Help me understand this: scales, muscle gain and body comp

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meerkat70
meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm not a particularly stupid person, but there's an element of 'forum logic' I can't wrap my head round.

I understand (and agree) with the principle that you can't gain muscle on a calorie deficit, once you're out of the 'newbie gain' phase.

But when I place this alongside another piece of forum wisdom, that 'the scale is not the workout king / queen's friend'.... I get a bit lost. People suggest the slowing down of the scale number is a result of changes in body composition. Fair enough, but if we're not gaining muscle.... what does that change in body composition consist of?

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  • meshashesha2012
    meshashesha2012 Posts: 8,326 Member
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    i've sometimes heard it referred to as the whoosh fairy.

    if i understand the theory correctly, when we diet our bodies release energy from fat cells. the actual fat cell itself isnt destroyed and your body will use water as a placeholder in the cell. the water has weight, so although you might notice difference in measurements you dont notice too much change on the scale.

    eventually the body releases the water and it leads to a large change on the scale.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    But how long is the 'eventually'? I understand about requiring water for muscle healing, for instance, but surely that evens out after a bit, and then 'ordinary' loss should resume (with the higher level of water retaining body mass as a new base level)... ?
  • mirandamayhem
    mirandamayhem Posts: 772
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    I'd like to know this too. as at just over 15stone, I've started exercising almost daily, but the weight is stagnant. Is it the water thing? Will weight loss resume when my muscles aren't in such a state of shock?
  • Javajunkie67
    Javajunkie67 Posts: 167 Member
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    Lyle McDonald has written extensively on this subject. It's not a short read by any means, but it is packed with information.


    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/articles - this is the start of his articles-lots of reading for anyone interested. Keep a note pad handy for jotting down notes.




    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html ---this article is closer to subject of this thread.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,616 Member
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    It's an interesting idea - but by his own admission in that article, it's purely speculative. There's no evidence there?

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