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Losing weight but not inches after a month?

katelynknitseverything
katelynknitseverything Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Exactly this, I’m losing weight, but not inches, and have noticed what I think is a difference in my body after counting calories, making better dietary choices, drinking water and exercising… does anyone know why or has experienced this?
Photos from 07/07 to 07/26

Replies

  • callsitlikeiseeit
    callsitlikeiseeit Posts: 8,626 Member
    what @Lietchi said. and you do look smaller. But different clothes, different lighting (different time of day, maybe), slightly different position, better focus on the camera... all of those can make a difference. many variables cane make a picture look better... OR worse.

    also.... sometimes we THINK we are measuring in the same places but it is quite easy to be off. and even being off by a small bit can make a difference in measurements.

    How clothes are fitting are sometimes the big 'tell'. are your normal pair of jeans looser? is a former too small pair of jeans now fitting better? having to wear your belt on a different notch? things like that.

    I have 8 or 9 (I'd have to look at my stat page to know for sure) measurement points on my body. some people have more. Some only have 3. Some might have fewer. That's all just personal preference.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Where are you measuring? Fat comes off from all over so can be coming off from areas you aren't measuring. Also, primary fat stores (typically what we perceive as our problem areas) are a first on, last off kind of thing so you're likely not to lose inches there right away. Also, people tend to be pretty bad about measuring in exactly the same place and in the same way. The only time I ever actually took measurements was when I had a trainer and he took them for me...otherwise I just used the mirror and the scale and progress pictures.
  • katelynknitseverything
    katelynknitseverything Posts: 4 Member
    @cwolfman13 I’ve been measuring bust, waist, hips, bicep, thigh and calf, all the widest part with the exception of the waist. It definitely makes sense to me that user error could be an issue, particularly when measuring oneself, and additionally, your comment about primary fat stores makes so much sense too.
  • katelynknitseverything
    katelynknitseverything Posts: 4 Member
    @callsitlikeiseeit where do you generally measure? And I definitely have been seeing the difference on the scale, and it the fit of my clothing, (those pink leggings didn’t fit me last month) which is encouraging of course. I guess I felt that the difference in the photos was more than I had expected, so I didn’t understand why I wasn’t seeing it in the measurements.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,532 Member
    Tighter/looser tape. Same spot. Not your case... but say mine... belly button? trust me that sucker has moved inches from where it used to be... so not a reliable measuring point! Now halfway between the iliac crest and the lower rib, while looking at a mirror while trying to keep the tape parallel to the ground using the mirror.... you see a few POSSIBLE issues there? And how about inhale/exhale and by how much?
  • katelynknitseverything
    katelynknitseverything Posts: 4 Member
    @PAV8888 Totally see all the issues 😂 I think that y’all are doing a good job of convincing me to ditch the measurements! This has been the first time I decided to use them as a measure of progress and have never put much thought to their reliability.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,532 Member
    Not that it is 100% reliable but weight TREND app/website seems to be my go-to. And even then! :blush:
  • penguinmama87
    penguinmama87 Posts: 1,155 Member
    This year I started measuring and I have noticed a few things for myself, at least: inches do not necessarily come off at the rate I'd expect given loss on the scale. I only measure every other week, and often only one or two measurements change and sometimes only a quarter or half an inch. My limbs lost inches first before my torso (I seem to be losing weight from the "outside in," which can be a common experience for many though not universal). Now I am seeing more loss from my waist and hips while my limb measurements have been pretty consistent (at least past the elbows and knees - my upper arms and thighs are beginning to drop more now too, and I'm glad). I also think I've gotten better at measuring as I practice it more and as I lose weight because everything is firmer underneath the tape. :D

    I don't have any aspirations for particular measurements, but it's nice to quantify the loss I can see and feel with clothes and observe the trend over time. Things may not change much in two weeks, or even a month, but over several months I can see definite changes. I also use the measurements to roughly calculate a body fat percentage, where I do have a goal range (since nailing it down exactly can be tricky.) I use the average from this calculator and watch the trend.

    So, if you don't want to measure after all, I think it's fine, but if you stick with it a while and work through a few of the challenges, I do think it can be rewarding if you decide you want to keep on collecting that data.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 35,368 Member
    P.S., afterthought: With certain types of exercise, for certain people, it seems like the exercise can make things a little . . . tighter, for lack of a better term. It isn't necessarily muscle mass-gain (almost certainly isn't, in a short timespan), but things can kind of tighten up so that clothing fits more attractively. Depending on which clothes, and fit on what part of the body, even improved posture from the exercise can make a contribution to clothes fitting better.

    Bodies are weird.

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