Lifting weights is not fun on the scale

Frustrated that you are maintaining muscle while losing fat? :huh:

Frustrated that you are maintaining muscle while losing fat? :huh:

Definately a head scratcher.

OP- What is your diet like? Do you know your calorie maintenance level in a 24 hour period (TDEE)? Are you eating a deficit under your maintenance of no more than 20% or 1000 calories? What are your stats (age, height, current wt, target wt, bodyfat%)?

Lots of questions that need answered.

My weight loss has slowed some since lifting weights. I am still losing though. Most significantly, the tape measure confirms that I am losing fat. That is the main point.

Initial weight gain is common when first lifting. As the muscles are put to work they will store more glycogen and water to be ready to work. This adds to your lean mass weight. This is a good thing, because as you burn fat you are more likely to keep the muscle.

The day after heavy lifting is a lousy time to weigh yourself because you will retain more water for the recovery process.

In the past 2 1/2 months I've lost a total body weight of about 9 lbs. However, I lost 15 lbs of fat and gained 6 lbs of muscle.

The question is what do you want?

Frustrated that you are maintaining muscle while losing fat? :huh:

Definately a head scratcher.

OP- What is your diet like? Do you know your calorie maintenance level in a 24 hour period (TDEE)? Are you eating a deficit under your maintenance of no more than 20% or 1000 calories? What are your stats (age, height, current wt, target wt, bodyfat%)?

Lots of questions that need answered.

2060 calories and i'm under everyday. 32 5"10 198lbs I eat mostly chicken and broccoli. For breakfast I usually eat raisin bran or Cheerios with lactose free 2% milk. I do full body workouts with free weights.

My friend there is no possible way your TDEE is 2060 calories. TDEE is your total daily energy expedenture which includes all your activity throughout the day in 24 hours. I'm 40 yrs old, 5'8 and 181 and my TDEE on non-workout days right now is 2700 calories. I'm shorter, and lighter than you. The bigger you are the more calories you burn.

Your workout is great. I do the same. Full body routine, compound lifts, 3x a week...but your diet is most likely one of the culprits holding your weight loss back. Also are you drinking enough water/fluids? Getting enough sleep every night?

You have to keep in mind a few points:

#1- The average male doing everything right from a nutrition and training point of view can gain maybe a quarter of a pound of muscle per week. New lifters can perhaps double or triple that over the first couple months. The problem is I doubt more than a few if any on this site are doing 100% everything correct and are also at a metabolically ideal age. I would be surprised if the average male here gains more than a quarter of a pound a week. So, if your maintaining weight it's probably not from gaining muscle. Females will probably see half the gains men will.

#2- If you lift and workout consistently for a long period of time you will deplete glycogen stores. Glycogen holds a lot of water and by burning it you release water weight. On the other hand if you stop lifting for 3 days or more you will notice a bump in weight from the last day you lifted. This is because your glycogen is being replenished adding water weight. Lifting also tends to make people hold more water soon after lifting due to the recovery/hypertrophy process,particularly in new lifters.

Not saying this is the issue for anyone here but something to keep in mind.

[For us males, heavy lifting/muscle building is critical for increasing our metabolism allowing us to burn more calories essentially burning more fat/weight.

And females.

I do a lot of lifting myself. In 10 months I've lost 22 lbs, but my bf % has dropped from 47% to 28%. It's been slow going for me, but I love it. The weight is coming off a lot faster now that I've gotten more cardio in lately though. There's more to it than what the scale says so don't get too obsessed with it.

Make sure you don't lose sight of how you feel, too. Remember that it's not just about a number-- or a pant size-- but it's SO important to get healthy!

Also, the faster you lose the weight, the easier it is to put it right back on. If you're making changes that are resulting in gradual (instead of rapid) weight loss and you're able to incorporate lifting/fitness, you will be much more likely to maintain the lifestyle.

You have to keep in mind a few points:

#1- The average male doing everything right from a nutrition and training point of view can gain maybe a quarter of a pound of muscle per week. New lifters can perhaps double or triple that over the first couple months. The problem is I doubt more than a few if any on this site are doing 100% everything correct and are also at a metabolically ideal age. I would be surprised if the average male here gains more than a quarter of a pound a week. So, if your maintaining weight it's probably not from gaining muscle. Females will probably see half the gains men will.

#2- If you lift and workout consistently for a long period of time you will deplete glycogen stores. Glycogen holds a lot of water and by burning it you release water weight. On the other hand if you stop lifting for 3 days or more you will notice a bump in weight from the last day you lifted. This is because your glycogen is being replenished adding water weight. Lifting also tends to make people hold more water soon after lifting due to the recovery/hypertrophy process,particularly in new lifters.

Not saying this is the issue for anyone here but something to keep in mind.

I'm gaining strength and I am slimmer so its definitely muscle and i'm losing fat I just need to focus on how I look instead of living and dying by the scale.

Gaining strength isn't a good indicator of gain muscle. The body has fast twitch muscle fibers and this is the type of muscle that is responsible for lifting ability. Everyone has some amount of fast twitch muscle based on genetics. However, no matter how much muscle and fast twitch muscle you have if your can't recruit those fiber proficiently then it doesn't matter much how much muscle you have.

When a person starts lifting they generally are not able to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers efficiently. So, a relatively low percentage of their fast twitch muscle fibers can be recruited for lifting.

The kicker here is when you train your body becomes more efficient at recruiting FT fibers, the fibers you already had but were unable to recruit well enough.

Just by training alone you will make gains in strength just for being more efficient. In fact, most strength gains made by newbie lifters are from increased efficiency in fast twitch muscle fibers of preexisting muscle.

If you add into it that it's pretty difficult to gain muscle on a calorie deficit, the vast majority of strength gains early on are not due to gaining muscle.

You have to keep in mind a few points:

#1- The average male doing everything right from a nutrition and training point of view can gain maybe a quarter of a pound of muscle per week. New lifters can perhaps double or triple that over the first couple months. The problem is I doubt more than a few if any on this site are doing 100% everything correct and are also at a metabolically ideal age. I would be surprised if the average male here gains more than a quarter of a pound a week. So, if your maintaining weight it's probably not from gaining muscle. Females will probably see half the gains men will.

#2- If you lift and workout consistently for a long period of time you will deplete glycogen stores. Glycogen holds a lot of water and by burning it you release water weight. On the other hand if you stop lifting for 3 days or more you will notice a bump in weight from the last day you lifted. This is because your glycogen is being replenished adding water weight. Lifting also tends to make people hold more water soon after lifting due to the recovery/hypertrophy process,particularly in new lifters.

Not saying this is the issue for anyone here but something to keep in mind.

I'm gaining strength and I am slimmer so its definitely muscle and i'm losing fat I just need to focus on how I look instead of living and dying by the scale.

Gaining strength isn't a good indicator of gain muscle. The body has fast twitch muscle fibers and this is the type of muscle that is responsible for lifting ability. Everyone has some amount of fast twitch muscle based on genetics. However, no matter how much muscle and fast twitch muscle you have if your can't recruit those fiber proficiently then it doesn't matter much how much muscle you have.

When a person starts lifting they generally are not able to recruit fast twitch muscle fibers efficiently. So, a relatively low percentage of their fast twitch muscle fibers can be recruited for lifting.

The kicker here is when you train your body becomes more efficient at recruiting FT fibers, the fibers you already had but were unable to recruit well enough.

Just by training alone you will make gains in strength just for being more efficient. In fact, most strength gains made by newbie lifters are from increased efficiency in fast twitch muscle fibers of preexisting muscle.

If you add into it that it's pretty difficult to gain muscle on a calorie deficit, the vast majority of strength gains early on are not due to gaining muscle.

I've been lifting for years so i'm sure muscle memory is involved but my waist was a 37 now its a 35 {measured from belly button). I do compound lifts with low reps so even if you're on calorie deficit lifts like squats and military presses and incline bench will pump your body with growth hormones. Especially the squats.

I'm not going to comment on the GH thing but muscle memory could be benefiting you.