I feel bigger than my weight? [data included]

tanyaltrl
tanyaltrl Posts: 42 Member
edited July 2019 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I know you don't want a life story so I'll try breaking this down as simply as possible.

I'm 5'9, 30 years old female.

In the past 12-18 months, I haven't been exercising. I just walk/bike places, no more than 15 minutes at a time. I also quit my stimulant medication which always results in me gaining weight.

My body feels like its in the 160's bordering on overweight. I tried weighing myself but I was surprised it was so low. I bought a new scale, and basically the same number! 153.4! I'm telling you, I feel 165lbs!


Here are my weights and estimated amount of fat based on scale and handheld device (I know neither of these methods are accurate, but still...)

feel heavier than this: Apr 2017 -- 162.8 -- 45.0lb fat (27.6%)
TODAY'S ACTUAL..... Jul 2019 -- 153.4 -- 38.7lb fat (25.2%)
post-marathon, feeling fit: Nov 2017 -- 150.2 -- 35.6lb fat (23.7%)

HOW IN THE WORLD am I closer in stats to a time I felt skinny? I believe I'm fitting into similar sizes of clothes as the 162lb weight.

My only guess is I have lost muscle? Would that make sense? How much can one lose on my frame? My new scale estimates 33% muscle mass as of today.

Replies

  • NovusDies
    NovusDies Posts: 8,940 Member
    I like @MikePTY 's answer but I also question how accurately anyone can expect to compare a current feeling with one from 2 years ago.

    I really do not know much about this subject but should there be a considerable difference in clothing sizes for less than 10 pounds of weight change in your range?
  • tanyaltrl
    tanyaltrl Posts: 42 Member
    That's the thing @NovusDies there really is a considerable difference. I ran a marathon two years ago, and the other date refers to the heaviest I've been since becoming fit. Those are prominent dates and feelings in my body, so thats why they are used. Maybe my question should be "why does my body feel and look so different between relatively small changes on the scale". The second question then would be "if I am losing muscle and gaining fat, can that really happen so quickly and dramatically?"
  • eeanneli
    eeanneli Posts: 35 Member
    How are your measurements or perhaps side by side pics? I wouldn't go by feelings as we are often wrong in our assessments when we go by them.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Feelings are not reliable. A few days ago I put on well fitting shorts and I felt really fit and much thinner, more than 15 lbs thinner. I also felt I looked thinner because I was feeling thinner, I even perceived my clothes fitting differently because I was hyper aware of my shape, and I was moving with ease. Last month I've been feeling heavy all month, even movement felt harder because in my head I was fat, and what's in my head can heavily affect how I perceive other things. No, I did not become thinner and fitter overnight.

    I've been doing this long enough to know how much of a trickster my brain can be, but it's always fascinating to observe. From experience, look at the numbers not at your feelings. How you feel, or even how you perceive your clothes fitting, are very likely things that are heavily manipulated by your brain. Even clothes sizes can lie to you. If we were running marathons now, you would be feeling closer to the lower weight date because in your mind you're fit.

    As for your question about muscle mass, no it cannot happen that quickly unless you have an illness that causes atrophy or are bed bound for an extended period. Muscle is much harder to lose than you think if you're not severely undereating.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    tanyaltrl wrote: »
    That's the thing @NovusDies there really is a considerable difference. I ran a marathon two years ago, and the other date refers to the heaviest I've been since becoming fit. Those are prominent dates and feelings in my body, so thats why they are used. Maybe my question should be "why does my body feel and look so different between relatively small changes on the scale". The second question then would be "if I am losing muscle and gaining fat, can that really happen so quickly and dramatically?"

    Did you feel the heavier weight before or after you stepped on the scale 2 years ago? Were you generally happy with yourself? Did you sleep well the night before? Was it a stressful time in your life? How long had it been since you had a vacation? How much of your weight was water retention?

    Don't answer any of those.

    Memories and feelings are not a good measurement because they can be biased by too many things.

    Yesterday I:
    1) Didn't sleep well the night before
    2) Sociably ate calories I didn't enjoy at an event
    3) Was too hot most of the day
    4) Was wearing something new that felt tight

    Everything yesterday was a little worse for me including my weight. It wasn't a bad day it just wasn't a great day. I am not sure how I will feel about it in the future.

    Memory is a tricky thing. On a bad day I remember "the good old days" although I'm pretty sure in the good old days there were days where I was remembering "the good old days".

    Just the fact that she went from a higher to a lower weight re-inforces feeling thinner at her thinnest because her comparison point was the higher weight, and now that she is slightly heavier, although not as heavy as she started, her comparison point is a weight that she perceived as better. Anything less than our ideal tends to feel worse than it is and closer to a less desirable point of comparison.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited July 2019
    Just to add, as far as clothes fitting differently... It's possible you are losing weight in a different pattern than you did before. You said you were running a marathon the last time, now you are not exercising much. It's possible your muscle and fat distribution are just slightly different now.

    The short answer though is that there is no way to get a definitive answer to your question, and honestly it doesn't really matter :wink: (And BIA scales can be really off the mark on your BF/LM %) It's too bad we don't have access to better ways to measurethese kind of metrics, but we just don't.

    If you aren't happy with the way you feel, start doing some things to change that! I can relate, I felt heavy and sluggish even though I was in the healthy weight range for my height. I was in the upper half of the range, and it turns out I feel way more comfortable and energetic in the lower half. Sometimes the number on the scale doesn't tell nearly enough of the story. Set your goal to lose 0.5lbs per week, play around with your macros maybe to see if what your eating is contributing to how you feel, and maybe try to get a little more active if you can. That's what I did, and really helped the "feelz" :smiley:
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
    tanyaltrl wrote: »
    That's the thing @NovusDies there really is a considerable difference. I ran a marathon two years ago, and the other date refers to the heaviest I've been since becoming fit. Those are prominent dates and feelings in my body, so thats why they are used. Maybe my question should be "why does my body feel and look so different between relatively small changes on the scale". The second question then would be "if I am losing muscle and gaining fat, can that really happen so quickly and dramatically?"

    I concur with the above thoughts about how "feelings" regarding body size can be tricky. But if the clothes you wore at a similar weight two years ago are now noticeably snug, that's an actual objective observation. My experience is that it's possible to lose muscle and gain fat - and be basically at the same weight but have my body be bigger. I weigh two pounds less now than I did when I was in high school - over weight but by less than 10 # then - and there is no way I could fit into the clothing I wore then. But my guess is that the "fluffy feeling" is related to your body adjusting to being off the stimulant and that the snugness of clothing is probably related to a body composition change over the two years that have elapsed since you were running regularly. If you are using an impedance scale to measure fat, that data is unreliable. Hydration will seriously affect the read-out.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    Maxxitt wrote: »
    tanyaltrl wrote: »
    That's the thing @NovusDies there really is a considerable difference. I ran a marathon two years ago, and the other date refers to the heaviest I've been since becoming fit. Those are prominent dates and feelings in my body, so thats why they are used. Maybe my question should be "why does my body feel and look so different between relatively small changes on the scale". The second question then would be "if I am losing muscle and gaining fat, can that really happen so quickly and dramatically?"

    I concur with the above thoughts about how "feelings" regarding body size can be tricky. But if the clothes you wore at a similar weight two years ago are now noticeably snug, that's an actual objective observation. My experience is that it's possible to lose muscle and gain fat - and be basically at the same weight but have my body be bigger. I weigh two pounds less now than I did when I was in high school - over weight but by less than 10 # then - and there is no way I could fit into the clothing I wore then. But my guess is that the "fluffy feeling" is related to your body adjusting to being off the stimulant and that the snugness of clothing is probably related to a body composition change over the two years that have elapsed since you were running regularly. If you are using an impedance scale to measure fat, that data is unreliable. Hydration will seriously affect the read-out.

    Body composition changes with age are well documented, it just doesn't happen in two years this dramatically unless she was a teen two years ago (which she wasn't) or has a condition that causes muscle atrophy (she would have noticed other symptoms). Even if there was muscle loss and fat gain and even if we assume the numbers are correct (which they most likely aren't because pre-marathon you're usually carb loaded), it shows less than 2% body fat difference. To feel 10 pounds heavier at the same weight, she would need to have gained 10 pounds body fat and lost 10 pounds of muscle mass in that time frame, which is extremely unlikely and way more than barely 2%.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    NovusDies wrote: »
    tanyaltrl wrote: »
    That's the thing @NovusDies there really is a considerable difference. I ran a marathon two years ago, and the other date refers to the heaviest I've been since becoming fit. Those are prominent dates and feelings in my body, so thats why they are used. Maybe my question should be "why does my body feel and look so different between relatively small changes on the scale". The second question then would be "if I am losing muscle and gaining fat, can that really happen so quickly and dramatically?"

    Did you feel the heavier weight before or after you stepped on the scale 2 years ago? Were you generally happy with yourself? Did you sleep well the night before? Was it a stressful time in your life? How long had it been since you had a vacation? How much of your weight was water retention?

    Don't answer any of those.

    Memories and feelings are not a good measurement because they can be biased by too many things.

    Yesterday I:
    1) Didn't sleep well the night before
    2) Sociably ate calories I didn't enjoy at an event
    3) Was too hot most of the day
    4) Was wearing something new that felt tight

    Everything yesterday was a little worse for me including my weight. It wasn't a bad day it just wasn't a great day. I am not sure how I will feel about it in the future.

    Oh boy can I relate to "didn't sleep well and too hot" yesterday!

    I'm often too hot at the annual 4th of July party, which takes place at my mom's, where only the kitchen has AC, which is never turned on until I get there and turn it on. The meal happens out in the barn. This year we didn't arrive until 5:30, I brought a kickass fan, and I tried to not feel responsible for putting on the meal and thus not overwork and overheat myself.

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