should i worry my wt isnt dropping?

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jahnlaw
jahnlaw Posts: 95 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi folks,
I'm 6 ft male and have been stuck at 229 for the past two weeks. My waist and hips have consistently been going down and I lost nearly an inch with each in the last two weeks even though the scale hasn't budged. My goal wt is 199 -211#, but my hope is actually a loss of body fat to show off my future washboard abs. I guess the scale is mostly secondary except I've read that if I get to my goal wt then I might be able to get rid of my cpap. I've mostly eaten my goal calories and been doing kettlebell wt circuits and cardio 3=4 times a week.

I presume I'm gaining muscle which weighs more than fat. Can I trust that the weight loss will follow my decrease my body habitus decrease and long as I don't do heavy weights yet?

Replies

  • batty5
    batty5 Posts: 193
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    I had terrible "scale" problems when I was losing inches & the fact is 1lb weight is 1lb weight but 1lb muscle takes up less volume so yes you are gaining muscle. Weight loss will follow.
  • josh6603
    josh6603 Posts: 39
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    When i started getting close to my goal weight that started happening to me to. But each week in the mirror i could see the fat was less and less. So i don't let the scale worry me to much. As hard as i hit the weights i would be worried if i continued to loose weight each week constantly.
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
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    Have you considered buying a home body fat monitor? That way you can see what's really happening in your body. Just because the # on your scale isn't moving doesn't mean you aren't losing fat!

    I'm personally a little obsessive about making sure my lean body mass doesn't move downwards...
  • jahnlaw
    jahnlaw Posts: 95 Member
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    What is a body fat monitor? How does it work?
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
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    What is a body fat monitor? How does it work?

    A body fat monitor does exactly what the name suggests, and tells you what percentage of your weight is body fat. It works by sending a small electrical pulse through your body that the device reads & deciphers.

    For example, if you weigh 200 pounds and it says your body fat percentage is 50%, you know that your weight is 50% fat, 50% lean body mass (muscles, bones, organs), or 100lbs fat / 100lbs lean body mass. With a body fat monitor, you can know pretty accurately how much fat you're losing and how much muscle you're gaining/maintaining, which in the end is the most important thing. Knowing what YOUR percentages and knowing what IDEAL percentages are can help you set appropriate goals. The ideal body fat for men (age 20-40) is 8-19% and for women (age 20-40) is 21-33%. For myself (a 5'9", 29 year old woman) I have approximately 131lbs of lean body mass, so if I can at least maintain that, getting down to 175lbs (which sounds like a lot!) will give me 25% body fat which is exactly where I want to be. If I didn't know how much fat/LBM I had I might be aiming for something really inappropriate, unattainable or unhealthy.

    The scale not budging doesn't mean you aren't losing fat, and at the same time, dropping pounds does not necessarily mean you're losing fat!

    This is the one I have, and I like it quite a bit.
    http://www.amazon.com/Omron-Hbf-306c-Body-Fat-Analyzer/dp/B003BQXKBQ/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1289059911&sr=8-6
  • turbojanem
    turbojanem Posts: 285
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    When i started getting close to my goal weight that started happening to me to. But each week in the mirror i could see the fat was less and less. So i don't let the scale worry me to much. As hard as i hit the weights i would be worried if i continued to loose weight each week constantly.

    great advice. so many times we focus on the scales and not what the tape measure says. as long as you are noticing change there, i would relax. i too am getting close to my goal. (only 10 pounds and one pant size left for me.) the scales are going slow. but i'm okay with that. my goal weight is just part of my formula. i want to continue eating healthy and exercising moderately. where my weight and size land is up to my body, not my goals.

    cheering you on!
    Jane
  • mike6pak
    mike6pak Posts: 9
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    A tape measure is your best bet the scale as you said is secondary! You are on the right path just keep it up.

    I also use a body fat caliper, a digital one and it's +-1% accurate on medium / low body fat (so between 20-6% I would say...)

    The problem with the electronic body fat monitor is that the reading will largely depends on how hydrated you are... One day you can be 16, next day 10%.
  • bloodbank
    bloodbank Posts: 468 Member
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    The problem with the electronic body fat monitor is that the reading will largely depends on how hydrated you are... One day you can be 16, next day 10%.

    This is true, so to combat this most monitors instruct the user to check right after waking up for the day to get the most consistent results. They're not perfect by any means, but "perfect" use yields fairly consistent, accurate results.

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