Getting smaller but not dropping pounds

clarebailey355
clarebailey355 Posts: 113 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm confused, hope someone can help.

I exercise regularly and I've just started week 8 of JM's Body Revolution. In those 8 weeks, I've dropped a dress size but I've only lost around 4lbs. I've been trying to train myself not to worry about what the scales say but I'm still curious as to how I'm getting smaller without losing much weight.

A friend said to me that I was probably burning fat and builiding muscle however I'm always reading posts here that say you can't build muscle on a calorie deficit which I'm currently running at (and yes, I'm logging everything).

Can anyone explain for me?

Replies

  • VelveteenArabian
    VelveteenArabian Posts: 758 Member
    Muscle is denser than fat. 5 pounds of muscle takes up a lot less space than 5 pounds of fat. That's why many people have to stop looking at the scale and go by measurements.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    You are doing great. Realize this, the only one who knows your weight is you unless you stick a note with it on your forehead. What people see is you getting smaller. Decreasing in size is what you want. My personal suggestion would be to cut back using the scale as a measure of your progress and instead get a tape measure and use that. Again, how you are losing is ideal. It means you are losing fat and maintaining your muscle.
  • jonkay85
    jonkay85 Posts: 9
    Sometimes our bodies get smaller before the scales catch up. That's why it's always better to go by measurements and how your body feels in your outfits.

    Even though people say muscle weighs more than fat, no one would gain 5 pounds of muscle in just several weeks so I don't really think that's the case here.

    But if you're doing a form of cardio where you are working certain muscles a lot (like running, insanity, etc.) then your muscles will retain water to help rebuild/repair.

    But all your hard work is paying off if you dropped a size already, good job!
  • TavistockToad
    TavistockToad Posts: 35,719 Member
    would you rather have lost 8lbs but stayed the same dress size?
  • eazy_
    eazy_ Posts: 516 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html
  • MassiveDelta
    MassiveDelta Posts: 3,271 Member
    All I have to say is ...Lucky
  • Greywalk
    Greywalk Posts: 193 Member
    replacing muscle with fat...good stuff no worries you are doing the right thing. Weight is but one component of health. I will start adding weights to my program this winter as soon as I hit my first goal weight. The change the body composition and aim for the final goal weight next summer. You are ahead of the curve on this...relax and enjoy what your hard work has brought so far. <grin>
  • Mischievous_Rascal
    Mischievous_Rascal Posts: 1,791 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    I'm close to maintenance and I kinda miss my whooshes...lol.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    There may be some noob muscle gains if you picked up this program from a sedentary lifestyle, but JM videos are mainly cardio workouts with some strength training movements, so after your noob gains there will be little to no muscle built, especially if you're on a deficit.

    When you're dieting you can see the scale move faster because at a deficit you'll lose both fat and LBM, but when you eat a deficit and perform strength training you are working to maintain that LBM. The scale will move slower because your body is dropping mostly water weight and fat while maintaining as much LBM as possible.

    Also, when you start a new workout regimen, or increase the intensity of one your body will retain water for muscle repair unit the body adapts to the change. This will affect the scale as well.
  • VeroJuly
    VeroJuly Posts: 101 Member
    Don't worry about honey, since changing my macros 4 weeks ago, I lost close to nothing on the scale, but lost 2.5 inches on my hips and 1 on my waist. Go by how your clothes fit and take your measurements.
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    replacing muscle with fat...good stuff no worries you are doing the right thing. Weight is but one component of health. I will start adding weights to my program this winter as soon as I hit my first goal weight. The change the body composition and aim for the final goal weight next summer. You are ahead of the curve on this...relax and enjoy what your hard work has brought so far. <grin>

    I think you meant replacing fat with muscle. Either way, nope.
  • servilia
    servilia Posts: 3,452 Member
    When you say you lost a dress size, are you comparing the sizes of the same piece of clothing? Or different brands? Have you taken measurements and seen a decrease? Not to be a party pooper but different lines can have different measurements for the same size. Ie A size 8 in one line will be the same size as a size 10 in a different line. This might also explain it.
  • clarebailey355
    clarebailey355 Posts: 113 Member
    Thanks all. I really am trying not to get hung up on what the scales say but it was confusing me more than anything!

    I'm not really a newbie to exercise - I've been doing Jillian's workouts for about 3 years however Body Revolution is the one that I've really noticed a difference with. It's a mix of strength workouts (with 1 minute cardio intervals in each circuit) and a full cardio workout twice a week so i think (hope) I'm getting a good balance of exercise. I know I'm getting smaller because I've bought tops in shops I've shopped in for years and always been the same size and had to take them back and swap them for a smaller size. My workout trousers are also falling off me!
  • Holly_Roman_Empire
    Holly_Roman_Empire Posts: 4,440 Member
    would you rather have lost 8lbs but stayed the same dress size?

    This exactly. I fail to see an issue with this!
  • Allup2Me78
    Allup2Me78 Posts: 589 Member
    I too am going through the same thing where the scale hardly ever goes down but my clothes are getting looser and I can see that I am shrinking. I am more of a cardio girl but still the scale just doesn't move for wks at a time.
    I'm confused, hope someone can help.

    I exercise regularly and I've just started week 8 of JM's Body Revolution. In those 8 weeks, I've dropped a dress size but I've only lost around 4lbs. I've been trying to train myself not to worry about what the scales say but I'm still curious as to how I'm getting smaller without losing much weight.

    A friend said to me that I was probably burning fat and builiding muscle however I'm always reading posts here that say you can't build muscle on a calorie deficit which I'm currently running at (and yes, I'm logging everything).

    Can anyone explain for me?
  • Lizzy622
    Lizzy622 Posts: 3,705 Member
    would you rather have lost 8lbs but stayed the same dress size?

    I had this happen to me. Be glad you are slimming down. Until I got serious with exercise, the weight I lost did not show.
  • samammay
    samammay Posts: 468
    Ive lost a ton of inches from everywhere... but my scale doesnt move more than a half a pound, up and down... then one day it will drop 4 pounds and that will me my new weight to fluctuate at for a few weeks.

    Scales are evil. They poison your brain. Trust your eyes.
  • clarebailey355
    clarebailey355 Posts: 113 Member
    would you rather have lost 8lbs but stayed the same dress size?

    This exactly. I fail to see an issue with this!

    I don't have an issue with it, as I said in my original post I was curious to explain it.
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    Thanks so much for posting this. It helped explain some weird things that happen to me. Most of the time I feel that I'm firming up and then for a while I'm squishy again and then back to firming up. Other times from one day to the next I feel firmer and kind of sucked in and and I know I'm smaller. Weird.

    To the OP, I'm also an inch loser rather than a pound loser, too. I don't know why it happens, but it can be confusing when you start losing weight and you're doing all the right things but you don't lose weight as expected. I get it. It took a while to wrap my head around it because of those expectations but now I know that inch loss is another way to monitor success-IMO a better way. Also, reading about Courtney Prather going from 24% body fat to 12% body fat without losing a pound helped me care much, much, much less about the scale.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/courtney-prather-fit-360-courts-in-session.html
  • dangerousdumpling
    dangerousdumpling Posts: 1,109 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/of-whooshes-and-squishy-fat.html

    Thanks so much for posting this. It helped explain some weird things that happen to me. Most of the time I feel that I'm firming up and then for a while I'm squishy again and then back to firming up. Other times from one day to the next I feel firmer and kind of sucked in and and I know I'm smaller. Weird.

    To the OP, I'm also an inch loser rather than a pound loser, too. I don't know why it happens, but it can be confusing when you start losing weight and you're doing all the right things but you don't lose weight as expected. I get it. It took a while to wrap my head around it because of those expectations but now I know that inch loss is another way to monitor success-IMO a better way. Also, reading about Courtney Prather going from 24% body fat to 12% body fat without losing a pound helped me care much, much, much less about the scale.

    http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/courtney-prather-fit-360-courts-in-session.html

    Edited to add:
    I see I've resurrected a zombie thread.
    I'll go hang my head in shame.
  • melaniejleigh
    melaniejleigh Posts: 2 Member
    You can definitely build muscle under a lower calorie diet. If you're getting the correct protein intake and in a healthy calorie zone there's no reason you shouldn't be gaining muscle with regular exercise.

    I wouldn't be worrying about the scale at all, if your body looks better that should be all that matters. The scale is affected by water intake, time of day, day of the week, what you ate the night before, the clothes you're wearing, you name it. Instead of worrying about a fickle number worry about how your clothes are fitting, how you feel, how you look - and based off those qualifications it sounds like you're doing an awesome job.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
    :)
  • firebirdgurl
    firebirdgurl Posts: 2 Member
    Glad I'm not the only one going through this. I know size is more important than the number on the scale, but if I could just loose a pity pound! Lol I will just keep up the work and see how it turns out.
  • bentobee
    bentobee Posts: 321 Member
    I'm on week 6 of JM's Body Revolution and have experienced something similar. I've lost oodles of inches, one pants size, but "only" five pounds down on the scale.

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