of fat, you're probably gaining a few of muscle. This means the number on the scale isn't changing much BUT your body is getting smaller - fat is shrinking, muscle is leaner, pounds are equal.

Hope that helps/makes sense.

s1lence

I hope that you feel better about your rant also hope that you get the message that you wanted a crossed.

adamb83

Lol - It's only PARTIALLY a rant. I'm really trying to help people understand this part of the journey. So many seem to be under this weird misunderstanding that muscle actually weighs more than fat - and it results in further confusion about how to approach weight loss and exercise.