Do you agree or disagree .....

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Replies

  • chrishgt4
    chrishgt4 Posts: 1,222 Member
    I thought everybody understood that what is meant by "muscle weighs more than fat" is that 5 pounds of muscle takes up a lot less room than 5 pounds of fat,
    Always simpler to be correct rather than be wrong and hope others see it from the same viewpoint :-) *kitten*-u-me nothing.

    The link in the OP is about people who are not losing weight so where exactly does volume come into it ?

    Well they don't specify if they want to lose a lb of fat or a cubic inch of fat...HOW ARE WE TO FUNCTION IN A WORLD WHERE EVERY DETAIL ISN'T SPELLED OUT FOR US LIKE WE ARE MORONS?!?!?! ARGHHH
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    I work with people that are like many of you. If I state, "muscle weighs more than fat", there would be debate for years about what was the real meaning of that statement, and all kinds of analysis. What's so stupid, is I simply meant that muscle is more dense, therefore if i had a blob of muscle and a blob of fat the same size, the muscle would weigh more. I jump to the quick conclusion that everyone "knows what i mean" when I say it. I shouldn't have to go into an exact scientific definition about what it is. I should just be able to state it simply nad just know that everyone "gets it" without pontificating endlessly about what I meant. It's ridiculous.
  • professorRAT
    professorRAT Posts: 690 Member
    "And please, for the love of God, can we all stop saying this nonsensical phrase? Seriously. Muscle weighs more than fat… WTF does that even mean?"

    agreed.

    People disagreeing with that statement is a bug bear of mine...

    I understand why people disagree with the statement 'muscle weighs more than fat' but really, those people are either being deliberately objective or are incapable of making appropriate assumptions given conversational context.

    Clearly, in the above statement, the person saying it is assuming that we are intelligent enough to know that they are referring to weight by volume. It speaks to a person's intelligence if, when they are confronted with that statement, they assume that they are talking about equal weights being different.

    Also, the person didn't say "A pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat", so why did you make that assumption? You have intentionally made the wrong context assumption to be deliberately awkward.

    In the same way; if I were to say "humans weigh more than pigeons". You wouldn't argue I was wrong because 200lbs of humans is the same as 200lbs of pigeons (or maybe you would).

    The sentence isn't wrong, it is just incomplete because humans have the intelligence to fill in the gaps.


    Yes. The end.
  • ZugTheMegasaurus
    ZugTheMegasaurus Posts: 801 Member
    I'll go against the grain because I don't think it is actually obvious to a lot of people that "muscle weighs more than fat" is referring to density. I've met quite a few people who honestly believe that muscle weighs more than fat, not in that it is more dense, but that there's something magic about it. They then use it to explain away every time they gain weight.

    The phrase, while true in context, is not helpful for a lot of people who aren't particularly well-educated about anatomy (or measurements, I suppose). Look at how many people will gain weight while on a diet, put on weight because they've miscalculated their calorie intake/expenditure, and then be told over and over that "it's just muscle! It weighs more! You're doing great!" That doesn't help them because it just isn't true.

    I guess it's not the phrase itself that's the problem, but rather its application. I can't honestly think of another context where I've heard it tossed around other than the one I already mentioned.
  • SMJ1987
    SMJ1987 Posts: 368
    I really don't see how muscle "weighs more" than fat. It's leaner than fat. It takes up less room than fat... but, I don't think it "weighs more" than fat.

    What weighs more? Iron or feathers? More clear?
  • SMJ1987
    SMJ1987 Posts: 368
    Nothing weighs more than anything else when you compare two identical weights of any two things. A pound of anything is equal to a pound of ANYTHING ELSE. Obviously density is implicit in this common statement.
  • lizziebeth1028
    lizziebeth1028 Posts: 3,602 Member
    I always looked at it like this. A pound of feathers compared to a pound of sand...they both weigh the same but look extremely opposite in terms of size and volume. Pretty simple to me.

    ^^^^The winning answer!!
  • BJPCraig
    BJPCraig Posts: 417 Member
    I always looked at it like this. A pound of feathers compared to a pound of sand...they both weigh the same but look extremely opposite in terms of size and volume. Pretty simple to me.

    This could be the perfect analogy for this topic...
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    i must be made of feathers.

    LOL

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