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  • qubetha
    qubetha Posts: 83 Member
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    That's a lot of cardio and not a lot of calories. Cut back on the cardio, up the calories. Do you take diet breaks? Maybe eat at maintenance for awhile. Also maybe don't rely on scale weight so much. How much protein are you eating? You want to eat plenty of protein to decrease muscle loss.

    I came across this yesterday on Tim Ferriss website.
    Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains. If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
    Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You already do this; you’re just picking new default meals.
    Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Exception: 1-2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed.
    Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose –> glycerol phosphate –> more bodyfat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are excepted.
    Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday.

    http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/12/how-to-lose-100-pounds/

    More Lyle McDonald. Lots of good information on fat loss on his website.
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK4_rSFdkTo



    Terrible advice.

    +1

    Lyle McDonald's book (The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook) is all about dangerous crash dieting (encouraging the practice) and promises to help you lose 20lb in two weeks among various other ridiculous claims. You wont find a reputable scientist in the same field that considers this to be healthy. Just because Lyle claims to be scientific doesn't make it so. His reliance on anecdotal evidence is partial proof of this.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
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    Maybe someday someone can explain to me why exactly we have the term 'density' if when I say X weighs more than Y it means for the same volumes of X and Y. Or why physicists, chemists, and the like insist on showing the complete units (like g/mL) rather than just the masses being compared (g).

    Anyway, OP, most of the people replying to you are correct. Most likely source of your trouble is from eating more than the plan intended because you are using the containers you were provided and it's been shown over and over again that is pretty error prone. Check that first, and if that's not the problem, then people help you figure out what else might be causing the problem.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.

    Actually, NO.
  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,150 Member
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    OP, your rate of loss is fine. Your not weighing your food however, will catch up to you. Container stuffing is not accurate.
  • oh_happy_day
    oh_happy_day Posts: 1,138 Member
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    That's a lot of cardio and not a lot of calories. Cut back on the cardio, up the calories. Do you take diet breaks? Maybe eat at maintenance for awhile. Also maybe don't rely on scale weight so much. How much protein are you eating? You want to eat plenty of protein to decrease muscle loss.

    I came across this yesterday on Tim Ferriss website.
    Rule #1: Avoid “white” starchy carbohydrates (or those that can be white). This means all bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, and grains. If you have to ask, don’t eat it.
    Rule #2: Eat the same few meals over and over again, especially for breakfast and lunch. You already do this; you’re just picking new default meals.
    Rule #3: Don’t drink calories. Exception: 1-2 glasses of dry red wine per night is allowed.
    Rule #4: Don’t eat fruit. (Fructose –> glycerol phosphate –> more bodyfat, more or less.) Avocado and tomatoes are excepted.
    Rule #5: Take one day off per week and go nuts. I choose and recommend Saturday.

    http://fourhourworkweek.com/2012/07/12/how-to-lose-100-pounds/

    More Lyle McDonald. Lots of good information on fat loss on his website.
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK4_rSFdkTo


    No. This is ridiculous advice. Ignore this OP.
  • lseed87
    lseed87 Posts: 1,110 Member
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    1200 seems low to be doing that for 6/7x week.
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    sheryl792 wrote: »
    I increased everything to see if I'd see the scale would start dropping...
    It appears my body is holding onto me :(

    When you up exercise a lot of times you do retain water. It will go away, but you likely don't want to get too impatient and exercise super hard on 1200.

    If you like podcasts at all, one I like is Sigma Nutrition (some are better than others, depending on the guest). One that might be relevant to you is this interview with Lyle McDonald: http://sigmanutrition.com/episode65/. It talks about some of the hormonal things that can make weight loss harder or slower sometimes when people don't have too much to lose and exercise like crazy on low calories.

    Also, again, I really don't think you should be freaking out. At your weight 1 lb a week is really good. Better just to aim for that, on average, and not make yourself miserable. In the meantime, as you get more fit you'll look even better, regardless of the scale.

    Interesting podcast. The cortisol influence was new to me.

  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    I didn't read all the other replies, but my thought is....maybe the scale isn't moving like you want it to (although I think you're doing very well), but you're seeing progress in inches lost. Everyone seems to get so fixated on the number staring back at them, but isn't losing inches what's really getting you closer to being the size you want to be?
  • peggyasp
    peggyasp Posts: 15 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.


    Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?

    When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per volume. 5lb of fat weighs the same as 5lb of muscle, yes (obviously), but they are far from equal. A cup of muscle will weigh more than a cup of fat. So, muscle absolutely does weigh more than fat... per volume.

    AMEN @peggyasp

    So we're clear. Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat. We know this is true because @emily_fox inadvertantly proved her own argument wrong when she said "muscle is denser than fat."

    More density = More mass per volume.
    More mass = More weight (here on planet Earth).

    It's physics. You can't fight physics. So now ... can we please put this 1lb = 1lb argument to rest? It is insulting to ALMOST everyone's intelligence.

    You made an assumption that volume remains the same when the statement is a comparison of only weight. Therefore your rant fails a simple logic check.

    The logic is solid, and based on the simplest rule of variables in scientific experimentation (the dependent variable is what you observe). The weight varies in response to changes in the independent variable, which is volume. You will increase or decrease the volume in order to observe how that affects weight. Observing the differences in the weights of fat and muscle at the same volume is the only way to determine which is heavier. As a comparison of "only weight", the statement (that 5lb of one equals 5lb of the other) is useless.

    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things. You can't just leave out volume as a factor.



    The statement made above about it being irrelevant in OP's case is also true, though. In such a short amount of time, the issue is more likely as simple as water (since the measurements are changing).
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.


    Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?

    When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per volume. 5lb of fat weighs the same as 5lb of muscle, yes (obviously), but they are far from equal. A cup of muscle will weigh more than a cup of fat. So, muscle absolutely does weigh more than fat... per volume.

    AMEN @peggyasp

    So we're clear. Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat. We know this is true because @emily_fox inadvertantly proved her own argument wrong when she said "muscle is denser than fat."

    More density = More mass per volume.
    More mass = More weight (here on planet Earth).

    It's physics. You can't fight physics. So now ... can we please put this 1lb = 1lb argument to rest? It is insulting to ALMOST everyone's intelligence.

    You made an assumption that volume remains the same when the statement is a comparison of only weight. Therefore your rant fails a simple logic check.

    The logic is solid, and based on the simplest rule of variables in scientific experimentation (the dependent variable is what you observe). The weight varies in response to changes in the independent variable, which is volume. You will increase or decrease the volume in order to observe how that affects weight. Observing the differences in the weights of fat and muscle at the same volume is the only way to determine which is heavier. As a comparison of "only weight", the statement (that 5lb of one equals 5lb of the other) is useless.

    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things. You can't just leave out volume as a factor.



    The statement made above about it being irrelevant in OP's case is also true, though. In such a short amount of time, the issue is more likely as simple as water (since the measurements are changing).

    Volume of the humans in question is not a controlled variable in any of these cases.
  • ntinkham88
    ntinkham88 Posts: 130 Member
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    You said you were toning up and I'm guessing that's why you're not seeing much results on the scale. I recently gained muscle and with that, 20 lbs. It sounds like a huge weight gain but it's totally muscle, not fat! I don't even use the scale anymore to measure my progress. You said you use calipers which is what I use too. I would focus on that and how you feel. If you can see changes, I wouldn't worry about it.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,575 Member
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    ntinkham88 wrote: »
    You said you were toning up and I'm guessing that's why you're not seeing much results on the scale. I recently gained muscle and with that, 20 lbs. It sounds like a huge weight gain but it's totally muscle, not fat! I don't even use the scale anymore to measure my progress. You said you use calipers which is what I use too. I would focus on that and how you feel. If you can see changes, I wouldn't worry about it.

    This isn't good advice. OP seems to be in maintenance or a tiny deficit, not doing any real heavy weight training-therefore not gaining muscle. She wants to lose fat, even training heavy and in a deficit, she should be seeing the scale go down.

    It is extremely difficult for a woman to gain muscle, let alone in maintenance..without a heavy weight training program.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited September 2015
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    qubetha wrote: »
    Lyle McDonald's book (The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook) is all about dangerous crash dieting (encouraging the practice) and promises to help you lose 20lb in two weeks among various other ridiculous claims.

    Have to disagree. First, he argues *against* losing fast. Second, the approach he suggests for people who insist on doing it anyway is extremely well grounded in medical science.

    PSMFs are hard to live with, and few can stick to them for very long. But they are safe, relatively easy to understand, and will maximize the rate of fat loss while minimizing the rate of muscle loss.


  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things.

    What the....?

  • peggyasp
    peggyasp Posts: 15 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.


    Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?

    When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per volume. 5lb of fat weighs the same as 5lb of muscle, yes (obviously), but they are far from equal. A cup of muscle will weigh more than a cup of fat. So, muscle absolutely does weigh more than fat... per volume.

    AMEN @peggyasp

    So we're clear. Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat. We know this is true because @emily_fox inadvertantly proved her own argument wrong when she said "muscle is denser than fat."

    More density = More mass per volume.
    More mass = More weight (here on planet Earth).

    It's physics. You can't fight physics. So now ... can we please put this 1lb = 1lb argument to rest? It is insulting to ALMOST everyone's intelligence.

    You made an assumption that volume remains the same when the statement is a comparison of only weight. Therefore your rant fails a simple logic check.

    The logic is solid, and based on the simplest rule of variables in scientific experimentation (the dependent variable is what you observe). The weight varies in response to changes in the independent variable, which is volume. You will increase or decrease the volume in order to observe how that affects weight. Observing the differences in the weights of fat and muscle at the same volume is the only way to determine which is heavier. As a comparison of "only weight", the statement (that 5lb of one equals 5lb of the other) is useless.

    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things. You can't just leave out volume as a factor.



    The statement made above about it being irrelevant in OP's case is also true, though. In such a short amount of time, the issue is more likely as simple as water (since the measurements are changing).

    Volume of the humans in question is not a controlled variable in any of these cases.

    No, not on a human body, but weighed on a scale like the one pictured above.
  • peggyasp
    peggyasp Posts: 15 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things.

    What the....?

    It reduces the independent variables. You can't have more than one, or the test is invalid.
    If you compare 5lb to 5lb to 5lb, you're not really testing weight. If you're comparing a cup of A to a cup of B to a cup of C to see what each will weigh, then you're comparing weight.

    Or just look at the picture above...
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.


    Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?

    When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per volume. 5lb of fat weighs the same as 5lb of muscle, yes (obviously), but they are far from equal. A cup of muscle will weigh more than a cup of fat. So, muscle absolutely does weigh more than fat... per volume.

    AMEN @peggyasp

    So we're clear. Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat. We know this is true because @emily_fox inadvertantly proved her own argument wrong when she said "muscle is denser than fat."

    More density = More mass per volume.
    More mass = More weight (here on planet Earth).

    It's physics. You can't fight physics. So now ... can we please put this 1lb = 1lb argument to rest? It is insulting to ALMOST everyone's intelligence.

    You made an assumption that volume remains the same when the statement is a comparison of only weight. Therefore your rant fails a simple logic check.

    The logic is solid, and based on the simplest rule of variables in scientific experimentation (the dependent variable is what you observe). The weight varies in response to changes in the independent variable, which is volume. You will increase or decrease the volume in order to observe how that affects weight. Observing the differences in the weights of fat and muscle at the same volume is the only way to determine which is heavier. As a comparison of "only weight", the statement (that 5lb of one equals 5lb of the other) is useless.

    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things. You can't just leave out volume as a factor.



    The statement made above about it being irrelevant in OP's case is also true, though. In such a short amount of time, the issue is more likely as simple as water (since the measurements are changing).

    Volume of the humans in question is not a controlled variable in any of these cases.

    No, not on a human body, but weighed on a scale like the one pictured above.

    The issue is that the argument that "muscle weighs more than fat" is used to describe weight of humans where volume is not controlled. Since the only part measured is weight, and volume is not controlled, your entire argument is moot.

    That is without factoring in the difficulty in creating new muscle mass in the human body ... especially for women due to the lack of testosterone.
  • Mr_Knight
    Mr_Knight Posts: 9,532 Member
    edited September 2015
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things.

    What the....?

    It reduces the independent variables. You can't have more than one, or the test is invalid.

    I'm buying a bike for triathlons. I don't need to know anything about the volume of the bikes I'm looking at to compare the weights of the bikes I'm looking at.

    I have no idea what you're actually trying to say...
  • peggyasp
    peggyasp Posts: 15 Member
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    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    emily_fox wrote: »
    bubbex2 wrote: »
    Muscle weighs more than fat. The way it looks, you are building muscle. The scale won't necessarily show a loss, but your clothes will. Use that as your criteria. See how things fit and how many inches you're losing. You also might be over doing the exercise. My doctor told me one of the reasons I wasn't losing was because I am exercising too much. I cut back and have shown a weight loss.


    Just to clarify, muscle does not weigh more than fat. 5 lbs of muscle is equal to 5 lbs of fat...they both weigh 5 lbs. The difference is that muscle is denser than fat, therefore you'd look leaner. Can we please get away from this false notion?

    When people say that muscle weighs more than fat, they mean per volume. 5lb of fat weighs the same as 5lb of muscle, yes (obviously), but they are far from equal. A cup of muscle will weigh more than a cup of fat. So, muscle absolutely does weigh more than fat... per volume.

    AMEN @peggyasp

    So we're clear. Muscle absolutely weighs more than fat. We know this is true because @emily_fox inadvertantly proved her own argument wrong when she said "muscle is denser than fat."

    More density = More mass per volume.
    More mass = More weight (here on planet Earth).

    It's physics. You can't fight physics. So now ... can we please put this 1lb = 1lb argument to rest? It is insulting to ALMOST everyone's intelligence.

    You made an assumption that volume remains the same when the statement is a comparison of only weight. Therefore your rant fails a simple logic check.

    The logic is solid, and based on the simplest rule of variables in scientific experimentation (the dependent variable is what you observe). The weight varies in response to changes in the independent variable, which is volume. You will increase or decrease the volume in order to observe how that affects weight. Observing the differences in the weights of fat and muscle at the same volume is the only way to determine which is heavier. As a comparison of "only weight", the statement (that 5lb of one equals 5lb of the other) is useless.

    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things. You can't just leave out volume as a factor.



    The statement made above about it being irrelevant in OP's case is also true, though. In such a short amount of time, the issue is more likely as simple as water (since the measurements are changing).

    Volume of the humans in question is not a controlled variable in any of these cases.

    No, not on a human body, but weighed on a scale like the one pictured above.

    The issue is that the argument that "muscle weighs more than fat" is used to describe weight of humans where volume is not controlled. Since the only part measured is weight, and volume is not controlled, your entire argument is moot.

    That is without factoring in the difficulty in creating new muscle mass in the human body ... especially for women due to the lack of testosterone.

    Wow. No. The argument is not moot. It holds. The whole point of conducting a test is to gather data in an environment where you CAN control the variables so that you can then APPLY the information to situations where you can't exert the same control. Measuring exactly how much muscle is on a human body is not so easy without dissecting the body, but we know that a muscular 130 lb is going to be slimmer than 130 lb that has a higher fat ratio. This is true of men and women, cats, rats, elephants... And we know this for certain because of controlled tests.

    What does testosterone have to do with whether muscle weighs more than fat? We already know that men develop more muscle than women, just like some women have more muscle than other women and some men have more than other men. However, it is

    You are over complicating it. Fewer pounds of muscle will simply take up less space than the same number of pounds of fat. We can all agree to that. Whether that's on a human, in a cup, on a scale, or anywhere else isn't relevant.
  • peggyasp
    peggyasp Posts: 15 Member
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    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    Mr_Knight wrote: »
    peggyasp wrote: »
    Put as simply as possible, in order to compare the weight of two things, you need an equal volume of those two things.

    What the....?

    It reduces the independent variables. You can't have more than one, or the test is invalid.

    I'm buying a bike for triathlons. I don't need to know anything about the volume of the bikes I'm looking at to compare the weights of the bikes I'm looking at.

    I have no idea what you're actually trying to say...

    No, you certainly don't.

    I'm pointing out that weight is not something to measure independently in the context of whether two things weigh the same.

    If one bike weighs less because it only has one wheel, then that would certainly affect your decision to buy, wouldn't it? Are you going to compare only the weights of the bikes without considering WHY one weighs more or less than another? No; you will look at other factors that directly affect the weight. If one bike was constructed of lead, you would not buy it because lead would obviously be ridiculously heavy. If a bike was constructed of lead, but was the exact weight you are looking for, it would have to be ridiculously small (less volume), so you wouldn't want that one, either, despite the perfect weight.

    In your case, there are more variables since the weight of the bike will depend on the material the bike frame is made of, among other things.

    You might not have to think hard about the volume of the bike, but someone did. Someone worked out how they can get the necessary size and strength of the materials without adding unnecessary weight.