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Have I gained muscle or fat?

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arabianhorselover
arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
in Social Groups
Hi. I had lost all my excess weight by July of last year. Since then I am up about four pounds. I have assumed it is fat, since over the holidays, etc. I did eat more. But how do I know for sure? Maybe I've actually gained muscle, since I wasn't eating at a deficit anymore?

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  • xcalygrl
    xcalygrl Posts: 1,897 Member
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    Do you take measurements?
    Have you ever had your BF% taken?
    Are you folllowing a progressive heavy lifting program? (I know this is the SL group, but not everyone here follows it.)
    How are your clothes fitting?
    Do you take progress pictures?
  • TravelsWithHuckleberry
    TravelsWithHuckleberry Posts: 955 Member
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    And how long ago did you start lifting?

    Also, just to clarify for those who are not eating at maintenance / bulking -- you absolutely can gain muscle eating at a deficit. It's hard and slooow, but possible.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
    edited May 2015
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    idk how/if extra calories at xmas could take almost five months to show up, for whatever that's worth as a thought.

    i'm dealing with the same kind of thing, about weight that i've gained over about the past six months . . . but i haven't figured it out and i don't know if i ever will. i'm just assuming that in my case it's probably a little of both.
  • arabianhorselover
    arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
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    I have not actually done measurements for quite a while now. Kind of stopped after losing the weight. I have been doing Stronglifts for close to two years along with extra things for biceps, triceps, shoulders, legs, stomach. I have never had a decent body fat measurement. There isn't even anyplace I could do that around here.

  • Sumiblue
    Sumiblue Posts: 1,597 Member
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    Since you don't have anything to go by measurement-wise how are your clothes fitting? If they feel tight all over it could be fat or water weight (bloat). If your pants feel loose in the waist but tighter in the quads then it could be muscle. If the 4 lbs came on suddenly it most likely isn't muscle. You can gain a few lbs quickly due to water weight and replenishing glycogen if you came off a cut with a big refeed. Like after a holiday when you may have eaten more carbs than you would normally. Its possible that it is fat & muscle if you are bulking. What are you doing with your eating? If you are trying to maintain and your activity level has decreased recently then you might not actually have been maintaining but bulking. There are a lot of possibilities. Keeping measurements or photos (or both) is really helpful.
  • MissHolidayGolightly
    MissHolidayGolightly Posts: 857 Member
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    You may never really know. You can make today your new baseline and tweak from there if you're not totally happy with yourself. Have you been tracking your food? Have you been at a deficit or maintenance?
  • arabianhorselover
    arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
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    So if I measure, I still won't know if it's fat or muscle. The weight has not come on suddenly. It has been over a period of several months. I had many days that I ate over maintenance. Recently I have been mostly at a slight deficit since I have wanted to get rid of what I had put on. As far as my clothes fitting, they still do. I would hope that 4 pounds wouldn't put me into the next size! My pants may be fitting tighter in the thighs. Hard to say since some pant legs are tighter than others.
  • mirrim52
    mirrim52 Posts: 763 Member
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    If you have no baseline, there is really no way to tell, but really, does it matter?
    Are you happy with how your body is (ignoring the scale weight)?
    If you feel like you clothes are fitting tighter and you don't like that, do a short cut.
    If you are happy with your body, don't worry about the 4 lbs, it is just a number.
  • arabianhorselover
    arabianhorselover Posts: 1,488 Member
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    mirrim52 wrote: »
    If you have no baseline, there is really no way to tell, but really, does it matter?
    Are you happy with how your body is (ignoring the scale weight)?
    If you feel like you clothes are fitting tighter and you don't like that, do a short cut.
    If you are happy with your body, don't worry about the 4 lbs, it is just a number.

    I suppose my main concern is that I will continue the overeating, and gain the weight back. Also, I really want to put muscle on my thighs, especially. Hoping to fill in the space where the fat used to be.

  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    so you're just unsure whether you're on the right track. i can relate to that, but i don't really know an answer. my version of 'fat assessment' is to clutch handfuls of myself and try to gauge whether this month's handful is bigger than last. and muscle feels very different. far as i can tell, i've got more of both than i had five or six months ago, but that's about all i know.

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