Inches lost vs. pounds lost

mousepaws22
mousepaws22 Posts: 380 Member
edited November 8 in Health and Weight Loss
So after four weeks of a new exercise and food programme (I was ill for the last week so did no exercise) I only lost 0.2kg and my body fat percentage only went down 0.2%. But I lost 4.5 inches off my measurements- which I am happy with. How does it work though- how does my body become smaller when I haven't lost weight, and how can I lose weight and lose inches? My main goal is to be fit and healthy, and I feel stronger, but my sister is getting married in December and I am absolutely dreading walking down the aisle in a bridesmaids dress. I have lost 25 pounds but it has taken me 10 months to do that and I still need to lose another 52 pounds.

Replies

  • thebritishbloke
    thebritishbloke Posts: 6
    Depends on your exercise program largely, you could be eating less but if you're doing muscle work than you're going to be gaining muscle mass (Muscle has a much higher mass than fat). If you JUST want to lose size AND weight, then avoid muscle work for the time being and just go for cardio work (treadmill, elliptical trainer, bike etc).

    Your body isn't very good at burning fat and gaining muscle at the same time; so just try to burn fat first through cardio.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
    Agree with the above (sort of)

    1) Muscle is denser than fat. That means if you loose fat and gain the same weight in muscle, you will be smaller. As a couple of the pluses, you will also be more toned AND you will burn more calories doing day to day activity as you need to fuel those muscles.

    2) If you want a balanced routine, I suggest starting with 45 minutes of weights and then do 30-60 minutes of CV work.

    (also, 10 minutes gentle CV as a warm up - which I don't bother to count normally)

    Always to weights first - because of the way your body processes energy you want to use 'instant access' energy for your weight training so you can work the muscles to the max. Also, there is less chance of injury as you will not be too tired to get the technique right. This will use less than 200 calories BUT will make you toned and will increase your natural burn rate.

    With the CV - you want to work out to exhaustion. So, if you only have 30 minutes you are going to work harder per minute than if you have 60. You'll burn more calories if you have more time obviously :) Example: 30 minute workout = 400 Calories, 60 minute workout = 700. Its not double but its still a lot more.

    3) If you want to loose weight fast then start building up some really big CV workouts, like cycling or long distance running. I often burn over 2000 calories in a mornings training doing this. (But you have to enjoy the activity in itself - this sort of commitment is about fitness fun, not weight loss)
  • xraychick77
    xraychick77 Posts: 1,775 Member
    1) Muscle is denser than fat. That means if you loose fat and gain the same weight in muscle, you will be smaller. As a couple of the pluses, you will also be more toned AND you will burn more calories doing day to day activity as you need to fuel those muscles.

    doesnt happen ^

    anyways..we all lose weight in different ways..and we all lose it in different areas..there ya go
  • thurberj
    thurberj Posts: 528 Member
    bump
  • mousepaws22
    mousepaws22 Posts: 380 Member
    This is all helpful- thanks. At the moment I am doing body combat on a monday, tesday and wednesday no exercise becasue I have college in the evenings, thursday I do 20 mins of HIIT on the treadmill and then some rowing intervals as well, with a circuit including squats, step ups, plank work and some upper body weights, fridays I do 30 minutes of HIIT and some rowing intervals, saturday is the same as thursday and I do zumba on a sunday. I am also looking at doing a circuit training class and a body pump class once a week as well. This programme has been put together for me by a trainer at my gym and she's going to do a new one for me next month.
  • mikeyrp
    mikeyrp Posts: 1,616 Member
    1) Muscle is denser than fat. That means if you loose fat and gain the same weight in muscle, you will be smaller. As a couple of the pluses, you will also be more toned AND you will burn more calories doing day to day activity as you need to fuel those muscles.

    doesnt happen ^

    anyways..we all lose weight in different ways..and we all lose it in different areas..there ya go

    Does. Consensus is about 30-35 calories a day per lb of muscle gained in a man. (However, other experts, including Dr. Cedric X. Bryant, the American Council on Exercise's Chief Science Officer, suggest a pound of muscle only burns about 6 calories a day).

    http://exercise.about.com/od/exerciseworkouts/f/muscle.htm
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