Losing inches and not pounds

napilibay
napilibay Posts: 121 Member
edited November 13 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi All I joined a high intensity boxing gym 3 -4 weeks ago and have lost quite a few inches which is great, I'm not complaining. However, my weight loss has stalled during this time, what's up? I'm female, 5'5",163#.

Replies

  • tcunbeliever
    tcunbeliever Posts: 8,219 Member
    if you are losing inches you are losing fat, don't worry about the scale, you are getting smaller
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Muscle soreness?
    Which would cause water retention.... Which will work its way out in its own good time.
  • luv2shimmy
    luv2shimmy Posts: 67 Member
    You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

    An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest :)
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,111 Member
    Just guessing but water retention from a new workout and maybe small muscle gains combined would be what I think.
  • napilibay
    napilibay Posts: 121 Member
    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

    An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest :)

    and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

    Probably also some muscle soreness and water retention. My arm and shoulder muscles are sore and we do a lot of ab work and squats. So I'm guessing it's a little bit of both. Thanks!
  • luv2shimmy
    luv2shimmy Posts: 67 Member
    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

    An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest :)

    and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

    There's really no need to be snide. How much muscle mass she's built would depend on a lot of different factors, but at the upper limit? Probably 1-1.5 lbs. I'm guessing less than that. But there's also accompanying water retention as the muscle tissues repair and rebuild too, so that will add to the weight as well.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    You're probably building those muscles. Muscle fiber is more dense than fat tissue, so equal weights of the two will take up substantially different amounts of space. 5 lbs of muscle takes up less space than 5 lbs of fat - so it makes sense that you would be losing inches, even though your actual weight appears to be staying the same.

    An added benefit of increasing that muscle mass is that you'll burn more calories at rest :)

    and exactly how much muscle do you think she has put on in 3-4 weeks of boxing?

    There's really no need to be snide. How much muscle mass she's built would depend on a lot of different factors, but at the upper limit? Probably 1-1.5 lbs. I'm guessing less than that. But there's also accompanying water retention as the muscle tissues repair and rebuild too, so that will add to the weight as well.

    You have been grossly misinformed about how easily the human body can build muscle.
  • luv2shimmy
    luv2shimmy Posts: 67 Member
    Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/adding-muscle-while-losing-fat-qa.html/
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

    In an ideal situation while doing a progressive heavy lifting program. Definitely not the average woman. OP didn't say anything about lifting at all
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

    the OP didn't mention lifting weights...the pound per month is under ideal circumstances with a progressive lifting program.
  • Wynterbourne
    Wynterbourne Posts: 2,225 Member
    luv2shimmy wrote: »
    Do you have a citation to back up the snark? Because while I was guestimating high (notice I said "I'm guessing less than that), everything I've read indicates that the average woman can gain a pound of muscle per month.

    They weren't being snarky. They were being honestly informative. And based on the information available, they also appear correct. And for some reason, for the last two posts, you have been the one responding snide and snarky, to use your words, when it was uncalled for. No need to be so defensive. This is a learning environment and a lot of the up-to-date, informed, regulars like to make sure misinformation is not spread. It's not personal even though you seem to be taking it that way. As stated by multiple others, it's not simply some walk in the park for a woman to put on muscle even when lifting (and she's not, she's boxing) and definitely not to that extent while in a deficit. Not happening. Lifting + caloric surplus = added muscle. OP is boxing + caloric deficit =/= added muscle.
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