When will the scale catch up with inches lost?

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feydruss
feydruss Posts: 349 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm getting a little frustrated and I'm hoping that someone has some words of wisdom. I've been on MFP for a while, started off well (postpartum) then regained due to a knee injury. I ended 2012 at the same weight that I started it, but that included a 20lb gain/loss. I had a bad few months before the holidays but am doing better again now in terms of diet and regular exercise. I really want to get closer to my goals, which means losing another 40-odd pounds, 15% BF, and another 6-8" or so on all my measurements. I'm currently 5'2", 39 years old and 175lbs.

I'm lifting 3x a week for 45-60min. Last session included DLs 165, squats 135, bench 65, row 80, as well as other stuff (but those are the biggies). I'm doing about 2-3hrs of cardio a week total on top of that, and I'm basically eating somewhere between BMR and TDEE -20%. My diary is closed right now, but I try to eat Primal (includes dairy) as much as possible, with some chocolate and peanut butter (hey, I'm human). Admittedly I was eating too much crap before with the philosophy of IIFYM, but I'm seriously working on eating cleaner now.

My weight is not going down, but I've lost 8" (total) in the past six weeks or so (and depending on the calculator, my BF has decreased 4-5%). Yay, I think. Great. People are seeing changes, including myself. And I know the scale is not as important as measurements. So I'm probably losing fat and adding some lean mass (if that's possible at the same time).

But when will I actually lose consistent and significant WEIGHT? I can't possibly lose enough inches to make up for the 40-50lbs I still want to lose! I love lifting heavy, but is it just going to stall me with actual loss?

Does anyone have a better strategy? Focus on cardio then lift when closer to goal in order to "tone" up? (I threw up a little in my mouth just writing that). Increase calories? Down to 1200? Stay the course?

Don't get me wrong, I love that I'm making strength gains and progress of a kind. I just want the scale to catch up!

Replies

  • feydruss
    feydruss Posts: 349 Member
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    bump?
  • time4changexx
    time4changexx Posts: 103 Member
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    If your eating at a deficit you cant gain muscle. Good job on the inches you lost so far though!!! Heavy lifting will get you to your goals. I know its fustrating when the scale doesnt move, but if your measurements are changing & your cloths are fitting better than what your doing it working. Keep at it & eventually the scale will budge. Unfortunatley the human body really isnt as easy as calories in calories out i wish it was!
  • DavPul
    DavPul Posts: 61,406 Member
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    So you're getting stronger and getting slimmer. Soooooo what's the problem exactly? No one knows how much you weigh. If you're losing inches you're going in the right direction and if I had to choose I'd rather look better than hit a random number on the scale. Keep doing what you're doing until the exaggerated catches up or the inches lost plateaus.
  • thetinkerbell71
    thetinkerbell71 Posts: 4 Member
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    I have to echo what the others ar saying here; that you are getting the important results. It sounds to me that you are power lifting, which can bulk you up. At 5'2", the weight you are lifting seems really high. If you are looking to build harder smaller muscles, typically trainers suggest you go for higher reps and lower weight. How many reps do you typically perform? I'm sure you are strong if you can do that weight but I wonder if the results would come more how you want if you changed that a bit. You're already getting results though, so I wouldn't pay as much attention to the scale.

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