Weight has not changed at all in the scale but I dropped inches?
Ashlove5
Posts: 152 Member
I know I posted about this a few months ago where I was like my scale isn’t showing me drop any weight ect ect. But I continued the same routine and I can visibly feel muscles in my quads now and I have noticed I lost around 4 - 6 inches from my waist and hips. But the scale is still showing the same number? It’s so weird but yah.
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Isn't losing inches what you really want? Scale weight just tells you how much force gravity is exerting on your body, not how your body looks.3
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To lose that many inches over that much time and still to see the exact same number makes me wonder if your scale needs new batteries.
Though I’d be emotionally prepared to possibly see a HIGHER number - if your scale has been off a long time, you might have been seeing an artifically low number all along.
Either way, you’ve clearly had a massive amount of progress, a huge success, that’s the important thing, keep going!1 -
herringboxes wrote: »To lose that many inches over that much time and still to see the exact same number makes me wonder if your scale needs new batteries.
Though I’d be emotionally prepared to possibly see a HIGHER number - if your scale has been off a long time, you might have been seeing an artifically low number all along.
Either way, you’ve clearly had a massive amount of progress, a huge success, that’s the important thing, keep going!
True could be a problem with my scale. When I first started my calorie deficit I lost around 6 pounds on the scale and then I started going to the gym and lifting and after that my scale stopped moving as much. It probably dropped 2 more pounds but it’s stayed around the same weight range.
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Pull the batteries, wait a minute or two, put them back in, and see if your weight has changed. I have to do that with my scale.
That being said, if you're talking about months of working out, you do put on muscle. And you don't necessarily get lighter but you get much fitter and look better. I've lost inches around my waist and everywhere else I had lots of fat, and firmed up muscles, without losing any weight. I was fine with that :-)0 -
That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.2
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.2 -
If your scale is not wrong, then I would think that you are gaining muscle and losing fat. Also muscles retain water while recovering, so that may account for a few extra pounds.0
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I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
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tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.0 -
zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.
To be fair, the OP said it had been a few months since the last post, and mentioned losing 4-6 inches in her waist, while staying at the same body weight . . . and Tom said "You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss in that context.
The details aren't all in the OP, but I share the skepticism that muscle mass gain is the whole story, if it's happened in "a few months" (in the usual sense of that phrase) for a woman to lose that many inches while staying at the same weight.
Some gain, at maintenance calories with the right routine in a few months? Sure. I'm not disbelieving the OP, but there are potentially other factors like water retention (permanent changes in average level), the influence of posture on waist measurements, and more. Also, if the waist measurement change happened over a time period that includes some period of time before OP's previous post she mentioned . . . well, she's been on MFP since 2018. A lot can happen in 5 years.1 -
I feel like if the OP was training at the level of elite tier recomp, she would have mentioned it.
She’s doing great, that many inches lost is a serious win. It’s no putdown to doubt she’s achieving god-tier muscle gain. It is almost certainly something else, whether a stuck scale, or maybe our assumptions on te actual time scale are off, or maybe there is a reason for some sneaky ongoing water weight including new medication/supplement, or other.1 -
lol, ok.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.
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Well, the same volume of muscle weighs considerably more than the same volume of fat, so it is possible the OP gained enough muscle to keep the weight the same and lose inches. Plus, like I said in my earlier post, muscles retain water while they are recovering, and that could add up to 5 pounds to body weight.1
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How many pounds of muscle might OP have added in what amount of time?0
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For women, a really good result under ideal conditions would be around a pound a month of muscle mass gain. "Ideal conditions" include relative youth, favorable genetics, excellent nutrition (especially but not exclusively adequate protein), a good progressive weight training program faithfully performed, and a calorie surplus.
There are ongoing discussions about how many pounds it takes to account for an inch of waist size, but the commonest estimates seem to be something in the range of 4 to 8 pounds per inch.
Let's say "a few months" is 6 months (wild guess). That would suggest an optimistic max of 6 pounds of muscle mass gain, offset by a fat loss of the same 6 pounds to stay at constant body weight. Four to six inches of lost waist/hips would be something in the range of 16 to 48 pounds of fat, according to the rough estimates. (4 inches x low end of 4 pounds/inch, 6 inches x high end of 8 pounds per inch.)
Yes, one could add some water retention that would be permanent, if the program is progressive (and the person is wired that way, because not everyone seems to hold the water weight continuously vs. for a limited time after the workout). If we say 5 pounds of water, that would let us assume another inch-ish of difference in waist/hip, assuming the water retention is somewhere other than waist/hips.
I'll underscore my opinion that OP is making nice progress. That's the most important thing, right? But the numbers don't make sense if this change is all "in a few months", just from muscle mass gain. Maybe the time period is longer: The phrasing of the OP leaves that unclear.0 -
zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.
Wow lol so many people responded and I have been lifting since April and I do feel muscles in certain parts of my body and that’s how I know I “gained” muscles. My quads are hard af now and before I started lifting it was extremely soft. Like I can feel certain parts of my body feel different and look firmer and more lifted. I can feel muscles in certain areas now, you know what I mean? I am not claiming to gain 100% percent muscles all over my body but there’s gains for sure. Everyone in this post is right.
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zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.
To be fair, the OP said it had been a few months since the last post, and mentioned losing 4-6 inches in her waist, while staying at the same body weight . . . and Tom said "You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss in that context.
The details aren't all in the OP, but I share the skepticism that muscle mass gain is the whole story, if it's happened in "a few months" (in the usual sense of that phrase) for a woman to lose that many inches while staying at the same weight.
Some gain, at maintenance calories with the right routine in a few months? Sure. I'm not disbelieving the OP, but there are potentially other factors like water retention (permanent changes in average level), the influence of posture on waist measurements, and more. Also, if the waist measurement change happened over a time period that includes some period of time before OP's previous post she mentioned . . . well, she's been on MFP since 2018. A lot can happen in 5 years.
I feel like it’s a scale issue for sure, I probably need to weight my self in a different scale and see.2 -
zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »
I get that. You can’t gain muscle fast enough to replace that much fat loss.zebasschick wrote: »tomcustombuilder wrote: »That amount of inches lost with the same weight would signify quite a bit of muscle gain which I doubt happened. Many times weighing at different times of day, weighing after a high or low carb day, etc, can have a big effect on what the scale says.
in the original post, the poster said they lost several inches around their waist.
sure you can. it depends on period of time and exercise intensity. you can't put muscle on in a few weeks, but you can put it on in a year - particularly for those who are newbies to weight training or who are coming from low muscle weight. if you don't lose weight but you lose inches around your waist, that's muscle increase/fat loss.
if you couldn't put on muscle, there'd be no bodybuilders or fitness models.
of the part 20 pounds i lost, i also lost 4 inches around my waist, and did this by working out as heavy as my weak self could do. i can now walk up and down stairs for longer with much more ease and walk longer on a treadmill with a higher incline - all my resistance training resistance or weight training weight has increased, as well.
Wow lol so many people responded and I have been lifting since April and I do feel muscles in certain parts of my body and that’s how I know I “gained” muscles. My quads are hard af now and before I started lifting it was extremely soft. Like I can feel certain parts of my body feel different and look firmer and more lifted. I can feel muscles in certain areas now, you know what I mean? I am not claiming to gain 100% percent muscles all over my body but there’s gains for sure. Everyone in this post is right.
For clarity, I'm not saying you haven't gained muscle since April. I'm believing you when you say you have. I'm questioning whether there's enough muscle gain to account for 4-6 inches less circumference, that's all.
Checking into your scale's accuracy seems like a good step.0 -
bcalvanese wrote: »
Of course it's possible. I've done it myself, even while female and over 45. I lost around a couple of pants sizes. It was slow. In my case, very, very slow, because I sub-optimized some of the other variables besides.
The question here is not whether it can happen, it's how fast is realistic/likely.2 -
bcalvanese wrote: »
Of course it's possible. I've done it myself, even while female and over 45. I lost around a couple of pants sizes. It was slow. In my case, very, very slow, because I sub-optimized some of the other variables besides.
The question here is not whether it can happen, it's how fast is realistic/likely.
Agree, and it could be a problem with the scale too.
I was just informing as to how someone could lose inches and not pounds.
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bcalvanese wrote: »bcalvanese wrote: »
Of course it's possible. I've done it myself, even while female and over 45. I lost around a couple of pants sizes. It was slow. In my case, very, very slow, because I sub-optimized some of the other variables besides.
The question here is not whether it can happen, it's how fast is realistic/likely.
Agree, and it could be a problem with the scale too.
I was just informing as to how someone could lose inches and not pounds.
Couldn't agree more that that's a real thing. 1
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