Diet and exercise question....

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mnixon13
mnixon13 Posts: 15
in Health and Weight Loss
I am trying to increase my strength all the while losing about 18 pounds. I'm doing a hybrid P90x and Insanity. My question is; is it possible that by lifting heavier weights that I am somehow negating the caloric deficit I am creating? I'm eating pretty stinking well, if I say so myself, and I work out hard, but I get frustrated with everyone else losing so much weight and I either gain or stay the same. I can see results in my muscle tone and build and my clothes fit better, but not losing any weight. Help?

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  • jilly280
    jilly280 Posts: 8 Member
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    For some people they don't lose weight fast and for others they do. When I was younger I lost weight very fast but ever since I had my son 2 1/2 years ago. I just lost 8 pound gained 3 of that back and lost 6 pounds. It is hard to lose weight but it works. When you lift weights you might not lose as fast b/c you gain musle weight but you are still losing fat weight.
  • Belle84
    Belle84 Posts: 36
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    muscle weighs more than fat my dear, your far better looking at inches rather than lbs xx
  • teetee1281
    teetee1281 Posts: 1,076 Member
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    Belle and jilly are right, muscle does weigh a lot more than fat. See the difference in your clothes is a great sign. You are losing fat but gaining muscle in return. Besides tracking pounds lost, it would also be good to take measurements. When you notice the inches are you losing it might make you feel better.

    Though, at one time I was in the same situation, before coming back to MFP and actually counting calories and watching what I was eating, I was losing a lot of inches and seeing great muscle definition, but I never lost a pound.
  • SHBoss1673
    SHBoss1673 Posts: 7,161 Member
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    Nixon, my friend, here's the deal. You're a guy, once you get to a certain level (I see that you are relatively close to your weight goals), things change. I can give you some tips and pointers if you want, just email me, but here's the gist of it.

    When you first begin a weight training routine, especially the first 3 months (this also applies to a major adjustment to an existing routine), the human body does some things that may seem counter intuitive.
    there are a couple of concepts to be aware of that will prepare you for what to expect.

    Muscle anatomy and functionality. So skeletal muscles are constructed of small, long thin cells, groups of these cells are called a muscle fiber and connect to a single nerve ending in the brain (essentially). So take your bicep muscle for instance. lets say your bicep has 100 fibers (this isn't accurate, just using round numbers), for an average person who does no specific bicep training, the amount of fibers activated depends on the activity you are performing. So picking up a pencil takes maybe 5 fibers to be activated, while picking up a gallon jug of water takes maybe 30 fibers. Fibers use the all or nothing principle, they either contract or they don't, they never contract part way. So if you aren't using a muscle to it's full potential, many fibers remain dormant, never being used, thus the body stores the appropriate amount of glycogen and ATP at that muscle. When you start a new training regimen, the body now uses more muscle fibers, and thus starts storing more fuel, glycogen is a water, glucose mix used as fuel for muscle, it's heavy.
    So, the logic is, when you start using a muscle group, you store more energy, chemical energy is heavy, it can and will, for a while, offset any fat loss you may have with regards to weight. I say when you are doing weight training, measure your progress not by weight loss, but by functional gains (max weight increase...) and measurements as these will be much more accurate. Also, don't be fooled, muscle mass will increase rather slowly, for a good weight training routine, you may see 1 to 2 lbs a month with occasional periods of no gains at all, this is common, and expected. When you see the plateaus, you should adjust your training and evaluate.

    FYI, this is only part of what happens during new weight training. Just ask if you have any more questions.

    -Banks
  • Leigh14
    Leigh14 Posts: 871 Member
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    I have a pet peeve and I feel the need to correct. Muscle does *not* weigh more than fat. Ever. One pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat.

    The difference is muscle is more dense than fat. That means you could hypothetically replace ten pounds of fat with ten pounds of muscle, still weigh the same, but fit into smaller clothes and have a better physique. Because muscle is more dense, it takes up less space.

    Here's a short article. http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html Check it out.

    :flowerforyou:
  • mnixon13
    mnixon13 Posts: 15
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    Banks, Thanks, I never broke it down so scientifically before. Sounds like I am litterally getting swoll. LOL.

    Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think I will start bi-weekly measurements to track goals. It does get frustrating when these programs say do this and do that, and eat this and take in this many calories and you will lose weight, but then it doesn't happen. Very good advice.

    I agree with Correll, one pound=one pound. What the pound looks like can be different. It's like rubber/concrete weights vs. steel weights. Rubber/concrete weights tend to be bulkier while steel weights are more dense and appear smaller, but are the same amount of weight.
  • pmjsmom
    pmjsmom Posts: 1,926 Member
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    I have a pet peeve and I feel the need to correct. Muscle does *not* weigh more than fat. Ever. One pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat.

    The difference is muscle is more dense than fat. That means you could hypothetically replace ten pounds of fat with ten pounds of muscle, still weigh the same, but fit into smaller clothes and have a better physique. Because muscle is more dense, it takes up less space.

    Here's a short article. http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html Check it out.

    :flowerforyou:


    :happy: Thank you so much for this--That is a pet peeve of mine, too!:laugh:

    Remember the old trick question--What weighs more: a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers? :laugh:
  • danielleleee
    danielleleee Posts: 34
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    you're gaining muslce. you're losing fat still and getting in shape...

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