weight loss vs. gaining muscle vs. body fat

ehimay10ins

you hear people saying "oh my bones weigh a lot" or "you didnt lose weight cause you gained muscle", etc.

is it possible to not lose weight but lose body fat?
are statements like the ones above even true or do they just make people feel better?

LoraF83

Yes, you can lose body fat without losing weight. In the last 6 months, I've only lost 2lbs (because I mostly ate at maintenance) but I lost a pant size and a shirt size. That happened because I lost body fat, instead of weight.

thoeting

Happens all the time to me....in fact, I get measured tomorrow and I'm expecting my weight to be up due to muscle gain.

One thing that has been helpful is that I get my fat free mass vs fat mass measured. Two months ago, I gained 2 pounds for the month - but it was because of gaining 3 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat. I'll take that trade off every single month for the next year.

As far as this month goes, the scale hasn't budged over the last month, but my clothes are all a bit looser - that's why I'm expecting to be up in muscle

get good facts under your belt as well as a few months of watching what happens when you lift. It makes life easier to handle for sure!

SquishyLove

Sure, the scale didn't move the last two weeks, but everyone is commenting on how much weight I lost. I don't see it, but others do.

viragoeap

Absolutely. I think that sometimes we get obsessed with our scales and yet we can lose inches in measurement, be well toned and not lose any weight, in fact we can put it on!

jacksonpt

Yes, it is possible.

But it's not as easy/fast as a lot of people want to think.

sexymuffintop

Happens all the time to me....in fact, I get measured tomorrow and I'm expecting my weight to be up due to muscle gain.

One thing that has been helpful is that I get my fat free mass vs fat mass measured. Two months ago, I gained 2 pounds for the month - but it was because of gaining 3 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat. I'll take that trade off every single month for the next year.

As far as this month goes, the scale hasn't budged over the last month, but my clothes are all a bit looser - that's why I'm expecting to be up in muscle

get good facts under your belt as well as a few months of watching what happens when you lift. It makes life easier to handle for sure!

Not trying to argue here at all... But how do you get your lean mass measured as a 3lb gain of muscle in a month is really going some for a woman eating at a deficit. Seems a high figure to me?

partickanders

Of course it is possible. But like someone else said. It is not so easy a many people think,

www.directvetverbranden.nl

jacksonpt

Happens all the time to me....in fact, I get measured tomorrow and I'm expecting my weight to be up due to muscle gain.

One thing that has been helpful is that I get my fat free mass vs fat mass measured. Two months ago, I gained 2 pounds for the month - but it was because of gaining 3 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat. I'll take that trade off every single month for the next year.

As far as this month goes, the scale hasn't budged over the last month, but my clothes are all a bit looser - that's why I'm expecting to be up in muscle

get good facts under your belt as well as a few months of watching what happens when you lift. It makes life easier to handle for sure!

Not trying to argue here at all... But how do you get your lean mass measured as a 3lb gain of muscle in a month is really going some for a woman eating at a deficit. Seems a high figure to me?

My thoughts exactly.

krhn

you hear people saying "oh my bones weigh a lot" or "you didnt lose weight cause you gained muscle", etc.

is it possible to not lose weight but lose body fat?
are statements like the ones above even true or do they just make people feel better?

To aim at losing body fat ONLY it would take much longer but then your diet would be very close to your maintenance which is easy to live with... Changes won't stick out though until a year

phjorg1

Happens all the time to me....in fact, I get measured tomorrow and I'm expecting my weight to be up due to muscle gain.

One thing that has been helpful is that I get my fat free mass vs fat mass measured. Two months ago, I gained 2 pounds for the month - but it was because of gaining 3 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat. I'll take that trade off every single month for the next year.

As far as this month goes, the scale hasn't budged over the last month, but my clothes are all a bit looser - that's why I'm expecting to be up in muscle

get good facts under your belt as well as a few months of watching what happens when you lift. It makes life easier to handle for sure!

Not trying to argue here at all... But how do you get your lean mass measured as a 3lb gain of muscle in a month is really going some for a woman eating at a deficit. Seems a high figure to me?

DEXA scan. Otherwise it's a guess based upon a scale and not accurate. That 3lbs is very easily water and glycogen in the muscles that never had to be there before taking up weight to make up for fat loss.

hkb85

One of my class instructors has an excellent visual aid

She has replicas of 1kg of fat and 1kg of muscle and the size difference is amazing. The muscle is around 1/8 of the size of the fat.

So if you are losing fat and gaining muscle you might not see a difference in the scales, but dress sizes and waist measurements you will

servilia

Bump

b_am6

I actually gained weight, but I do think I look leaner...
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/998257-7-month-progress-pic

Brad805

You cannot build muscle as fast as you can lose fat. That simply is not possible. If that is the case, then the scale must go down when your nutritional goals are for fat loss (this is unless you are having problems with water retention or there is some medical reason). You can delude yourself into thinking it is possible, but that is not very productive. Guys go thru mass gain/fat loss cycles relentlessly in a year hoping to gain maybe 5-15lb of lean mass. Keep in mind us fellas be packing some hormones that make is a little easier for us to build muscle. We also lose a small amount of muscle while we shed the pounds. You will not maintain 100% of your muscle while you lose fat. Sorry, that's not happening either. Yes, we can come up with a plan to save as much as possible, but you will lose a small amount. Its just part of the game. Go listen to anyone that has done loss/gain cycles and they will talk of losing a bit on their lifts.

The density of muscle vs. fat is completely pointless in this discussion. It is true that muscle is much denser than fat; however, the fat loss, muscle build question is about the rate we can do either. If one is working to lose fat that happens at a much faster rate than you will build muscle during a mass gain cycle.

In the early stages you may be able to build muscle while you lose fat, but that ends and you must pick your focus to be either fat loss or muscle gain.

I do not believe a 3lb muscle gain in a month. I too once thought my BI scale was telling me I was gaining 0.4lb/wk, but I did come to realize that was not so. They are horribly inaccurate regardless of how meticulous you are with the timing and attention to the water levels in your body.

The mass of our bones is not very much. We each have something like 8-14lb of bones in our body and once we are fully grown it is amazingly stable. It is not an important consideration when speaking about fat loss or muscle gain.

servilia

You cannot build muscle as fast as you can lose fat. That simply is not possible. If that is the case, then the scale must go down when your nutritional goals are for fat loss (this is unless you are having problems with water retention or there is some medical reason). You can delude yourself into thinking it is possible, but that is not very productive. Guys go thru mass gain/fat loss cycles relentlessly in a year hoping to gain maybe 5-15lb of lean mass. Keep in mind us fellas be packing some hormones that make is a little easier for us to build muscle. We also lose a small amount of muscle while we shed the pounds. You will not maintain 100% of your muscle while you lose fat. Sorry, that's not happening either. Yes, we can come up with a plan to save as much as possible, but you will lose a small amount. Its just part of the game. Go listen to anyone that has done loss/gain cycles and they will talk of losing a bit on their lifts.

The density of muscle vs. fat is completely pointless in this discussion. It is true that muscle is much denser than fat; however, the fat loss, muscle build question is about the rate we can do either. If one is working to lose fat that happens at a much faster rate than you will build muscle during a mass gain cycle.

In the early stages you may be able to build muscle while you lose fat, but that ends and you must pick your focus to be either fat loss or muscle gain.

I do not believe a 3lb muscle gain in a month. I too once thought my BI scale was telling me I was gaining 0.4lb/wk, but I did come to realize that was not so. They are horribly inaccurate regardless of how meticulous you are with the timing and attention to the water levels in your body.

The mass of our bones is not very much. We each have something like 8-14lb of bones in our body and once we are fully grown it is amazingly stable. It is not an important consideration when speaking about fat loss or muscle gain.

QFT