Losing inches vs losing weight

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Replies

  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    Happy Friday everyone!
  • fitmom4lifemfp
    fitmom4lifemfp Posts: 1,572 Member
    Well I am the reverse. I see the scale moving, but my tape measure (at my waist) doesn't show much change at all. I see that I am losing though - I see it in the mirror and how my clothes fit. So annoying. I have seen an inch off my hips I think...really don't measure anything more than hips and waist, so clearly it is coming off elsewhere. My waist is the place I'd like to lose the most, and of course it is my "first to gain last to lose" spot. Grrrrr.
  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    I wish there was a way to lose the weight exactly where you want to target.
  • LucasWilland
    LucasWilland Posts: 68 Member
    Yep, losing inches is more important than losing weight because weight doesn't mean anything. Your body weight can change 5 pounds plus in the course of a few hours, depending on water retention, fluid intake, Sodium, bowel content, etc.. If you are losing inches on your waist, then you are most definitely losing fat. If your waist is getting larger, then you are most definitely adding fat, with potentially some muscle, depending on what your exercise program looks like.
  • LucasWilland
    LucasWilland Posts: 68 Member
    sbrandt37 wrote: »
    It totally depends on your goals. If your goal is to look better, be healthier, feel better, etc., then inches are absolutely as good as pounds as a way of measuring progress.

    On the other hand, if your goal is to meet some externally defined weight standard that has nothing to do with how you look or feel, then pounds are all that matters.

    Weight can vary a lot due to water retention, food waste, muscle growth, etc., but the tape measure doesn't lie. I have personally watched my stomach getting flatter (and my pants looser) while my weight has stayed almost exactly the same for weeks, then suddenly my weight drops by several pounds. I'm not sure what is behind it, but it has happened several times over my weight loss journey.
    You could have been recomping if you had a lot of fat to loose because even though energy balance determines the energy state of the body, it does not determine weight loss or gain, interestingly enough. If you are in a situation where you have a lot of fat to loose and are on an intensive strength training program, it is entirely possible to maintain weight yet looks leaner because the body will prioritize using the excess adipose tissue as a source of calories to fuel your muscles, which will cause them to get bigger.

    Similarly, if you lose a very large amount of muscle mass, it is entirely possible to gain bodyweight in fat. Because while energy balance in the long term determines if the body will draw energy from other sources other than stored glucose, your body is constantly storing and burning the food we eat as fat, as well as constantly breaking down and repairing muscle. It is the net balance of the two that will determine whether you can gain muscle or lose fat at the same time:

    http://bayesianbodybuilding.com/energy-balance-myths/
  • JennyAnne101
    JennyAnne101 Posts: 52 Member
    when you loose muscle it slows the metabolism. its important to do weights also as it burns alot of cals and maintains your muscle. so yeah the scale may not budge but the inches can come off because muscle weighs more.
  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    Happy Saturday!
  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    Happy Sunday!
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    It's Happy Monday where i live :lol:
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    JennyAnne101 wrote: »
    when you loose muscle it slows the metabolism. its important to do weights also as it burns alot of cals and maintains your muscle. so yeah the scale may not budge but the inches can come off because muscle weighs more.

    lifting weights does not burn a lot of calories. and for every lb of muscle/lean mass you have its stated you only burn an additional 6-10 calories? so its really not as much as people think.its also hard to build muscle in a surplus for most women, let alone a deficit.a lot of what people think is muscle they are building, is actually the underlying muscle they already had showing due to losing the fat covering it.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,303 Member
    edited March 2017
    So, three months later... have you been losing weight, inches, neither, both?

    I am wondering because you keep bumping the thread up whether this is still an outstanding issue for you and whether/how it is still affecting your goals?
  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    @PAV8888 to answer your question, both inches and weight. People are welcome to share their stories and advice on this thread. In case you were wondering why the thread keeps "bumping up".
  • Truvanessa
    Truvanessa Posts: 327 Member
    Good morning!
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    Someone please close this thread.
  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    Bumping for bumping sake is kind of rude.
This discussion has been closed.

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