Why do I lose inches but not weight?

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Replies

  • _FATNSASSY
    _FATNSASSY Posts: 107 Member
    I also too think I could be in starvation mode. 800 - 100 calories daily.... per my doctor's orders. But I haven't lost but maybe 3 lbs since I started eating less and working out. I lost weight with WW a few years back and I ate to their calorie guidelines. It's hard though for someone to tell me to take in more calories in order to lose weight.
  • _FATNSASSY
    _FATNSASSY Posts: 107 Member
    This is interesting... http://fattyfightsback.blogspot.com/2009/03/mtyhbusters-starvation-mode.html
  • thisismeraw
    thisismeraw Posts: 1,264 Member
    I think I am in starvation mode too I even counted so far today and I'm only on 600ish cals so far and it'll only be 900-1000cals at the end. I do feel I am more hungrier throughout the day or mainly in the evening .

    Generally I do eat 5-6times a day but I seem to not eat enough to make up the calories. Is this part of the problem as well just losing inches without the weight?

    Starvation mode is a myth thrown around here far too often. To truly get to a state anywhere like starvation mode, you would have to not consume anything for something like 72 hours.

    When you consistantly eat too little your body learns to work on less. You also lose muscle mass along the way which lowers your metabolism.

    You need to up your calories. Do it slowly. Don't get on the scale as upping your calories will cause you to gain weight however it's water weight... not fat weight. You will start losing again.

    Switch out lower calorie foods for higher calories foods. Full fat dairy products, fattier cuts of meats, oil when cooking, nuts, nut butters, etc. A handful or two of cashews for example won't make you feel stuffed but will add a few hundred calories.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Your calorie count is too low most likely your body is in starvation mode increase it to about 1400-1500. Also drink plenty of water. Exercise does you no good if your body believes it is starving.

    This makes no sense for someone losing inches but no weight. It would make sense if the opposite were true.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I think I am in starvation mode too I even counted so far today and I'm only on 600ish cals so far and it'll only be 900-1000cals at the end. I do feel I am more hungrier throughout the day or mainly in the evening .

    Generally I do eat 5-6times a day but I seem to not eat enough to make up the calories. Is this part of the problem as well just losing inches without the weight?

    Do not listen to these people. If you were losing weight and not inches that could be a sign that you are losing muscle and gaining fat. But that's not what is happening to you.

    Why do you feel losing inches but not weight is a problem?

    When I switched to maintenance I put on 3 lbs but lost 5 inches and dropped my BF%. Being smaller and weighing more is a good thing. Muscle really is heavier than fat.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are losing inches but not weight then you are replacing fat with muscle. That's good.

    Your calorie count seems too low. Was that an average day?

    A pound of fat = a pound of muscle = a pound of cheese.

    A pound of fat TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a pound of lean muscle. You can lose fat, gain muscle, and not lose weight. Focus on the inches.

    *sigh* One cubic inch of muscle weighs more than one cubic inch of fat. (If you can add implied words to make someone else's sentence fit your meaning then so can I.)

    And that's a very different thing than saying muscle weighs more than fat. That actually confuses people. It's better for everyone if you say something like "muscle takes up less space than fat, and has a tighter firmer appearance."

    Seriously? You are confused when someone says X weighs more than Y? Why? The only logical assumption is that they are talking about the same volume.

    It confuses me that anyone would read that and assume same weight. I actually find it nearly impossible to believe.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.

    Not for a while i think it could be the calories and I need to be more consistent.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.

    Not for a while i think it could be the calories and I need to be more consistent.

    Perhaps. Consistency is not necessary for weight loss except from a psychological standpoint. Some people stay on track better when they eat the same calories everyday. Some like to have low calorie days and high calories days. As long as you keep a deficit on average you will lose.

    If you have stopped losing and are eating very low calorie I would suggest eating more. Either eat more on days you exercise, or up your daily intake. Whichever works better for you.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.

    Not for a while i think it could be the calories and I need to be more consistent.

    Perhaps. Consistency is not necessary for weight loss except from a psychological standpoint. Some people stay on track better when they eat the same calories everyday. Some like to have low calorie days and high calories days. As long as you keep a deficit on average you will lose.

    If you have stopped losing and are eating very low calorie I would suggest eating more. Either eat more on days you exercise, or up your daily intake. Whichever works better for you.


    Yeah I'll try upping my calories to 1600 as I don't count it too much at the moment but everytime i have I end up 900-1000cals. Even though I eat 6 meals. Just need to add more in. I'll probably plan more.I'll update this if it works.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.

    Not for a while i think it could be the calories and I need to be more consistent.

    Perhaps. Consistency is not necessary for weight loss except from a psychological standpoint. Some people stay on track better when they eat the same calories everyday. Some like to have low calorie days and high calories days. As long as you keep a deficit on average you will lose.

    If you have stopped losing and are eating very low calorie I would suggest eating more. Either eat more on days you exercise, or up your daily intake. Whichever works better for you.


    Yeah I'll try upping my calories to 1600 as I don't count it too much at the moment but everytime i have I end up 900-1000cals. Even though I eat 6 meals. Just need to add more in. I'll probably plan more.I'll update this if it works.

    If you are eating a lot of food and still coming in low on calories, then I'd track your fat intake to make sure you are getting enough. Fat has more than twice as many calories as carbs and protein but it is an important part of a healthy diet.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I haven't lost inches for a good while now though maybe 3-4 months.

    Now I am confused. Why does your OP and subject line say "Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight?"

    Oh wait I think I've had slight inches change but not too much inches.

    So you're not losing anything.

    Not for a while i think it could be the calories and I need to be more consistent.

    Perhaps. Consistency is not necessary for weight loss except from a psychological standpoint. Some people stay on track better when they eat the same calories everyday. Some like to have low calorie days and high calories days. As long as you keep a deficit on average you will lose.

    If you have stopped losing and are eating very low calorie I would suggest eating more. Either eat more on days you exercise, or up your daily intake. Whichever works better for you.


    Yeah I'll try upping my calories to 1600 as I don't count it too much at the moment but everytime i have I end up 900-1000cals. Even though I eat 6 meals. Just need to add more in. I'll probably plan more.I'll update this if it works.

    If you are eating a lot of food and still coming in low on calories, then I'd track your fat intake to make sure you are getting enough. Fat has more than twice as many calories as carbs and protein but it is an important part of a healthy diet.


    Usually I only eat one thing at a time like

    a general day is like this

    Breakfast - porridge - skimmed milk
    Snack - nature valley bar
    Lunch - roll/sandwhich with ham/lettuce tomato.
    Other days it's just lettuce tomato and ham/ mackeral / tuna

    Snack: Oatcakes with hummus

    Dinner : meat , veg and mash potato

    Snack: soya crem

    calories usually end up low
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    Usually I only eat one thing at a time like

    a general day is like this

    Breakfast - porridge - skimmed milk
    Snack - nature valley bar
    Lunch - roll/sandwhich with ham/lettuce tomato.
    Other days it's just lettuce tomato and ham/ mackeral / tuna

    Snack: Oatcakes with hummus

    Dinner : meat , veg and mash potato

    Snack: soya crem

    calories usually end up low

    You could add peanut butter to your oatmeal, avocado to your sandwich. and some nuts and fruit to your soya cream to up the calorie content.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I'm going to try maybe eating a little more with the snacks like having a fruit as well at the snack time or adding hummus or something.
  • Feed_the_Bears
    Feed_the_Bears Posts: 275 Member
    Your calorie count is too low most likely your body is in starvation mode increase it to about 1400-1500. Also drink plenty of water. Exercise does you no good if your body believes it is starving.
    Before you just start upping i recommend doing a full metabolism recovery . Stop dieting and eat at TDEe for a little while while doing strengh and hiit . Youll put on a litle muscle and maybe some fat but then when you cut to TDEE-20% youll be eating even more than 1500 nurishing your workous and busting rough that fat plateau and youll feel healthier

    Good luck
  • letsgain01
    letsgain01 Posts: 106 Member
    Muscle gain...maybe you're hitting the gym, your goals should be in inches, not pounds..I've seen a picture of a girl who was 130 when she started a fitness lifestyle..she gained five pounds, but she lost inches and looked a million times better..since you're doing thus strength exercise, that'swhy I suggest you keep your goal in inches instead of pounds
  • Tabrean
    Tabrean Posts: 12 Member
    I found for me, MFP was totally off on the # of calories I needed to maintain, and by a lot. I am 5'5", 111 lbs, and sedentary. MFP told me I needed a net 1480 calories/day to maintain that. BWAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAA. That real number is 2000+, and would drop weight like a rock on their recommendation. In contrast, I have a larger friend with the same lifestyle, and if she ate 2000+ she would gain. People's bodies are so different. I spent a couple weeks not doing anything different at all, and just tracking what I ate. From that I was able to get a better gauge of where my body was at, and how I would have to adjust if I wanted to gain, which is my goal. I think taking this baseline is important and can give a person a lot of information on where to adjust, because it's not about more or less calories. Weight loss or gain is multifactorial and is influenced by other factors in addition to calorie intake such as the pattern of eating (time of day, frequency) and the nutritional value and type the food.
    I will conceed your last point lol. I am an engineer, and am surrounded by engineers all the time. So my paradigm may be a little skewed ;-)

    I work in an analytical/science based field, and I was totally confused how "muscle weighs more than fat" wasn't clear. Then the OP of that statement further clarified with "One cubic inch of muscle weighs more than one cubic inch of fat. " which is true and in the spirit which the OP intended, but the argument continued LOL WTH? :p There is more than one way to explain a concept.

    I don't think one or the other is more confusing, but there are some people on either side, and some will better understand the visualization of 2 objects having the same mass not taking up the same amount of space, and others will better understand 2 objects taking up the same amount of space not having the same mass. Neither explanation is wrong.

    It's 6 of these and 1/2 dozen of the other. Language police, you can holster your guns. :D

    Focusing on inches or size instead of weight is good advice. Our dieting/weight loss culture is so focused on lbs without taking into account the difference between fat weight vs. muscle weight.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    Whats TDEE?
    I'm on a new plan now since Fri the PT changed it now I'm on fast cardio and weights with dumbells .

    I don't intentionally intend to eat 1000 I just eat that amount like I usually get full quickly.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    Your calorie count is too low most likely your body is in starvation mode increase it to about 1400-1500. Also drink plenty of water. Exercise does you no good if your body believes it is starving.
    Before you just start upping i recommend doing a full metabolism recovery . Stop dieting and eat at TDEe for a little while while doing strengh and hiit . Youll put on a litle muscle and maybe some fat but then when you cut to TDEE-20% youll be eating even more than 1500 nurishing your workous and busting rough that fat plateau and youll feel healthier

    Good luck

    Whats TDEE?
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
    A few places to start for information you might need.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/819055-setting-your-calorie-and-macro-targets
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/943139-weight-loss-cheat-sheet-ipoarm
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/10118-eat-train-progress
  • corrinnebrown
    corrinnebrown Posts: 345 Member
    I have the same issue. I can really tell that I am packing on the muscle though. I have lost 2 pant sizes.


    A couple years ago I weighed 145 pounds and was in a size 10. Now I am 175 and in a 12 (and they aren't tight)

    I would rather look and be healthy and weigh more then be skinny but flabby.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    I've since upped my calories to 1600 but I've put on 2pounds ? and my workout plan has changed.
    Is this normal? or would I have just gained muscles?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

    PM me if you need help.
    I'm running numbers for people till Sunday night.
  • cortneysmissionpossible
    cortneysmissionpossible Posts: 127 Member
    Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are losing inches but not weight then you are replacing fat with muscle. That's good.

    Your calorie count seems too low. Was that an average day?

    A pound of fat = a pound of muscle = a pound of cheese.

    A pound of fat TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a pound of lean muscle. You can lose fat, gain muscle, and not lose weight. Focus on the inches.

    boom. exactly.
  • mizzcasual
    mizzcasual Posts: 223 Member
    Or could it be because mostly before i'd be eating about 1000cals then I increased it to 1600/1595 and my body is just adjusting to this new calorie intake? then after I'll start losing weight?
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    Or could it be because mostly before i'd be eating about 1000cals then I increased it to 1600/1595 and my body is just adjusting to this new calorie intake? then after I'll start losing weight?

    Winner winner chicken dinner

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