Scale vs Eyes

mjshegog
mjshegog Posts: 1 Member
edited November 17 in Health and Weight Loss
At what point do you start gaining muscle? I've been logging for about 15 months and lost about 25lbs. Now I have a new energy tracker and am more active than I was a month ago. Still overweight - 5'4" 171 10 days ago- I feel like I look better but the scale is going up +3 lbs. I weigh about the same time every 7- 14 days and about the same clothes to be the most accurate. So with more activity and looking better is it time to start ignoring the scale even though I'm still technically almost obese? Or is there something I'm missing. Low-carb high-protein diet with an average of under 200 - 300 cal. PCOS on Metformin 750 BID.

Replies

  • allyphoe
    allyphoe Posts: 618 Member
    It's hard for women to build muscle, and hard for anyone to build muscle in a deficit. That scale gain is almost certainly mostly water weight fluctuation. Particularly with a 200-300 calorie daily deficit, you can get enough water weight variance to wipe out a couple weeks of losses.

    Alternatively, if you're eating back the calories your tracker is giving you, it might be overestimating, causing you to overeat. Most of the scale gain is still going to be water weight, unless you're really eating 1,000 calories a day above maintenance.
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited April 2017
    I think that it is a good idea to aim for the top of your healthy weight range but that doesn't mean not watching the mirror. Use the mirror as a reminder that you are making progress even when the scale doesn't move and the scale as a reminder of progress when the mirror shows no changes. And if you see progress in neither place, don't undervalue progress in the gym.

    I admit to having trouble using progress in the mirror as a guide. I've struggled with body dysmorphia in the past and what I saw in the mirror did not reflect reality. It's like wearing a pair of fat goggles :wink: I have to use gym progress to gauge how I'm doing.
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
    edited April 2017
    As a woman, so long as you are eating at a deficit you will not gain enough muscle mass to see the scales go up. If you have recently increased your activity, you will likely see brief scale spikes due to the water your body retains to repair itself. PCOS and taking medication can certainly exacerbate that. If you weigh daily for a month and then take an average to more accurately judge where you're at. Also take measurements of your chest, waist, hips and thighs.
  • Marandawalker92
    Marandawalker92 Posts: 6 Member
    I believe the mirror is the best scale! I take pictures every few days wearing the same clothes and standing in the same spot...Even though the scale on the floor doesn't always show progress, I know my mirror scale does :) Sometimes it feels frustrating when the numbers don't change, but just keep telling your self muscle weighs more than fat. So your could be loosing fat& building muscle . Hope this helps!
  • antdelsa
    antdelsa Posts: 174 Member
    Don't focus so much on the numbers on the scale, weigh yourself once a week as a guide. How you look and what you way are two separate things, weighting yourself obsessively can drive you crazy, instead take body measurements, take progress pics and focus on how you look and feel. Weight fluctuates for a variety of reasons and at the end if the day if you feel good and look good what difference does it matter what the scale says? A couple pounds could be water retention, could be muscle could be a multitude of things and your waist could still be getting smaller. Don't beat yourself up over arbitrary numbers, stay consistent with nutrition and workouts and you'll see the results, remember its a marathon not a sprint
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