Weight and shape help- It doesn't make sense!

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daross16
daross16 Posts: 107 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I've been eating like 1200+ (depending on how much I work out) calories. I've been walking, swimming, riding my bike.
So I've lost weight...but I can't tell if it's actual weight or water weight.
I notice little changes in my shape and even in my face, but the scale doesn't move all too much...so I dunno what that means. Maybe I'm just seeing what I want to?
So is it possible for your shape to change, but not loose much weight?

Also~Strength training. What do I do? I have one (yes, only one) 5 pound weigh. Soo...what is some strength stuff I can do, and how much/how often should I do it?

Replies

  • selfepidemic1
    selfepidemic1 Posts: 159 Member
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    I would try these workouts:
    http://www.muscleandstrength.com/workouts/dumbbell-only-home-or-gym-fullbody-workout.html

    Water weight will stop being a problem a week or two into a diet.
  • Aaron_K123
    Aaron_K123 Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Yes its possible for your shape to change but not your weight. I lost something close to two inches off my waist before I saw the scale budge likely do to water retention from my workouts.

    For strength training if you have any budget at all you can get yourself a set of resistance bands for like 20 bucks and do a wide variety of effective exercises.

    If you have absolutely zero budget then you can do a lot with just your bodyweight. Nerdfitness.com has a section on bodyweight exercises you can do for strength. Including some of this in your exercise routine is important. Bodyweight exercises won't be that effective for putting on muscle but you can still gain strength and retain your muscle by doing them.
  • RunMyOregonBunsOff
    RunMyOregonBunsOff Posts: 862 Member
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    How tall are you and how much are you trying to lose? Also, for the time being you can do a lot with body weight workouts. You can find HIIT workouts for all different levels on youtube and you can lift things that are heavy that aren't dumbbells or barbells. Get creative. :)
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    who cares about the scale if you're losing inches and looking better.......
  • daross16
    daross16 Posts: 107 Member
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    I'm 5'2 and I wanna lose like..50 pounds (not all at once of course!) For this year like 20 pounds would be nice..or more..
  • daross16
    daross16 Posts: 107 Member
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    I actually don't really care about how I look, to be honest. Hah. It's mostly about health.
  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
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    if you're losing inches then you're losing fat. If you've recently started with healthy lifestyle changes and gone from sedentary to active, then your muscles are likely to be retaining water and glycogen (which is a good thing) which will increase your scale weight... if your weight's staying the same currently, then it means you're losing fat while your muscles are storing more glycogen. Keep doing what you're doing, and you should see a continuation of loss of inches, and the scale weight will start going down after a while, once your muscles are done with the additional glycogen storage. If you have 50lb to lose then you will see reductions in scale weight. for people with only a few lb to lose then they may not see a loss in weight at all even with a loss in fat and an improvement in body fat percentage. Anyway, loss of inches at this stage is a good sign. Loss in scale weight should catch up after a while.
  • daross16
    daross16 Posts: 107 Member
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    Très scientific. Good thing I'm in biology right now. Haha. Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. :3
  • tryclyn
    tryclyn Posts: 2,414 Member
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    Yes its possible for your shape to change but not your weight. I lost something close to two inches off my waist before I saw the scale budge likely do to water retention from my workouts.

    For strength training if you have any budget at all you can get yourself a set of resistance bands for like 20 bucks and do a wide variety of effective exercises.

    If you have absolutely zero budget then you can do a lot with just your bodyweight. Nerdfitness.com has a section on bodyweight exercises you can do for strength. Including some of this in your exercise routine is important. Bodyweight exercises won't be that effective for putting on muscle but you can still gain strength and retain your muscle by doing them.

    I agree with all of this except the part about putting on muscle. I'm not sure the men of Sparta, just an example, were doing much more than calisthenics. :smile:

    OP
    "You Are Your Own Gym", "Convict Conditioning" are two more to look after checking out Nerdfitness.
  • cindym29
    cindym29 Posts: 60 Member
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    If you find weight lifting to be boring, try doing circuits! even just body weight circuits can be a fantastic workout!! Also, it's very possible to not lose much on the scale but have your body shape change! Muscle is more dense than fat, so even though you might weigh the same or similar, your body can look drastically different due to muscle!

    Best of luck and keep persevering!
  • HikeCyclist
    HikeCyclist Posts: 153 Member
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    If you've just started working out, you may be retaining water. This article explains that when you start working out, you can get tiny tears in your muscle fibers. Your body responds to this by surrounding the area with fluids in order to prevent further damage.

    It may take a few weeks until you see the scale move.

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/351391-water-retention-in-muscles-after-exercise/

    ETA: Make sure you stay well-hydrated.
  • daross16
    daross16 Posts: 107 Member
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    TINY TEARS?!
    That sounds horrifying :O

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