Fat vs Muscle Weight, How to tell the difference?

CrystalGetFitJackson26

OK, so, I reached my weight loss goal a few months ago 135 lbs and I am 5'6''. I workout A Lot (Zumba 2x a week, Boot camp 1-2x a week, run 3-5 miles 3x a week, and weight train 3x a week) on an average week I burn about 2,800 calories ( about 933 calories every other day). At the beginning of the college semester I weighed 136 lbs and now I weigh 144.8 pounds (8.8 lb increase) my clothes still fit the same (if not better) and my body feels tighter. On a rest days I consume around 1530 (+or-) calories and on workout days I consume most if not all of the calories I burn, I am on the 40% protein, 30% Cabs, and 30% fat, type of deal. But my question is how can you tell the difference in muscle weight gain vs fat weight gain? I mean, is there like a scale that can distinguish between the 2? or something of that nature. Last year was devoted to losing weight not this year is about toning and building and staying in running shape ( I run cross country) and this (muscle increase) is something I want to jot down to see how I am progressing. Any input would be super awesome :glasses:

Thanks you guys for the support and input :happy:

ladyace2078

Measure your body fat %. Also if you weigh more but stay the same size or shrink you likely have reduced your body fat (either through losing fat or gaining LBM).

no_more_weighting

Wow, first of all, great job for losing all those pounds and becoming so active, what an inspiration! To answer your question - yes, there definitely are scales out there that will measure your body fat & water percentage. As an example: http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?SKU=40649245&RN=2101&
However, I'm not too sure about the accuracy of this type of scale, since you need to bear in mind that the electric current the scale sends through your body can generally speaking only reach the lower half of your body. In your case, with all the workouts and active lifestyle I thing that the rule of thumb is the way your clothes fit you. And since you're saying they might be fitting even better now, I'd say you must be gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time - just my opinion. Keep up the great work! :-)

mdizzle99

Great work on the healthy lifestyle. For reference, an average woman can only gain .5 pounds of muscle per month. That can go as high as 1 pound under ideal circumstances and genetics, but without steroids, that's it.