I keep hearing muscel weighs more than fat

jkcools
jkcools Posts: 66
edited December 20 in Health and Weight Loss
I started my journey mid February. My starting weight of 198 Height 5.7, dropped 6lbs. currently I'm back at 198lbs. I'm not really concerned about the weight lost; because I can feel and see the difference in my body. I work my butt off in the gym every day. My main goal is to lose the love handles (they small handles; but I know they are there, and they seem large to me.) Anyway My question is, could this weight gain really be all muscle? I do tons of cardio, and lift weights all the time. Am I missing something?

Replies

  • MellowGa
    MellowGa Posts: 1,258 Member
    a pound is a pound, either fay or muscle. But muscle is Leaner and tighter, so you may not lose "weigth" but your body shape may change, does that make sense?
  • ValiCaly
    ValiCaly Posts: 111
    Look at this link for the size difference between fat and muscle:
    http://genjerleigh.blogspot.com/2008/08/size-of-fat-vs-muscle.html
  • jkcools
    jkcools Posts: 66
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.
  • dizzycoolbabe
    dizzycoolbabe Posts: 28 Member
    Muscles are good energy burners - the more muscle mass you have the high your metabolic rate becomes! Even if you weigh the same, but have more muscle - that's good! Your body will change shape too so don't become discouraged - keep up the exercise :)
  • Umeboshi
    Umeboshi Posts: 1,637 Member
    Muscle takes up less space than fat, but 1lb of muscle still weighs the same as 1lb of fat.
  • DerDude
    DerDude Posts: 170
    Ignore the scale and take a look into the mirror! That´s a think that happens very often. Your muscles gaining, also they have some water in for repair and nutrition.
    Your whole body is morphing to somebody else ... I like that!
  • BandedTriaRN
    BandedTriaRN Posts: 303
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.

    put on some swim trunks and take photos now and then again in a month, I bet you will see differences! Take full body shots and measure yourself!
  • BandedTriaRN
    BandedTriaRN Posts: 303
    muscle does weigh more than fat. You have 2 objects, muscle mass, and fat.

    If i said "a baseball weighs more than feather" is that wrong? No... people don't go around saying "NO YOU'RE WRONG!!! 1lbs of features weighs the same as a 1lbs of baseballs" Volume IS IMPLIED. if fat and muscle have the same volume muscle weighs more than fat.

    where is the "LIKE" button on here? lol! So true!!!
  • jkcools
    jkcools Posts: 66
    Thanks everyone, makes sense to me, I actually get. Love the baseball/feather example.
  • wiggywompus
    wiggywompus Posts: 65 Member
    I had the same thing doing all the right things but no weight loss, but I had measured hips, waist before I started and they were definately on the way down. Keep up the good work one day you will get on scales and a pound be gone and it will all have been worth it.
  • LexyDB
    LexyDB Posts: 261
    muscle does weigh more than fat. You have 2 objects, muscle mass, and fat.

    If i said "a baseball weighs more than feather" is that wrong? No... people don't go around saying "NO YOU'RE WRONG!!! 1lbs of features weighs the same as a 1lbs of baseballs" Volume IS IMPLIED. if fat and muscle have the same volume muscle weighs more than fat.

    Wrong.

    You can't state muscle mass then fat without using fat mass as the comparison.

    Muscle fibres are tightly compact, thus taking up less volume meaning they occupy less space for their weight than fat. Taking an equal amount of volume per each, say the size of a bag of sugar then the muscle will weigh more due to the construction of the fibres etc. Fat is not compact, press your stomach to see what happens.

    However, a pound of fat will occupy more space than a pound of muscle so volume can not be implied but applied. To state that one weighs more than the other is ridiculous. It is the same as saying gold is heavier than fat. Yes, the density and volume is but a pound of gold will still weigh the same as a pound of fat, albeit taking up less space.
  • Cheshire_Kat
    Cheshire_Kat Posts: 69 Member
    Common sense tells us a pound of muscle and a pound of fat have to weigh the same, but they do differ in density. This means if you look at five pounds of muscle and five pounds of fat side by side, the fat takes up more volume, or space, than the muscle.
  • casbar911
    casbar911 Posts: 61 Member
    and here we go....
  • sel254
    sel254 Posts: 273 Member
    A pound is a pound is a pound. What they mean is that muscle is denser in volume than fat. So if you had a pound of muscle and a pound of fat, the muscle would take up much less space in your body. So you may weigh the same, but you will be stronger and firmer than if you just had fat taking up too much space.
  • poledancing_ninja
    poledancing_ninja Posts: 271
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.

    Who looks at a muscular, hot guy and thinks DAMN I bet he weighs x amount of pounds? Throw the scales away and concentrate on how shredded you're getting :)
  • yksdoris
    yksdoris Posts: 327 Member
    Aside from the fat vs. muscle thing, it's possible that you're retaining water. This has nothing to do with your bladder btw! If your muscles are in pain after a workout (which for me, they normally are) then those muscles are probably holding in water. This is why I always see my scale bo up a bit, then plateau for a few days right after a good workout session, then suddenly drop quite a bit, usually on the 2nd or 3rd day after the workout.

    If you're eating lots of salty things, your body may be holding on to the water.

    Every person is different though, so it might have nothing to do with retaining water for you.
  • tabulator32
    tabulator32 Posts: 701 Member
    and here we go....

    jkcools, enjoy your weight loss and muscle gain! Keep the momentum and I wish you the best of health and that you reach all of your goals.

    Now, go and have a great day while Captain Obvious handles the rest of this thread.

    Captainobvious.jpg
  • carameldelightonly1
    carameldelightonly1 Posts: 28 Member
    Yes,the scale is slowly decreasing as I lift...but I'm gonna continue eating healthy and doing what I'm doing....so just keep doing what you're doing.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    This argument is completely irrelevant anyways, because if you aren't eating a caloric surplus, then you aren't gaining muscle. It truly is that simple. Now, I will say he is probably cutting fat and he isn't losing weight based on water retention.

    ps- I agree with PU.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
    If i said "a baseball weighs more than feather" is that wrong? No.
    No, because you specified A feather and A baseball, so you were discussing the mass of a single item, not an undefined quantity.

    Doesn't work the same for "fat" and "muscle" because we don't know what "a fat" and "a muscle" is, well we know what a muscle is but not which one is being discussed let alone how big it is.

    Be simpler if those types that come out with "muscle is heavier than fat" just learned to say "muscle is denser than fat" then everyone could be happy. On the other hand, it is a useful flag to warn of the crap that's likely to follow it.
  • Sublog
    Sublog Posts: 1,296 Member
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.
    If you haven't lost weight in a month, then you're eating too much food/calories.
  • jazziesaj11
    jazziesaj11 Posts: 351 Member
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.
    If you haven't lost weight in a month, then you're eating too much food/calories.

    Really, cause I hadn't lost for 3 months and I was at 1200 on a good day, so should I have starved myself? :P
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
    I would pay more attention to your waist size and how your clothes fit, honestly. Body fat is a better indicator than your scale IMO.
  • wildboar1
    wildboar1 Posts: 88
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.
    If you haven't lost weight in a month, then you're eating too much food/calories.

    Really, cause I hadn't lost for 3 months and I was at 1200 on a good day, so should I have starved myself? :P

    You are probably under estimating the amount of food you eat (a little here a little there will add up to 200 or 300 kcal a day), or over estimating your exercise calories.

    It's really a physical impossibility to eat less than your TDEE (don't argue semantics here, you know what I mean -- calories in, calories out) and not lose fat. So if you are capable of it, I suggest you contact your local university because not only are you breaking various physical laws like thermodynamics and the law of conservation of energy, you are probably also a being of light.
  • iWaffle
    iWaffle Posts: 2,208 Member
    My question is, could this weight gain really be all muscle? I do tons of cardio, and lift weights all the time. Am I missing something?
    You need to use use a tape and keep track of a few body measurements. I think the minimal is your waist since that's the body's favorite place to store fat. Pick your worst spot that you're trying to trim down. I'm measuring at my belly button and straight across my "love handles". Any decrease on that spot is my measure of success. I do keep tabs on the weight every day but my goal is to have a smaller waist line not necessarily to weigh less. The scale is a way for me to keep tabs on stalled waist line improvements. I don't give rats rear end about it getting lower honestly.

    I've been stuck on 225 for over a week but I did get half an inch off my waist within that time frame so huge success for me.
  • jazziesaj11
    jazziesaj11 Posts: 351 Member
    Yes, that makes sense. I kinda figured that. My body def. looks different; just kinda sucks when you get on the scale after a month and you back to your starting weight.
    If you haven't lost weight in a month, then you're eating too much food/calories.

    Really, cause I hadn't lost for 3 months and I was at 1200 on a good day, so should I have starved myself? :P

    You are probably under estimating the amount of food you eat (a little here a little there will add up to 200 or 300 kcal a day), or over estimating your exercise calories.

    It's really a physical impossibility to eat less than your TDEE (don't argue semantics here, you know what I mean -- calories in, calories out) and not lose fat. So if you are capable of it, I suggest you contact your local university because not only are you breaking various physical laws like thermodynamics and the law of conservation of energy, you are probably also a being of light.

    1) I measure everything I eat, down to the tablespoon of oil I use to cook with and amount of pb I put on my toast so I highly doubt I was underestimating, but let's say that just so happened to be the case and I was actually 200 more a day than I logged. that would have still put me and about 14-1500 cals a day, which then and almost now is still under my bmr. 2) I also was doing major cardio almost every day, burning aprrox 5-800 cals at about 90 minutes per day/ 540min per week. even if I somehow over estimated those burns and they were abt 200cals less each lets take 350 for example, that still would've been 2100 cals per week burned, with that plus being not only under my tdee by at least 500 but also my bmr by at least 100 I "technically" should've lost on average with some leniency toward your theory at least a pound per week. (-5,600 but yeah, I'm being lenient for you)

    So how do you care to explain that I lost nothing and hovered between 1-3pounds. I'll refrain from commenting on your smart *kitten* remark because I actually found it quite funny. :P However I, like pu, don't disagree with thermodynamics, but you're not taking into consideration of metabolic rate. I have the proof I need because since upping my cals I feel more energetic, I no longer have heart palpitations, my hair isn't falling out anymore and has actually grown superbly thick, I don't get dizzy, I can actually walk up hills and stairs without nearly passing out like a 90year old smoker, and my legs dont give out from under me anymore. I haven't changed anything except for eating more so I know that I was damaging my body and doing something very wrong. You don't agree? To each their own. ;D
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