Could someone please explain this to me

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runslikeagirl
runslikeagirl Posts: 140 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
So I was like 158 when I got on this site. I got down to 144 in about 2 or so months then NOTHING! I couldn't loose for nothing. THEN I started gaining weight. I got back up to 149...stayed there for months. I kept my weight chart the same thinking I would get back down to 146 or lower eventually. Now while I am gaining the weight (got up to 151) people are telling me how great I look and how skinny I am and my clothes are litterally falling off my butt. So last week I decide that I am going to just put my real weight on my ticker to motivate me MORE. So friday I put it on 149. Woke up this morning was 146 again. What the hell??? Please don;t tell me muscle weighs more then fat cause that makes so sense to me either.

Replies

  • Barelmy
    Barelmy Posts: 590 Member
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    If you are gaining weight (or staying the same) but losing inches, then it does sound like you're burning fat and building muscle.
  • jennifer2977
    jennifer2977 Posts: 156
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    Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat, but it's thinner, so more muscle fits in the same place as a pound of fat...If you are building muscle, your weight could go up while you are looking thinner because the muscle is replacing the fat. I believe the increase will be temporary (once your muscles start working better you should start losing again).

    I only weigh myself once a week, because my weight can vary up to 5 pounds day to day. If you get on the scale every day or every few days, you start to get discouraged.
  • morganadk2_deleted
    morganadk2_deleted Posts: 1,696 Member
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    As you only have a little to lose maybe you need to eat more

    Go to the tools section and figure out your BMI:

    Generally someone with a BMI over 32 can do a 1000 calorie a day (2 lbs a week) deficit
    With a BMI of 30 to 32 a deficit of 750 calories is generally correct (about 1.5 lbs a week)
    With a BMI of 28 to 30 a deficit of 500 calories is about right (about 1 lb a week)
    With a BMI of 26 to 28 a deficit of about 300 calories is perfect (about 1/2 lb a week)
    and below 26... well this is where we get fuzzy. See now you're no longer talking about being overweight, so while it's still ok to have a small deficit, you really should shift your focus more towards muscle building, and reducing fat. This means it is EXTRA important to eat your exercise calories as your body needs to KNOW it's ok to burn fat stores, and the only way it will know is if you keep giving it the calories it needs to not enter the famine response (starvation mode).

    url=http://www.myfitnesspal.com/weight-loss-ticker]
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    It's definitely not muscle. The average woman will put on no more than 5 lbs. of muscle with serious weight training over the course of her entire adulthood.

    But you don't give us much to go on here.

    Are you sticking to your calorie goal? Do you eat your exercise calories back? Do you zig-zag? Do you weigh your food on a kitchen scale? When you weigh yourself, is it on a reliable scale? Is it always the same scale? What do YOU think could be causing it? Etc...
  • fall1
    fall1 Posts: 4
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    I have the same issue. Looking for answer to.
  • Emwalker3406
    Emwalker3406 Posts: 308 Member
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    The reason muscle weighs more is that it is denser then fat. This is one of the reasons a lot of us try to focus on nsv (non scalevictory) more then the number. It sounds like you are doing great.
  • Jo0308
    Jo0308 Posts: 5 Member
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    Everything I have always read and experienced points to the fact that you are building up muscle. I think the other people who replied here are correct. You should start to see more weight loss soon. Keep up the good work. Tracking food is such an essential part of weight loss. It makes us accountable.
  • JizWiz
    JizWiz Posts: 57
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    I sooo know all about that! I had to start weighing myself once a week. Every Monday morning. Great Advice!
  • Riley4ever
    Riley4ever Posts: 225 Member
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    Hi, the body's metabolism is a wonderful thing lol - are you weighing yourself at the same time every week? I only ask because 146 to 151 is only 5lbs and I can weigh sometimes up to 3-4lbs more in the evening than the morning so always weigh myself at the same time in the morning on weigh day. Loads of other factors can come into play with water retention, if you've just eaten a big meal, not getting enough sleep etc and you'll see on the forums lots of peeps will be on a plateau for weeks or months doing the same exercise + cals the whole time and will suddenly drop lbs inexplicably in a week when they've done nothing differently! Good luck, try not to be disheartened with the fluctuations and keep doing what your doing :D
  • Eleisabelle
    Eleisabelle Posts: 365
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    I agree that you're probably building muscle and losing fat. And as someone else said, muscle takes up less space than fat, so you're looking thinner while you're not losing weight.

    The scale is not the best measure of fitness and health. Try taking your measurements regularly, instead of weighing in regularly. Notice how your clothes fit. Notice how your body feels, how strong you are becoming, how much more energy you have. Those are better measures of your health/weight loss journey than the scale can ever be.
  • runslikeagirl
    runslikeagirl Posts: 140 Member
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    It's definitely not muscle. The average woman will put on no more than 5 lbs. of muscle with serious weight training over the course of her entire adulthood.

    But you don't give us much to go on here.

    Are you sticking to your calorie goal? Do you eat your exercise calories back? Do you zig-zag? Do you weigh your food on a kitchen scale? When you weigh yourself, is it on a reliable scale? Is it always the same scale? What do YOU think could be causing it? Etc...

    I am sticking to my calorie goals.I even thought I should be eating more. That didnt work. I didnt eat my exercise cal back that didnt work then I started and that didnt work. When I eat them back I gain. I don't zig zag. I don't weigh my food. I do weigh myself on the same reliable scale. I don't know what the deal is that is why I am asking.
  • pegesam
    pegesam Posts: 16 Member
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    You are right. Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat-- but it takes less room to occupy space as someone has posted. What's happening to you could be what's known as "converting". Converting fat tissues to muscle tissues-- which is going to cause you to "shrink" but no necessarily loose any pounds on the scale. Since we have more estrogen than our male buddies, it takes us longer to "lean out" if you will. If you are lifting, you'll convert as your metabolism demands change, and boday fat percentages will begin declining-- this takes time and its glacially slow, but it happens.
    Pay attention to what you are eating-- log every calorie consumed, print out the reports and see if modifications are needed (Do this weekly at least). Fat burns 4 calories an hour (on the average), muscle burns 9 calories and hour (on the average). Make sure that you are consuming enough appropriate calories for your activities and level of activities.
    And hang in there. I've been at this stage longer than I care to admit. If you are within the last 10-15 pounds of your goal weight, eat as "clean" as you can, watch for "hidden" things, especially sugars and salt.
    If folks are seeing "less" of you, you are ultimately doing the right things-- have patience and don't give up...
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    Weighing your food makes all the difference. Buy yourself a $15 digital kitchen scale that weighs in, at least, grams, ounces and lbs.

    It's really eye-opening how much one can over-eat when using old-fashioned measuring cups and spoons. That should help quite a bit!
  • kneeki
    kneeki Posts: 347 Member
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    As stated before, 1lb of fat = 1lb of muscle. Don't be frustrated that you're not losing weight every day. If you want to know what's really wrong, weigh your food, eat your workout calories, and bust your *kitten* every day in the gym! The more effort you put in to your diet, the easier it will be to diagnose plateaus whether your goal is strength training or fat loss.
  • jennifer2977
    jennifer2977 Posts: 156
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    Weighing your food makes all the difference. Buy yourself a $15 digital kitchen scale that weighs in, at least, grams, ounces and lbs.

    It's really eye-opening how much one can over-eat when using old-fashioned measuring cups and spoons. That should help quite a bit!

    I bought The Biggest Loser digital scale and LOVE it. You can even tare it to zero so you can measure your food on any plate or bowl you want to. It does up to a tenth of an ounce too.
  • charliebird
    charliebird Posts: 168 Member
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    Don't been disheartened - if that is a recent photo of you on your profile you are looking great!

    If your clothes are feeling better and you are looking slimmer then you are!!!

    The problem is there are so many things that can affect the scales! E.G If you move them around the room sometimes you can get a fluctuation of 1/2 pound or more! Also if you don't weigh yourself the sametime every week then that can show a difference. My Hubby does this weighs in the morning and then weighs in the evening and can't understand why his weight has gone up by as much as 6 pounds!!!

    Things that impact my weight are!

    Eating rice the night before a weigh in! (Around 2 pound impact)
    Doing a intense strength workout (don't know why but for two days after I always weigh heavier?! Can be as much as 4 pounds!)
    TOM (easily 7 pounds for the first couple of days )
    Flying - takes me 3 days to overcome puffiness 7 pounds impact aftet the last flight
    Eating MSG - I have an awful reaction to MSG in foods, it takes me about a week to get out of my system.

    All of this is not scientifically proven or typical of everyone - but its what happens to me! (I weigh everything, Log weight loss once a week, and log my food & Exercise 90% of the time) So the data is quite good!!!

    Anyway hope that helps. Sometimes we just don't know why our weight fluctuates but I would go with how you feel as much as anything.

    Charlie x
  • lucky1304
    lucky1304 Posts: 57 Member
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    This happens to me too. It's frustrating as he**. I never post the higher weights--just keep my current low. From week to week, my weight fluctuates sometimes three to five pounds. I KNOW that even if I am not 100 percent in my calorie counting for a given week, there is absolutely NO way I could have gained three or five pounds. If anything, I'd be maintaining, not gaining. I really have no explanation for why this happens, but I'll see a drop. Then it will bump back up. Then it will drop back again. Then, after a few weeks (or a few months, depending), I'll drop to a new low. Which I then record. And then I spent the next month or two bumping up and down until I hit another new low.

    I use the same scale every time. I'm not doing much strength training so I can't be gaining muscle. I had thought that maybe the problem is that I've always gotten my lows after a run where I've been sweating a ton. But still, if I always weigh that way, then it shouldn't be a problem.... One thing I don't do is drink enough water, so I don't know if maybe I'm seeing a variation in water weight. I do know that my clothes fit better and that pants that never fit me before do fit me now. I'm trying to just be patient and figure that this is the healthy way to eat, etc., so it doesn't matter how fast the weight comes off. I have ten pounds to go, and at this rate, it could take me two years!!

    Hang in there!
  • lucky1304
    lucky1304 Posts: 57 Member
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    Doing a intense strength workout (don't know why but for two days after I always weigh heavier?! Can be as much as 4 pounds!)
    TOM (easily 7 pounds for the first couple of days )

    Regarding the strength training thing, I've been told that after a long run (I am currently training for a half-marathon but did a marathon last fall) I may weigh more because your muscles retain fluid or are swollen while trying to repair/recover from a tough workout. Don't quote me on this because I may have the details slightly wrong, but I do think this is common after a tough workout.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    It's quite possible your scale is bad or needs new batteries. But if you are shinking in size does it really matter what the scale says?
  • rayzerwolf
    rayzerwolf Posts: 203 Member
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    Hi, the body's metabolism is a wonderful thing lol - are you weighing yourself at the same time every week? I only ask because 146 to 151 is only 5lbs and I can weigh sometimes up to 3-4lbs more in the evening than the morning so always weigh myself at the same time in the morning on weigh day. Loads of other factors can come into play with water retention, if you've just eaten a big meal, not getting enough sleep etc and you'll see on the forums lots of peeps will be on a plateau for weeks or months doing the same exercise + cals the whole time and will suddenly drop lbs inexplicably in a week when they've done nothing differently! Good luck, try not to be disheartened with the fluctuations and keep doing what your doing :D

    I totaly agree, some times as salt in take can change your wieght by making your body hold on to more water.

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