Muscles Weight More Than Fat ???

Does anyone actually think that a pound of anything weighs more than a pound of anything else? I mean, really. It's a POUND.

Muscle weighs more than fat -- BY VOLUME!

You have not discovered anything new but an old, absurd argument from the unlearned.
Muscle is more dense, so BY VOLUME it weighs more.

Fat takes up more VOLUME, because it is less dense.



A gallon of muscle weighs more than a gallon of fat.

Get it now?

Volume and weight are two different measurement, though. This could really confuse people more than help, if you ask me... Yes, BY VOLUME, muscle will weigh more than fat ... but a pound of anything is the same IN WEIGHT as a pound of any thing else.

Ten pounds of fat weighs the exact same as ten pounds of muscle. A POUND is A POUND.

BY VOLUME a pound of fat will be larger than a pound of muscle (regardless of the vessel) .. but the statement "Muscle weighs more than fat" is misleading and confusing.

I don't see why it is confusing - if someone says Feathers are lighter than steel, you'd know what they meant, so why don't people get it with muscle and fat?

As far as I can see, nobody has said a lb of muscle weighs more than a lb of fat.

If it wasn't confusing to people, we wouldn't constantly have threads about it.

Ok...i googled it and OMG ive lost 2 of those 5lb lumps of fat, whilst im so pleased with the loss,im also a wee bit grossed out by it too

Hey everybody,

I have to weigh in here (yes, I said that.)

THOUSANDS of people join MyFitnessPal every day. Many of them are new to the common questions that surround the challenges of weight loss. Part of what we hope makes MyFitnessPal an appealing place to visit is the interaction that happens when members ask sincere questions, and other members take the time and effort to help and support folks in their efforts to better educate themselves.

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You will note that these are our FIRST TWO guidelines. Clearly, we think they're important.

Consequently, there are three possible ways to respond to an OP like this. And only two of them are acceptable under the guidelines ( http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines ).

You may choose one of the two acceptable methods (which I will clearly outline below) or you may choose the one unacceptable method and begin accumulating moderator warnings and eventually strikes.

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1 - Post to the effect that you're tired of this topic, that the OP must be an idiot for not using Google, or answer the question but lace your response with sarcasm and condescension. ALL of these tactics are strictly contrary to the posting guidelines, and users who post repeatedly in this vein will find their posting privileges suspended. Period.

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Clearly, when people use the statement "Muscle Weighs More than Fat", they are referring to the fact that if someone

1. Loses body fat
2. Builds builds
3. Stays the same size

They would have increased their weight.

While it is a statement that is open to misinterpretation, nobody on here to my knowledge has ever used the statement "Muscle Weighs More than Fat" in the context of hacking off part of their body and weighing it in pounds to use as a comparison, so please can we lose the 1lb = 1lb analogy because it's irrelevant and confusing to those who don't understand the apparently too complex idea of density and mass.

In fact, before posting that a topic has been raised 1000 times, respondents should take a breath and close the window.

Regards,
Steven
MyFitnessPal Staff

I'm not arguing with that - but seriously, if the same questions are being asked again and again and again, it clearly demonstrates that this site needs an official FAQ to assist new members.

Some of them are answered here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help But I only happened to stumble upon that a few days ago.

Some of them are answered here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help But I only happened to stumble upon that a few days ago.

That is more geared toward the use of the site, rather than FAQs about nutrition, exercise, etc.

I can understand the hesitancy to shy away from giving advice though, for liability reasons...

Posts by members, moderators and admins should not be considered medical advice and no guarantee is made against accuracy.

While the idea of an official FAQ is a good one, and something we'll take under consideration, it still is not a substitute for the friendships that can be made when veteran users answer a new user's question "live".

Interesting point.

In the meantime, there are some fantastic answers to FAQs here, that members can use to help one another: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/457-unofficial-mfp-faq

lol i think that is so true a lbs of fat weighs the same as a lbs of muscle the only difference is size think of this a lbs of fat is like popped popcorn and a lbs of muscle is like butter put them side by side and the difference is huge but a lbs is still a lbs no matter what it is.:happy:

Muscle weighs more than fat per unit volume.

People are leaving off the "per unit volume" rendering the statement incorrect. So if you have one square foot of muscle and one square foot of fat, the muscle weighs more. The muscle is more dense.... so people just say, muscle weighs more than fat. It's pretty simple.

I wish my big fat bum was in square feet, unfortunately it can be measured in cubic feet. :bigsmile:

I think its about volume.
A pound of mashallow fluff takes up a lot more space than a pound of rock.

So I see this statement posted over and over again and I just have to question it. Why would you say that muscles weight more than fat? In my experience (and I could be very wrong), a pound is a pound is a pound. One pound of muscle is one pound. One pound of fat is one pound. Why would one be heavier than the other if you are thinking of it as a pound?

Can someone enlighten me please? Thanks & have a healthy day!

Yes...
a pound is a pound is a pound is a pound...

Fat DOES take more room though in its 1lb measurement. Lean muscle takes LESS room in its 1lb measurement...

Muscles and fat weigh the same, muscle is more dense than fat.
The more muscle you have, the more fat you can burn!

think of fat as being like a marshmallow and muscle as steak....a pound of marshmallow takes up 6xs the amount of space than a pound of steak.

I'm so glad I saw this. I have been wondering about this for decades, and now I can finally learn the true answer!

Since the question has been thoroughly and correctly answered, I'm going to lock the post.

Much as I appreciate the debate regarding what does and doesn't fit within the guidelines of the site, it's off-topic now for the OP's question, so I'm going to delete a lot of the latter posts and leave the primary content in place.

I will simply say in response to all of the questions on this topic, that our primary goal in enforcing the guidelines is to create an environment where any sincere question is valued, and where those willing to take the time to answer (and thus also build connections with members) are encouraged to do so.

It may mean that we appear to be heavy-handed in our moderation, but I'd rather be accused of heavy-handedness in an attempt to weed out snark, than in a light-touch that leaves our users with the impression that we don't care if they're chastised for having questions they'd like answered.

And for what it's worth, we have no interest in attempting to reduce the number of repeat questions. We would actually like to ENCOURAGE users to ask whatever questions they've got, for the reason expressed in my earlier posts that it gives them an opportunity to interact with other members on the site. So, we certainly, don't want information to be hard to find, and a FAQ page might help on that front. But asking a question is a GREAT way to get an answer, provided that those who aren't interested in answering simply ignore the temptation to protest the question's existence.

Cheers,
Steven