Why the scale lies to us

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  • pinkgumdrop123
    pinkgumdrop123 Posts: 262 Member
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    bump
  • Simona40
    Simona40 Posts: 50 Member
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    Great post!

    I went back to the gym this week and overnight "gained" 6lbs. I was thrilled! Not because of the gain but because I knew I "woke up" my body from it's normal routine. I know the fat will come off [I'd like to lose another 60lbs] but I'm not relying on the scale alone to provide proof of that.
  • JBWILLOW
    JBWILLOW Posts: 108 Member
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  • TheSpicyMermaid
    TheSpicyMermaid Posts: 279 Member
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    Like! :D
  • Taterpoof
    Taterpoof Posts: 416 Member
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    I was just posting about this yesterday, because i've been going the the gym everyday and starting strength train. I stayed exactly the same weight.

    This is me at 130lb. in both pictures. It's not a huge difference, but it definitely feels like it in my clothes

    130lbcompare2.jpg
  • Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim
    Mrsbrandnewmeslimandtrim Posts: 267 Member
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  • Kyfrog
    Kyfrog Posts: 19 Member
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  • LorinaLynn
    LorinaLynn Posts: 13,247 Member
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    Same weight.

    135-front.jpg
  • vegapsi
    vegapsi Posts: 25
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    148 lbs in all photos!

    2rxxgyb.jpg
  • BranMuffin947
    BranMuffin947 Posts: 104 Member
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    I needed this!

    :drinker:
  • newhabit
    newhabit Posts: 426 Member
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    The last thing I’ll mention is that with fat loss, consistency is key, the metabolism has built in safeguards to balance out any very high or very low calorie days, if you swing your calorie types, or amounts wildly throughout the week, it can be disastrous to your weight loss, I won’t get into details about why, but feel free to ask me in an email or tweet if you want to know more. Just know that if you’re consistently swinging from many hundred calories below maintenance to a few hundred calories above maintenance throughout the week that’s NOT the same as maintaining a 300 calorie deficit every day, the body reacts to extremes, and it reacts with fat storage, this is fact, not opinion.

    ok so why is it that "cheat days" where someone might have 1400 calories one day and 2600 the next seem to result in weight loss in the long term? does that person actually store fat because they had one low day and then a high day. why does "zig zagging" work?
  • ExplorinLauren
    ExplorinLauren Posts: 991 Member
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    Thank you :)
  • Snikkee
    Snikkee Posts: 295 Member
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  • AndreaL0918
    AndreaL0918 Posts: 47 Member
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    I like this post!!! I totally agree!!! I've been working hard the only difference I see is in my clothes, the scale doesn't ever move much!
  • the3erwins
    the3erwins Posts: 37 Member
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    I have suspected that my scale was lying to me for some years now!
  • briannadunn
    briannadunn Posts: 841 Member
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    This is an awesome post. I am well aware of the information that you have posted and use that information to my advantage. I weigh my self everyday and look at the trends, sometimes there is a loss and sometimes a gain or plateau. I have lost a total of 1 pound since Thanksgiving but I gained 6 pounds in water weight and it took me over a week to lose it and then I maintained for a week and have lost to 228. I also upped my workout to 1 hour a day on my Elliptical 5 days a week and lifting 3 days a week..So, is there a change or is it just water keeping on. Anyway, it is great that you have posted this because it encourages others to keep working hard and to measure progress other ways not just the scale.
  • nerchk
    nerchk Posts: 136 Member
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    I needed to hear this, was crying just last night to my friend telling them I am still at the same weight I was when I started gym. But I fit in the size 38 clothes now. Not perfectly but I fit. I can zip them n button the pants up. The problem is just the love handle which is a little too big and I want to get rid of that. My size 40 needs to be given to some one who lost from 44 to 40 because they look too huge on me. Yet the scale hasn't moved.

    When I want to make myself feel better, I wake up, gym and immidiately take a bath before I rehydrate. I'm ussually 1lb less than what I was before gym. But also what I do when I don't want to use my scale because I'm one of those who obsess abt the scale. Immidiately after my workout I drink lots of water before bathing. I know I have gained water and the scale will b up by a lb or 2 so I don't bother using it.
    My scale is a good friend, but my mirror n my clothes are really disagreeing with what my scale is saying. I will continue strenghth training whether scale moves or not. I know I'm moving
  • McAlyna
    McAlyna Posts: 123 Member
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    Thanks for the post! :flowerforyou:

    This helps me stay motivated. I gained almost 5 pounds since I start lifting heavy. I do see some result in pictures but not measurements as I am suck with it anyways.
  • emily_bird
    emily_bird Posts: 236
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    Incredible helpful and well said. Thank you for taking the time to write this .
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    ok so why is it that "cheat days" where someone might have 1400 calories one day and 2600 the next seem to result in weight loss in the long term? does that person actually store fat because they had one low day and then a high day. why does "zig zagging" work?

    there's a lot of variables in this, how often a person is doing this, how long they are staying at the different levels, what their body composition currently is, what types and length of exercise they are doing, how old they are, whether they are in malnutrition or not, whether they are completely filling out their glycogen stores during the re-feeding phase...etc.

    Generally zig-zagging does NOT involve calorie surpluses, it involves larger and smaller calorie deficits at very specific timing in order to take advantage of the time it takes to complete glycogen depletion in a 72 hour period. these are advanced techniques that require patience, knowledge and trial and error, usually they are difficult to do correctly and only work for a relatively short period of time (although I know a few people that do it all the time, but it takes a lot of dedication and monitoring to do right).

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