Lose weight without moving the scale?

_inHisGrace
_inHisGrace Posts: 183 Member
edited November 20 in Health and Weight Loss
Is it possible to lose weight without the scale showing a lower weight?

I have been trying to lose weight since July 1 and my scale hasn't budged much but my clothes are getting very loose.

I started MFP at 1650 then changed to 1350 due to I think I might be more sedentary than lightly active.

Any insights? These pants were tight on July 1.
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Replies

  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    edited July 2017
    It is possible to lose fat, but certainly not normal for weight not to change, especially to that extent. Take body measurements as they will show change in a quantifiable way.
  • Silentpadna
    Silentpadna Posts: 1,306 Member
    Technically no. If your scale is accurate, no chance.


    Can you lose fat without the scale showing it? Absolutely. You can lose fat and retain the equivalent weight in water. Your weight will not have changed, but you will have lost fat...
  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    who cares what the scale says?? you are obviously doing something that is working - keep it up!
  • Jennifer2332
    Jennifer2332 Posts: 15 Member
    Muscleflex79 wrote: »
    Jennifer2332 wrote: »
    I say throw out the scale and go by your measurements and the fit of your clothes! It definitely looks like you are doing something right! Congrats! I used to rely so heavily on the scale and actually was obsessed with it to the point that I would weigh myself daily, sometimes more than once a day. And whenever my weight would go up a day it would discourage me. One day I had a friend comment that they could tell I'm losing weight, and this happened to be a day where the #'s on the scale was higher than the day before. After that I literally threw my scale in the trash, took my measurements and I'm loving the freedom of not freaking out over numbers! :-) So, the point to my rambling is don't take the scale at its word. You are losing fat and building muscle... muscle weighs more than fat! Keep up the great work!

    I was with you on this til the building muscle part! She has not put on muscle mass in 20 days while eating at a deficit - she didn't even mention weight lifting and says she is sedentary. Even for someone that is putting on muscle (not the OP) it would certainly not be at a rate that would outpace fat loss.

    But I agree she should not worry what the scale says!

    My bad, I just assumed! :blush:
  • Chadxx
    Chadxx Posts: 1,199 Member
    Silentpadna wrote: »
    Technically no. If your scale is accurate, no chance.


    Can you lose fat without the scale showing it? Absolutely. You can lose fat and retain the equivalent weight in water. Your weight will not have changed, but you will have lost fat...

    This ^

    Weight loss and fat loss are not the same thing.
  • _inHisGrace
    _inHisGrace Posts: 183 Member
    Thank you all so much. I am looking to lose about 80 lbs. A few years ago I lost 98 and kept them off for 2 years. Now I am working on the rest.

    I was obsessed with the scale last time I was trying to lose weight and I found that it wasn't healthy my behaviors towards the scale are crazy, it's like my obsession with food changes to my obsession with the scale.

    I actually never thought I was losing fat but maybe that I was rearranging it if that makes sense?

    I do say that I'm not active but that's because I'm not sure what lightly active means. I work at a desk but I also I do yoga about three times a week but I'm just holding poses I'm not actively in a class I'm doing it on my hand from some PDFs I have. But I sure am sweating lol.

    Again thank you all for reading and responding I really appreciate it.
  • lorrpb
    lorrpb Posts: 11,463 Member
    edited July 2017
    Congrats on looser clothes! How often do you weigh? Have there been any gains or losses? I fluctuate daily so it seems odd that your weight hadn't changed at all in 3 weeks. Do you reset your scales before weighing? What time of day do you weigh? Something doesn't seem right.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    When you lose body fat but not body weight it's called body re-composition. It happens that way sometimes but since your body is 2/3 water body weight on the scale is not always accurate of what is happening. Definitely when your waist goes down in size it's an indicator of losing body fat! So if that happened for real, great job, keep doing what you are doing because it's working!
  • _inHisGrace
    _inHisGrace Posts: 183 Member
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Congrats on looser clothes! How often do you weigh? Have there been any gains or losses? I fluctuate daily so it seems odd that your weight hadn't changed at all in 3 weeks. Do you reset your scales before weighing? What time of day do you weigh? Something doesn't seem right.

    Thanks. I weigh every Saturday at the grocery store usually between 3-4 pm. I have lost some weight, 3 lbs. But before when I lost weight you couldn't tell from just 3 lbs.

    I'm scared to have a scale at home. I can't see upticks without getting crazy.

    I may buy one for work so at least I can have accuracy but I can't get up at night or on the weekends when I get so compulsive.

  • Muscleflex79
    Muscleflex79 Posts: 1,917 Member
    _inHisGrace wrote: »
    lorrpb wrote: »
    Congrats on looser clothes! How often do you weigh? Have there been any gains or losses? I fluctuate daily so it seems odd that your weight hadn't changed at all in 3 weeks. Do you reset your scales before weighing? What time of day do you weigh? Something doesn't seem right.

    Thanks. I weigh every Saturday at the grocery store usually between 3-4 pm. I have lost some weight, 3 lbs. But before when I lost weight you couldn't tell from just 3 lbs.

    I'm scared to have a scale at home. I can't see upticks without getting crazy.

    I may buy one for work so at least I can have accuracy but I can't get up at night or on the weekends when I get so compulsive.

    this isn't ideal since you probably are weighing wearing different clothes, having eaten/drank different amounts of stuff depending on the day, etc. different outfits could be responsible for quite a few pounds alone.
  • ilovelucy711
    ilovelucy711 Posts: 381 Member
    Yup! My scale didn't move for 3 weeks!!

  • _inHisGrace
    _inHisGrace Posts: 183 Member
    Yep y'all were right scale shows now 8 lb loss yay me lol
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