Muscle weight

kristen5286
kristen5286 Posts: 329 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know muscle weighs more than fat. I know losing inches are awesome. My question is, when you start gaining muscle, around how long do some weight loss plateaus last? I try to do between 3-7 miles a day of power walking, jogging, with occasional running spurts. I've lost 3 inches in my hips and stomach the last 3 weeks. Not complaining! But the scale won't budge. I'm 219. I want muscle, I know it helps burn more fat. But I want to lose weight too! Lmao.

Replies

  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
    edited April 2016
    kristen5286 wrote: »
    I know muscle weighs more than fat. I know losing inches are awesome. My question is, when you start gaining muscle, around how long do some weight loss plateaus last? I try to do between 3-7 miles a day of power walking, jogging, with occasional running spurts. I've lost 3 inches in my hips and stomach the last 3 weeks. Not complaining! But the scale won't budge. I'm 219. I want muscle, I know it helps burn more fat. But I want to lose weight too! Lmao.

    "Building muscle" "muscle helps burn fat" etc. doesn't work this way.

    What i mean to say is, if you aren't losing weight and you've been performing cardiorespiratory exercise the likelihood that it's because you've been "gaining muscle" is very slim. It is likely because you are eating more calories than you think or believe you are burning more calories than you believe with your current exercise regiment.
  • kristen5286
    kristen5286 Posts: 329 Member
    rainbowbow wrote: »
    kristen5286 wrote: »
    I know muscle weighs more than fat. I know losing inches are awesome. My question is, when you start gaining muscle, around how long do some weight loss plateaus last? I try to do between 3-7 miles a day of power walking, jogging, with occasional running spurts. I've lost 3 inches in my hips and stomach the last 3 weeks. Not complaining! But the scale won't budge. I'm 219. I want muscle, I know it helps burn more fat. But I want to lose weight too! Lmao.

    "Building muscle" "muscle helps burn fat" etc. doesn't work this way.

    What i mean to say is, if you aren't losing weight and you've been performing cardiorespiratory exercise the likelihood that it's because you've been "gaining muscle" is very slim. It is likely because you are eating more calories than you think or believe you are burning more calories than you believe with your current exercise regiment.

    Ok, that makes sense. How am I losing inches though? What's that?
  • Buff_Man
    Buff_Man Posts: 623 Member
    Muscle comes on very slowly and only with a consistent stimulus of resistance exercises. Even then maybe 1lb lean muscle a month. Track your cAlories diligently, anything that passes your lips should be tracked. Then figure out the required deficit to lose the amount of weight to reach your target. Mfp will do this anyway. I would also recommend incorporating strength training (weights) 2-3 times a week. Google strong lifts and 5x5. Good luck! Get BUFF ;)
  • jacobs873
    jacobs873 Posts: 1 Member
    You should expect consistent weight loss if you are eating a calorie deficit. The longest I have had a weight plateau is 2 weeks. When this happens I try to add an extra cardio workout and move at a pace that keeps my heart rate at "high intensity". Also I may supplement my normal eating habits with a day of "low carb" or "no carb". Basically I eat grilled chicken breast, eggs, and high fiber veggies. No breads, pasta, etc.. It could seem restrictive but I only do it for a day. Also make sure to not add a lot of condiments and dressings to your food. I used to add creamer to my coffee and then got a food scale and realized I was drinking 150calories of creamer with every coffee.

    Anyway hope some of this helps.
  • kristen5286
    kristen5286 Posts: 329 Member
    jacobs873 wrote: »
    You should expect consistent weight loss if you are eating a calorie deficit. The longest I have had a weight plateau is 2 weeks. When this happens I try to add an extra cardio workout and move at a pace that keeps my heart rate at "high intensity". Also I may supplement my normal eating habits with a day of "low carb" or "no carb". Basically I eat grilled chicken breast, eggs, and high fiber veggies. No breads, pasta, etc.. It could seem restrictive but I only do it for a day. Also make sure to not add a lot of condiments and dressings to your food. I used to add creamer to my coffee and then got a food scale and realized I was drinking 150calories of creamer with every coffee.

    Anyway hope some of this helps.

    It sure did! Thank you. I guess I'm not really at a full plateau. It's just really slow all of a sudden coming off. Usually it's about 2-3 lbs a week and the last week and a half is been about half a pound. I haven't changed my diet, the same combination of foods I have been eating the first -18 lbs. I just added a whole lot more cardio so I was kinda not expecting a slow down in weight loss.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    2-3 lbs a week is pretty fast, so you can't expect to lose that every week. Weight loss isn't linear, so even if you are perfect, some weeks you will lose less, some more, some not at all, due to all the different processes going on in your body.

    Also keep in mind diet is really more important to weight loss than exercise. It can be difficult to know how many calories you are burning, and sometimes changes in exercise can increase your appetite without even realizing it.

    So keep up the exercise, but focus on getting your calories in on point. Good luck!
  • kristen5286
    kristen5286 Posts: 329 Member
    kimny72 wrote: »
    2-3 lbs a week is pretty fast, so you can't expect to lose that every week. Weight loss isn't linear, so even if you are perfect, some weeks you will lose less, some more, some not at all, due to all the different processes going on in your body.

    Also keep in mind diet is really more important to weight loss than exercise. It can be difficult to know how many calories you are burning, and sometimes changes in exercise can increase your appetite without even realizing it.

    So keep up the exercise, but focus on getting your calories in on point. Good luck!

    Thank you!
  • cgvet37
    cgvet37 Posts: 1,189 Member
    One week I may loose 2 lbs., and nothing the next. It's how our bodies work.
  • chrisfwood
    chrisfwood Posts: 37 Member
    You may also wish to rework out you requirements from time to time. As you loss weight and get fitter you need less calories to maintain that weight. Also the same exercise will burn less, if MFP is basing it's values on your original weight. Given all this then it could be out enough to bring a deficit towards a maintenance value given a few percent inaccuracies on the input and output calories.
  • kristen5286
    kristen5286 Posts: 329 Member
    chrisfwood wrote: »
    You may also wish to rework out you requirements from time to time. As you loss weight and get fitter you need less calories to maintain that weight. Also the same exercise will burn less, if MFP is basing it's values on your original weight. Given all this then it could be out enough to bring a deficit towards a maintenance value given a few percent inaccuracies on the input and output calories.

    Thank you! I'll check out my settings
  • therunningirl
    therunningirl Posts: 30 Member
    for us women it also reaally depends on hormones and water retention. just keep going, as long as you keep losing you are doing something right.
  • Psychgrrl
    Psychgrrl Posts: 3,177 Member
    Cardio can be very effective at burning fat. I think it's likely water weight and fat loss responsible for your inches as opposed to muscle gain.

    With the exercises you're doing, you're not likely to be building much muscle. Great work with the burn and loss so far! :smiley: smiley:

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