Losing Weight NOT inches?!

Freeborn111
Freeborn111 Posts: 11 Member
edited October 2014 in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone,

I have lost about 4lbs so far in 3 weeks, and I don't believe it's simply "water weight" because it has been a slow loss. I have been exercising on most days (mainly running on the treadmill), and have been eating within my calorie goals. However, I have not yet seen any inches come off me. It is a bit discouraging, as I would like to lose inches more than anything. Would anyone have any idea how long it normally takes for inches to go after weight is lost? Or am I possibly doing something wrong?

Thank You.

Replies

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Patience is key, it takes more than 3 weeks. Just keep doing what you've been and it will come. WTG on the loss!
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    That's 4 pounds, from anywhere and everywhere on your body. Where do you expect the 4 inches to come from? I mean, good job on losing a few pounds but, it takes a little time. Give it another 5 pounds.
  • Freeborn111
    Freeborn111 Posts: 11 Member
    Thank you to those who have responded so far. I suppose I expected to see at least some inches by now since I have read other accounts where people have claimed to have lost 2lbs in weeks and supposedly also lost almost "10 inches" off of their body -- this actually sounds impossible and I probably shouldn't compare to those expectations. I will wait...but I sure wish it was happening sooner!
  • glasshalffull713
    glasshalffull713 Posts: 323 Member
    Sounds like you're doing all the right stuff, just keep doing it.
  • leilahsmom
    leilahsmom Posts: 4
    If it makes you feel any better......I lost 40 lbs and didn't drop a size. And my pants weren't tight to begin with. :(
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    leilahsmom wrote: »
    If it makes you feel any better......I lost 40 lbs and didn't drop a size. And my pants weren't tight to begin with. :(

    Is that true? What about dress size or bra size? Nothing?
  • leilahsmom
    leilahsmom Posts: 4
    Same dress size. I just lost a few cup sizes. DD to a B/C. Hopefully that is done with, haha.
  • MsHarryWinston
    MsHarryWinston Posts: 1,027 Member
    The inches over pounds loss tends to happen if you're also working out while you lose weight. I didn't work out at ALL this past week and I dropped 2 pounds but my inches stayed the same. In weeks I work out the inches fall off.
  • xipher1
    xipher1 Posts: 3 Member
    Think of your body like a paper towel roll. When you first buy it, one or 2 paper towels don't really effect the size of the roll at all. As you (l)use more and more paper towels, it shrinks faster and faster. Where the last paper towel actually wraps around the roll 3 times. It's really the same principle and the best metaphor I've heard in regards to this conundrum that everyone who wants to lose weight faces.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    leilahsmom wrote: »
    Same dress size. I just lost a few cup sizes. DD to a B/C. Hopefully that is done with, haha.

    Yeah! You DID lose, ha. Just in the boobies first. You should start seeing the inches come off though, especially if you're weight training.

  • vamaena
    vamaena Posts: 217 Member
    Freeborn111 wrote: »
    Thank you to those who have responded so far. I suppose I expected to see at least some inches by now since I have read other accounts where people have claimed to have lost 2lbs in weeks and supposedly also lost almost "10 inches" off of their body -- this actually sounds impossible and I probably shouldn't compare to those expectations. I will wait...but I sure wish it was happening sooner!

    Those 10 inches could be total inches too. When my PT measures me he looks at total from every point that was measured. For instance when I was measured in early September I had a total of 300.5 inches across my body from my July measurements and then I went down to 286.25 inches for a total loss of 14.25 inches. But if I were to look at my waist only I went from 56.25 to 53.

    As other members have said, these things do take plenty of time. You are doing the right thing, you just have to be a little moer patient with the results. I didn't really see any change in my inches in the first 2 months.
  • katieintheattic
    katieintheattic Posts: 3 Member
    It's taken me a year to lose ten inches off both my waist and hips, if that's any consolation for you!

    I recommend observing the same protocols for measuring as weighing - before breakfast, after the morning toilet visit and I try to stick to the same day of the week/month to check for consistency's sake.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Yes, obviously when people generically say they lost 10 inches, it means from the entire body. Unless they specifically say "I lost 10 inches from my waist".

    Anyway, 4 pounds isn't going to do much in terms of inches, especially if you have a lot to lose, which I'm not sure you do. Good luck! Hope you see some inches soon. Make sure you're checking places like arms, chest, neck. We all lose fat in different places first.
  • segacs
    segacs Posts: 4,599 Member
    The other thing is, be careful that you're not simply replacing muscle mass with fat mass. Muscle is denser than fat, so in common parlance it "weighs more". (Actually, 1 pound = 1 pound = 1 pound, but a pound of muscle will be concentrated in a smaller space, hence losing inches when you convert fat to muscle.)

    If you've dramatically reduced your calorie intake so much so that you're lacking energy and therefore exercising less, it is possible that you could be losing weight and gaining (or at least not losing) inches. That's why it's important to make sure you're eating enough to keep your energy level up, and that you eat back at least some of your exercise calories when you work out.

    And yeah, agreed, 4 pounds won't show much in your body measurements. Heck, I fluctuate up and down by 5 pounds sometimes depending on the time of month or even time of day.
  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,487 Member
    edited October 2014
    leilahsmom wrote: »
    If it makes you feel any better......I lost 40 lbs and didn't drop a size. And my pants weren't tight to begin with. :(

    I haven't dropped a size yet either (over 50lbs lost). I feel your pain...

    I never measure anymore. Makes me cry. It will happen eventually though - at some point the parts I measure need to go down in size, eventually all those other parts won't have the extra fat and then it will come off where I want...
  • Freeborn111
    Freeborn111 Posts: 11 Member
    edited October 2014
    xipher1 wrote: »
    Think of your body like a paper towel roll. When you first buy it, one or 2 paper towels don't really effect the size of the roll at all. As you (l)use more and more paper towels, it shrinks faster and faster. Where the last paper towel actually wraps around the roll 3 times. It's really the same principle and the best metaphor I've heard in regards to this conundrum that everyone who wants to lose weight faces.

    Thank you for that excellent analogy xipher1, it really does help when you look at it this way!

    To those of you who have lost numerous lbs and have not gone down any sizes, have you been exercising as well?

    I do understand that someone who claims to have lost 10 inches in 2 weeks after losing only 2lbs, may actually mean 10 inches total on their entire body, but it seems difficult to lose 1 inch total so quickly so I don't quite understand how it is physically possible to lose a total of 10 inches in that short amount of time.
    katieintheattic wrote: »
    It's taken me a year to lose ten inches off both my waist and hips, if that's any consolation for you!

    I recommend observing the same protocols for measuring as weighing - before breakfast, after the morning toilet visit and I try to stick to the same day of the week/month to check for consistency's sake.

    I'm sorry to say, this really isn't any consolation lol. I would prefer to lose inches before a year is up. Did you exercise much katieintheattic? Also, I do measure once a week (usually on Friday mornings), at the same time in the morning.

    Thanks everyone!

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