Losing inches but not weight rowing

Hey! I had the exact same problem. Don’t lose faith especially if you see your losing inches. Your body is simply adjusting and replacing fat with muscle. I also use a rowing machine (or version, I have a knockoff Total Gym). For a solid two weeks, I actually gained weight but lost inches. Eventually I decided to lock the scale away. Instead of obsessing over my weight, I turned my focus on my inches lost. Though the first couple days was tempting, eventually it was such a relief. I pulled it out yesterday, 2 weeks after and discovered I lost 10 lbs. Now I don’t think I lost that 10 lbs in just those two weeks, but the whole month of effort.

Ive been eating clean for 3 weeks, and have one more to go, before I start introducing whole grains back into my diet. I have worked out on my machine 5 days a week, focus on abs every other day, and stationary bike for 30 minutes everyday.

Be patient with your weight. It WILL come off. It is scientifically impossible for it not to if you’re doing what you need to be doing. Congrats on your hard work and inches lost! You can do this!

Pure in simple if you're not losing weight you're not in enough of a caloric deficit. The rate of muscle gain in individuals lifting weights with the intent of gaining muscle is seldom higher than that of fat loss. In addition to keeping up with rowing, get your logging dialed in (using a food scale if you don't already) and see what your actual intake is right now and adjust accordingly.

I lost over 35lbs last year on a combination of cycling (outdoor) and diet moderation. This year, I've lost some, but the scale is sticking to a narrow range. On the other hand, as I get measured by the nutritionist, I am gaining muscle to offset fat loss. As he says, "you're getting fitter, feeling better and your clothes are getting looser all the time. Don't lost faith, you're doing basically the right thing." [he would like to see me trim my intake a bit to amp up actual weight loss.] So, my lesson learned to share with you: keep on doing the things you know are right for you, and remember the scale number - while important - is not the only measure. I expect another year-end weight drop by this year end (my summer regime is just kicking in - riding to the beach, then swimming for a combined program), the question is how much the drop will be. BTW, I'm male, 65, and newly retired last year from a sedentary IT job. My "diet" is really moderation, fresh whole foods home-prepared, and generally lower glycemic and lower sodium. I retain water with a drop of added salt, which complexifies the scale reading.

BeezBeez wrote: »

I've been measuring food, but not weighing. I do have a food scale, which I'll start putting it to use. I was wondering if I needed to if I seem to be losing fat, but the consensus seems to be yes.

Do you think the fat is just shifting around then? Because I've been measuring my body and I've lost a couple of inches off my waist and hips.

If you really want to lose weight, yes, it's a great tool. I lost 20 lbs in three years exercising and then 60 more in one year carefully monitoring (including weighing food on a food scale, especially for that last 10 pounds) and tracking my food using calorie tracking. Food scales don't lie, your eyes tend to underestimate. At least mine did!

I'm also of the opinion do one thing right for a few months before adding something else in. I honestly think new people on here should just track what they eat (and not weigh) for one month just to understand their patterns better. Then perhaps add in a food scale the next month. Then add in just a bit of exercise the next month. People that want to change everything at once struggle. It's all about habits. Habit research has shown that if you concentrate on one thing at a time, you have 2 to 3 times the chances of success rather than multiple things at one time.

What I'm also hinting is that by adding in exercise, that's a GREAT habit. And it doesn't get much better than rowing. You're tracking well. That's fantastic. Get those two things down completely in order before weighing food on a food scale. You're doing everything right, just make sure you got each thing down before adding too much more.