How is it possible that I gained 8 pounds but lost over an inch on thighs/waist over the past few..

Spicymuchies
Spicymuchies Posts: 2 Member
edited November 2021 in Health and Weight Loss
Months?? I weighed myself curiously after 3 months on two scales and I was surprised to see I gained 8 pounds?? I guess the scales hate me now lol. I’m a runner that does no lifting at all. Normally I use to run 2-3 times a week, now it’s about 4-5 times a week but I still don’t even understand how that would impact my weight greatly. I have been eating much more yes, from 1200 to at least 1800 on average. But whenever I measure myself I hadn’t gain any “weight” and instead lost from increase of calories (according to the measuring tape). So what am I suppose to believe now? I guess I’m trying to maintain but I’m confused on how this has happened. (I’m female, 5’6 and was originally 110 but went up to 118 pounds so it’s not really a big deal but I’m just confused.) I’m also 23 years old.

Im seriously considering all this food went to my trunk because it has looked bigger lately. I’m laughing to myself, I don’t mind this. 🤣 but yes, all my clothes still fit like they always have. I’m still a size 0-1 which makes no sense whatsoever. I’m just genetically like this so I’m even a bit glad I gained some weight but my measurements and clothing tells me otherwise so I’m probably having some false happiness. I clearly lost besides what the scale told me which the weight loss worried for throughout the months.
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  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,851 Member
    edited November 2021
    If your clothes are still fitting fine (or looser) there isn't really an issue? The increase in running frequency could cause water retention and the running could also have lead to a sliight increase in muscle mass in the legs (muscle weighs more than fat for the same volume).
    Other possibility: did you weigh yourself on the same scales, before and after those 3 months? Did you weigh yourself under the same circumstances: in the morning after going to the toilet and before breakfast, dressed in similar clothes (or without)?
  • Spicymuchies
    Spicymuchies Posts: 2 Member
    Lietchi wrote: »
    If your clothes are still fitting fine (or looser) there isn't really an issue? The increase in running frequency could cause water retention and the running could also have lead to a sliight increase in muscle mass in the legs (muscle weighs more than fat for the same volume).
    Other possibility: did you weigh yourself on the same scales, before and after those 3 months? Did you weigh yourself under the same circumstances: in the morning after going to the toilet and before breakfast, dressed in similar clothes (or without)?
    Yes! They are the same scales I used last time (they’re mine from home I just haven’t used) but they gave me nearly the same result. And I also hadn’t eaten yet, and without any clothing as well.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,333 Member
    Well, it's either fat, muscle, water, some other kind of so-called "lean mass", or food in transit on its way to becoming waste.

    Fat gain is usually slow/gradual, but it can happen if one eats more (depends on how the "more" relates to one's TDEE). Fat can be in one spot, or - in women particularly - a very think layer all over the body so almost unnoticeable, or within the body cavity (that last kind is Not Good, but it's also the unlikeliest in a slim, young, active woman.

    Water weight fluctuates all the time. I've gained or lost 6 pounds literally overnight, and I'm not a huge person (5'5", mid-120s). Guaranteed, that was a water weight (plus maybe some food weight) effect. This explains the possible causes of water/food changes better than I ever could:

    https://physiqonomics.com/the-weird-and-highly-annoying-world-of-scale-weight-and-fluctuations

    Weigh daily under the same conditions (time of day, clothing, timing WRT food/drink, etc.) for a full menstrual cycle. You may learn some interesting thins about your body.

    Muscle gain can happen over multiple months from anything that challenges pre-existing muscular capabilities, potentially even something like running. Muscle gain is slow (from something like running, wouldn't even be nearly as much as even a pound a month, probably), but muscle is more dense that fat (pound for pound) so increased muscle + decreased fat can = same/higher weight but same/smaller size, in the abstract, theoretically. Changes in 3 months would be likely to be minor, from running, though - for sure not 8 pounds. (I lost maybe a couple of pants sizes from rowing, at constant body weight, but it took multiple *years*, and it was a *lot* of rowing.) I'd also observe that being fitter can make the body seem a little "tighter", though I'm not sure what that's about (I think not just muscle mass).

    If digestive contents are part of the answer, whether you ate today may not be all that meaningful. Researchers have observed full digestive transit times of up to more than 50 hours in healthy people. It's slower than that sweet corn made you think, potentially.

    Bottom line: If you feel good, look good, and your clothes fit, don't worry about it. Bodies are weird.
  • GwinnCG
    GwinnCG Posts: 7 Member
    If you are still a size 0-1 and your clothes fit just fine, then I don't think this is a big issue, maybe the weight gain was due to some junk food that you have been eating I guess!

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