Loosing mass but keeping weight.

Bengree
Bengree Posts: 12
edited October 2 in Fitness and Exercise
The age old question, fact, myth, wife's tale... Muscle weighs more then fat.
Iv lost over 30lb's and dropped lots of sizes from shirts to socks.... well not socks.
For the last 2 months iv been yo-yoing between 12-13st gaining and loosing weight but keep loosing mass.
I'm obsessed with cycling at the moment and noticed my legs have turned to almost stone with the amount of mucle I have gained.
To cut back to my question:

•How can I exercise, burn off lots of calories, burn off fat, drop some more pounds to get to my BMI and still loose mass?

Replies

  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    Maybe I'm not understanding the question. Could you rephrase?

    It sounds like you've noticed that you're losing fat and gaining muscle. This seems like a good thing. Generally, cardio will be better for losing fat, while strength training will be good for maintaining or building muscle.


    EDIT: Ahh, I see now. Yeah BMI is kind of stupid if you're gaining muscle. I could be 215 lbs and 10% body fat and still be technically obese. Makes little sense.
  • Bankman1989
    Bankman1989 Posts: 1,116 Member
    I am a cyclist as well. Do you lift weigts also? You are going to lose more weight doing more cardio however you can build mass by continuing to lift.
  • trelm249
    trelm249 Posts: 777 Member
    Don't worry so much about BMI as waist size.
  • Elleinnz
    Elleinnz Posts: 1,661 Member
    Dont worry too much about the scales, and BMI - and focus on how you look - your measurements - the scale is not the most accurate reflection of how well you are doing - especially when you get towards the end.....But do some weight training as well as the cycling!!

    Personally I know that I will never reach the "theoretical" BMI figures - but I will be in much better shape than a lot of people!!
  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
    Erm, I think you mean volume, not mass. Mass is the amount of a substance, volume is the space it takes up. To lose mass but keep weight, you'd need to lose fat (or muscle) and then move to a planet with a heavier gravity.

    But, if I'm understanding, you're at a muscle/fat ratio you like but are worried about BMI? I would look more at the body fat % than BMI -- that is based solely on weight, and will put any body builder or muscle man at overweight. In fact, by BMI standards, all olympic weight lifters are obese! Set a reasonable body fat goal (12-15% maybe?) and focus on that instead.
  • StaceyL76
    StaceyL76 Posts: 711 Member
    Dont worry too much about the scales, and BMI - and focus on how you look - your measurements - the scale is not the most accurate reflection of how well you are doing - especially when you get towards the end.....But do some weight training as well as the cycling!!

    Ditto!
  • Bengree
    Bengree Posts: 12
    I might of made the question more longwinded then was needed.

    My point is, I'm dropping sizes from my legs, arms, hips and all the other right places but staying the same weight which is discouraging or just a little annoying.

    Thankyou for all your comments you have helped to make more sence of it.

    I remember now an article I read where BMI said a Boxer was Obise and a Rower was Anirexsic (ignore the spelling errors)

    So another question now. What activities/workouts could I do to to burn the fat and not build the muscle or is it the Low Intensity 60-65% MHR vs the High Intensity 80-85% MHR issue?
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,331 Member
    Don't get so caught up in your weight. As stated BMI while it has its place is really not that helpful. For that matter, even if you are gaining muscle, if you are losing fat you will start losing weight eventually, as building muscle is a very slow process and very difficult to do in a calorie deficit. For that matter I wish I could still put on muscle while losing fat without having to go though a whole bunch of jumping through hoops with calorie and macro calculations. Just keep doing what you are doing and use the measuring tape more than the scale.
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