Scale isn’t moving?
aidayazd95
Posts: 46 Member
Hi Guys!
I’m a 24 years old female.
I’m 5 feet 1/2 inch tall and weight 111-110 lbs.
I’ve been on a strict diet. I used to calculate my calories and macros.
Don’t do it anymore cuz I know around how much I need to eat. I try to eat mainly protein.
I excercise at least everyday.
Take boot camp classes and do weights and HIIT.
I actually just started kind of building muscle, before I did mainly cardio because I had no idea how to do weights.
Well I did but not that much.
Now I do glutes, hamstring, back, abs and sometimes bicep, triceps, and shoulder. Don’t really use heavy weights (on like 5-10lbs lol)
And my scale doesn’t seem to move.
I don’t know why though?
I know scale is not really a big of deal it’s mainly how you look.
But I do wanna loose another 5 lbs.
What are your suggestions?
(Btw don’t know which category this should be in)
Thank youu guys
I’m a 24 years old female.
I’m 5 feet 1/2 inch tall and weight 111-110 lbs.
I’ve been on a strict diet. I used to calculate my calories and macros.
Don’t do it anymore cuz I know around how much I need to eat. I try to eat mainly protein.
I excercise at least everyday.
Take boot camp classes and do weights and HIIT.
I actually just started kind of building muscle, before I did mainly cardio because I had no idea how to do weights.
Well I did but not that much.
Now I do glutes, hamstring, back, abs and sometimes bicep, triceps, and shoulder. Don’t really use heavy weights (on like 5-10lbs lol)
And my scale doesn’t seem to move.
I don’t know why though?
I know scale is not really a big of deal it’s mainly how you look.
But I do wanna loose another 5 lbs.
What are your suggestions?
(Btw don’t know which category this should be in)
Thank youu guys
1
Replies
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Also, I’m seeing some muscle don’t know if that matters0
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You probably gained muscle but lost fat2
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aidayazd95 wrote: »Hi Guys!
I’m a 24 years old female.
I’m 5 feet 1/2 inch tall and weight 111-110 lbs.
I’ve been on a strict diet. I used to calculate my calories and macros.
Don’t do it anymore cuz I know around how much I need to eat. I try to eat mainly protein.
I excercise at least everyday.
Take boot camp classes and do weights and HIIT.
I actually just started kind of building muscle, before I did mainly cardio because I had no idea how to do weights.
Well I did but not that much.
Now I do glutes, hamstring, back, abs and sometimes bicep, triceps, and shoulder. Don’t really use heavy weights (on like 5-10lbs lol)
And my scale doesn’t seem to move.
I don’t know why though?
Then how can you be sure that you're doing CICO, which is the only proven method of weight loss? It seems that you're probably underestimating the amount of calories you eat. Also, you're a healthy weight and you only have 5 pounds that you want to lose, so it'll be slow going.18 -
There is such a thing as "portion creep". When I stop logging my food, at first I can eyeball portions and eat the right amount for a few weeks. But then despite me thinking I'm eating the same amount, when I start using the food scale again I notice I'm eating just a bit more than I thought.
You are already quite lean, and the fractions of a lb you should be expecting to lose per week will easily hide behind normal water weight fluctuations for weeks at a time. It took me a full yr to lose 10 lbs of vanity weight and be sure it was actually gone and not just a fluctuation.
Home scales are also not perfectly calibrated so the half a lb you lose won't always be accurately reflected.
If it's been more than 3 months and youre weight is still fluctuating around the same exact weight, you need to eat a little less. If it's been less than 3 months, you might be losing fat but in appropriately small amounts that are hiding behind scale innacuracies and fluctuations.
If you don't want to eat less, maybe just continue focusing on fitness. Recomp (improving your physique while maintaining your weight) is a long term proposition, people work on it for years. 18 -
That means, I should start counting my calories again?
10 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »That means, I should start counting my calories again?
Umm, maybe? Or just eat a little less. Or be more patient. Or realize how you look and feel is more important than the number on the scale and focus on fitness and physique.4 -
I already eat pretty low0
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Could it be muscle that has the scale go up?1
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aidayazd95 wrote: »Could it be muscle that has the scale go up?
There is literally no way to know. Over the course of many months, you could theoretically be adding fractions of a lb of muscle per week while losing fractions of a lb of fat per week. Again you are talking about a really small amount of weight that is well within normal weight fluctuations, without a time frame. There could be dozens of reasons. Maybe you're just not being patient enough. What is your goal really? Is it just a number you want to see on the scale? Or is it something you think that 5 lbs will lead to or cause? How long have you been trying to get there?4 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »Could it be muscle that has the scale go up?
There is literally no way to know. Over the course of many months, you could theoretically be adding fractions of a lb of muscle per week while losing fractions of a lb of fat per week. Again you are talking about a really small amount of weight that is well within normal weight fluctuations, without a time frame. There could be dozens of reasons. Maybe you're just not being patient enough. What is your goal really? Is it just a number you want to see on the scale? Or is it something you think that 5 lbs will lead to or cause? How long have you been trying to get there?
Well, mainly loose body fat and get muscles.
Don’t wanna get big I just want to get toned/fit how do I say it. Mainly just loose BF.
1 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »aidayazd95 wrote: »Could it be muscle that has the scale go up?
There is literally no way to know. Over the course of many months, you could theoretically be adding fractions of a lb of muscle per week while losing fractions of a lb of fat per week. Again you are talking about a really small amount of weight that is well within normal weight fluctuations, without a time frame. There could be dozens of reasons. Maybe you're just not being patient enough. What is your goal really? Is it just a number you want to see on the scale? Or is it something you think that 5 lbs will lead to or cause? How long have you been trying to get there?
Well, mainly loose body fat and get muscles.
Don’t wanna get big I just want to get toned/fit how do I say it. Mainly just loose BF.
So focus on your workouts and don't worry about the scale, other than to make sure you don't head too far in the wrong direction. And as I said above, this isn't the sort of thing you will see progress in the mirror or on the scale every week. People work for months and years on it. To build muscle, focus on a progressive well designed strength program. If you aren't willing to eat at a surplus and gain weight, building appreciable muscle in maintenance takes time, like "maybe" a lb a month. Commit to the process and the lifestyle, it can be hard to quit the mindset of watching the scale.7 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »aidayazd95 wrote: »Could it be muscle that has the scale go up?
There is literally no way to know. Over the course of many months, you could theoretically be adding fractions of a lb of muscle per week while losing fractions of a lb of fat per week. Again you are talking about a really small amount of weight that is well within normal weight fluctuations, without a time frame. There could be dozens of reasons. Maybe you're just not being patient enough. What is your goal really? Is it just a number you want to see on the scale? Or is it something you think that 5 lbs will lead to or cause? How long have you been trying to get there?
Well, mainly loose body fat and get muscles.
Don’t wanna get big I just want to get toned/fit how do I say it. Mainly just loose BF.
So focus on your workouts and don't worry about the scale, other than to make sure you don't head too far in the wrong direction. And as I said above, this isn't the sort of thing you will see progress in the mirror or on the scale every week. People work for months and years on it. To build muscle, focus on a progressive well designed strength program. If you aren't willing to eat at a surplus and gain weight, building appreciable muscle in maintenance takes time, like "maybe" a lb a month. Commit to the process and the lifestyle, it can be hard to quit the mindset of watching the scale.
Got it, so mainly focus on doing cardio and weights and eat counting calories?
And just be patient.
I know i’m so used to checking the scale every day.
Based on my picture are you able to tell me how much BF I have? Or anything?2 -
You are already well within the optimal BMI range for your height. I would strongly encourage recomp (i.e., following a structured strength training plan to build muscle and cut fat) instead of weight loss, since that makes most people happier with their appearance. If you lose fat, you have no control over where the body takes it from, but you can develop specific muscle groups.
If you really must lose weight, it is going to be an extremely slow process since you are both short and within your optimal BMI range. It would most likely require meticulous weighing and logging of ALL your food, since you would have a very small deficit that would be easy to wipe out with a few logging errors here and there.7 -
You are already well within the optimal BMI range for your height. I would strongly encourage recomp (i.e., following a structured strength training plan to build muscle and cut fat) instead of weight loss, since that makes most people happier with their appearance. If you lose fat, you have no control over where the body takes it from, but you can develop specific muscle groups.
If you really must lose weight, it is going to be an extremely slow process since you are both short and within your optimal BMI range. It would most likely require meticulous weighing and logging of ALL your food, since you would have a very small deficit that would be easy to wipe out with a few logging errors here and there.
So you’re saying focus on weights (not much cardio) and no need to count calories2 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »You are already well within the optimal BMI range for your height. I would strongly encourage recomp (i.e., following a structured strength training plan to build muscle and cut fat) instead of weight loss, since that makes most people happier with their appearance. If you lose fat, you have no control over where the body takes it from, but you can develop specific muscle groups.
If you really must lose weight, it is going to be an extremely slow process since you are both short and within your optimal BMI range. It would most likely require meticulous weighing and logging of ALL your food, since you would have a very small deficit that would be easy to wipe out with a few logging errors here and there.
So you’re saying focus on weights (not much cardio) and no need to count calories
No, that's not what I'm saying. Read this thread on recomp: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10177803/recomposition-maintaining-weight-while-losing-fat/p15 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »Hi Guys!
I’m a 24 years old female.
I’m 5 feet 1/2 inch tall and weight 111-110 lbs.
I’ve been on a strict diet. I used to calculate my calories and macros.
Don’t do it anymore cuz I know around how much I need to eat. I try to eat mainly protein.
I excercise at least everyday.
Take boot camp classes and do weights and HIIT.
I actually just started kind of building muscle, before I did mainly cardio because I had no idea how to do weights.
Well I did but not that much.
Now I do glutes, hamstring, back, abs and sometimes bicep, triceps, and shoulder. Don’t really use heavy weights (on like 5-10lbs lol)
And my scale doesn’t seem to move.
I don’t know why though?
I know scale is not really a big of deal it’s mainly how you look.
But I do wanna loose another 5 lbs.
What are your suggestions?
(Btw don’t know which category this should be in)
Thank youu guys
I'm 5'5 31 years old and had a baby November 2018. I went from 174 to 143-144 pounds in 7 months. Hit a plateau this last month and just increased my hitt cardio work outs and added some light weights. drank more water and counted my calories. I eat 1200-1500 a day. I just kept going and I got out of my plateau I think. Lost 2.2 pounds this week! I'm now 141.4, goal is 130...maybe 125..don't want to go to low and be close to underweight. But I don't think you need to lose weight. Maybe build muscle?1 -
It could be that you are gaining muscle right now so your not losing weight. You can maintain the same weight, but by gaining muscle/losing fat look a ton better.
As another person said, another possibility is your eating more calories than you realize... For instance, eating too many nuts or cheese etc.
In the end, the scale is just a number. It could be you've reached your ideal weight, and you don't need to lose anymore weight. You might want to focus on toning and building muscle rather than losing more weight.
Good luck to you!3 -
Some times certain body types will plateau differently. Suggestion try changing up the source of clean protein and carbs. Also vary up workout movements. Not necessarily length of time rather increase intensity for shorter period of time. Try just one change for 3 weeks. Monitor results.1
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aidayazd95 wrote: »Don’t wanna get big I just want to get toned/fit how do I say it. Mainly just loose BF.
You'll never get big by accident. You have to work really really really hard to get big.
And you'll never ever ever ever get big with 5-10 pound weights. I promise14 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »Don’t wanna get big I just want to get toned/fit how do I say it. Mainly just loose BF.
You'll never get big by accident. You have to work really really really hard to get big.
And you'll never ever ever ever get big with 5-10 pound weights. I promise
Lol i know i wont get big by 5-10lbs
I was just saying in general.
1 -
Check out damnripped.com and play with the macros and such.1
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Just for a sort of benchmark or reality test:
A quarter pound of muscle-mass gain per week would be a very good result for a woman under ideal conditions (about a half pound for a man). Ideal conditions include a well designed progressive strength training program faithfully performed using weights that are heavy for that person, good nutrition (especially ample protein), relative youth, and a calorie surplus. (This is without potentially-dangerous performance enhancing drugs, by the way.)
Sometimes people believe they've added mass when they've gotten stronger, firmer, and have seen better definition (toning). But getting stronger (especially when new to strength training) is significantly about better recruiting and using existing muscle fibers (via neuromuscular adaptation, a.k.a. NMA). Getting firmer and seeing better definition/toning can be about the water retention (for muscle repair) in the tissues being worked.
Actually adding muscle tissue is a slow process. While some gain is possible in a calorie deficit, especially for people who are new to strength training and substantially overweight to obese, it will be very, very slow. Think about it: You're trying to add muscle weight while simultaneously removing fat weight, essentially gaining and losing at the same time.
For most of us, a quarter pound of fat loss per week would be extremely difficult to see on the scale amongst normal daily weight fluctuations (from water and digestive contents shifts), unless over many weeks to a few months, and then probably only with a weight trending app.
Bottom line: Sadly, it's very unlikely to be gaining so much muscle mass in a calorie deficit that it hides any reasonable rate of of fat loss on the bodyweight scale.16 -
Confused as to goals?
What's wrong with recomp @ maintenance/near maintenance? Which will generally look exactly like what you're doing now, i.e. no major scale changes other than normal fluctuations!
Actually. Are you using a weight trend app? The size of deficit you *should* be using--and which you do appear to be using--means that you could lose one or two lbs of fat in January, yet weigh more on January 31 than you did on January 1!4 -
Confused as to goals?
What's wrong with recomp @ maintenance/near maintenance? Which will generally look exactly like what you're doing now, i.e. no major scale changes other than normal fluctuations!
Actually. Are you using a weight trend app? The size of deficit you *should* be using--and which you do appear to be using--means that you could lose one or two lbs of fat in January, yet weigh more on January 31 than you did on January 1!
So I should go for “recomp”?
And no I don’t use that app, what is it exactly?
I go boot camps twice a week at my gym and other days normal weights and cardio.
And I dont count calories I just know I eat enough amount of calories to burn fat.
Keep my protein high and try to eat less fat and carbs.
0 -
aidayazd95 wrote: »Confused as to goals?
What's wrong with recomp @ maintenance/near maintenance? Which will generally look exactly like what you're doing now, i.e. no major scale changes other than normal fluctuations!
Actually. Are you using a weight trend app? The size of deficit you *should* be using--and which you do appear to be using--means that you could lose one or two lbs of fat in January, yet weigh more on January 31 than you did on January 1!
So I should go for “recomp”?
And no I don’t use that app, what is it exactly?
I go boot camps twice a week at my gym and other days normal weights and cardio.
And I dont count calories I just know I eat enough amount of calories to burn fat.
Keep my protein high and try to eat less fat and carbs.
If you don't know how much you're eating, how are you confident that the scale *should* be moving?15 -
janejellyroll wrote: »aidayazd95 wrote: »Confused as to goals?
What's wrong with recomp @ maintenance/near maintenance? Which will generally look exactly like what you're doing now, i.e. no major scale changes other than normal fluctuations!
Actually. Are you using a weight trend app? The size of deficit you *should* be using--and which you do appear to be using--means that you could lose one or two lbs of fat in January, yet weigh more on January 31 than you did on January 1!
So I should go for “recomp”?
And no I don’t use that app, what is it exactly?
I go boot camps twice a week at my gym and other days normal weights and cardio.
And I dont count calories I just know I eat enough amount of calories to burn fat.
Keep my protein high and try to eat less fat and carbs.
If you don't know how much you're eating, how are you confident that the scale *should* be moving?
Yeah sure, gonna start the calories counting again maybe.1 -
Unless you have health issues, or you're lifting like a beast and on gear, there's only one reason you're not losing weight, you're eating the same number of calories that you're burning. Eat less or burn more.
What do you mean by not losing weight though? Has your weight not moved in a week or more? You can't base calculations on weight over a day or two, or three, you have to base it on what your weight is doing over a week or two so that variations due to hydration and nutrient transit aren't what you're seeing.5 -
Unless you have health issues, or you're lifting like a beast and on gear, there's only one reason you're not losing weight, you're eating the same number of calories that you're burning. Eat less or burn more.
What do you mean by not losing weight though? Has your weight not moved in a week or more? You can't base calculations on weight over a day or two, or three, you have to base it on what your weight is doing over a week or two so that variations due to hydration and nutrient transit aren't what you're seeing.
I mean by like a week - 2 weeks.
Maybe yeah it’s true.. I eat more that I don’t know of.
But all I know is I’m very active like excercise a lot and stand/walk a lot plus don’t really eat that much.
It could be the nuts, the good fats (that are high in calories) Cuz I eat a lot of that.
2 -
The fact that I don't see weight loss as a priority for you, doesn't mean that you don't have that as your goal. And as long as your goal is sane and healthy (and I recall something like 5 lbs which probably would be), that's all that matters!
In general losing/not losing is independent of best performance. Thus my suggestion that there is no reason why you can't just concentrate on not gaining weight while concentrating more on optimizing performance = recomp.
You have two measurement problems. They are equally problematic in terms of precision but, frankly, the scale one is more problematic to your sanity and goal attainment!
We don't have a single weight. Our weight changes. Rapidly. The rapid changes are not caused by fat changes.
Also, you are a woman. You quite probably have some hormonal water weight variation. Looking at one or two weeks of not daily weigh-ins and thinking you'll see a 5lb drop is a recipe for disaster.
Why? because you will end up applying too large of a deficit for your current excess fat availability in an attempt to see rapid results.
Hence my suggestion to use a weight trend application or web site. You record your weight and you see your trendline as opposed to looking at your daily or weekly weight and trying to come to decisions.
Below you will see the trendline of someone in the normal weight range who is applying a rate of loss that would be suitable for someone like you wanting to lose 5lbs someday while maximizing gym performance. However, you would probably need to extend that trend line to 4 to 6 weeks to see meaningful results depending on how susceptible you are to cyclic water retention.
Eating a small or large quantity of food matters less than the total calories for the food. Of course nuts and good fats are highly caloric and packed in small packages.
Whether you are actually eating a little bit too much or not does depend on your goals. Since rapid loss should NOT be your goal... I have no issues with you not counting! Furthermore, counting not always good and appropriate for everyone and anyone depending on their past experiences with food intake and management.
The only issue I see is that you may be forcing yourself to eat "un-naturally" to "lose weight" and then ending up frustrated because you are forcing yourself to make choices that are not suitable for you long term.
I advocate small and gradual changes that are suitable for the long term and easy for you to implement.7 -
Two weeks is no time at all at your size - when you are fairly small/light, it takes blinking ages to lose any weight (unless you amputate something).5
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