I keep hearing muscel weighs more than fat

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jkcools
jkcools Posts: 66
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?
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Replies

  • MellowGa
    MellowGa Posts: 1,258 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    Muscle takes up less space than fat, but 1lb of muscle still weighs the same as 1lb of fat.
  • DerDude
    DerDude Posts: 170
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    Thanks everyone, makes sense to me, I actually get. Love the baseball/feather example.
  • wiggywompus
    wiggywompus Posts: 65 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    and here we go....
  • sel254
    sel254 Posts: 273 Member
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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: 38,411 MFP Moderator
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    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
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    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.

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