does muscle really weigh more than fat?

sky379
sky379 Posts: 46
edited December 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
How is it that the more I work out, the higher the number goes on the scale. My workouts used to be predominately cardio (long distance running) with about 20 min strength training in the mornings (pushups, sit ups, lunges, etc). I have recently started doing pure barre (form of pilates, yoga, ballet with a focus on small isometric movements) every day and run a little less often than I used to (too hot outside). I know I haven't lost any inches and the number on the scale keeps rising. I am one of those people that goes by the scale, so it is very frustrating when that number keeps going up. Even though I haven't lost inches, I know I am getting stronger, but I am worried that I am bulking up and gaining weight.

any suggestions? advice?

In addition, I have noticed that my appetite has increased. I am trying to keep it in check, but it is difficult with work (full time law student, summer desk job at a law firm...I walk around a bunch, but get bored just sitting there, plus they take us out to lunch everyday). I used to have my settings set at 1200 net, but that was wayyyyy to little for me (especially on my rest days, when I wouldn't get much exercise in) so I increased it to 1440 (kind of an arbitrary number). I have done so much research on bmr and tdee and have been counting calories for most of my life, but numbers are way above my head, so if someone could help me out on that...maybe that will put the scale in check. And i've gone on the websites with the calculators, I just get confused with activity level (do I put my activity level including working out, which is different every day) or just sedentary??
Stats:
25 year old female
5' 2"
I was 113, but now apparently am 118
medium/athletic build
activity level: at school and at work sitting for most of the day, getting up to walk as much as possible, take stairs when i can and then work out most days of the week (i aim for everyday, but events come up so probably around 5-6 days). I do pure barre in the mornings (no idea how many calories that burns) and then if I can, run in the evenings (around 500-700 cals burned).

so if someone can weigh in on the whole getting stronger, but not losing inches AND gaining weight issue as well as trying to balance out my enormous appetite!!! THANK YOU

Replies

  • denmark979
    denmark979 Posts: 112 Member
    no, i think a lb is a lb. but fat takes up more space.
  • sharonfincher1
    sharonfincher1 Posts: 311 Member
    no, i think a lb is a lb. but fat takes up more space.

    ^^^^^ This^^^^
  • lwagnitz
    lwagnitz Posts: 1,321 Member
    100%. A pound is a pound. Fat just takes up more room in your body. That's why people sometimes don't lose weight but their clothes are loser. They are gaining muscle mass while burning the fat.
  • kburgess247
    kburgess247 Posts: 43 Member
    So a few things.

    1. As everyone said above muscle is simply more dense than fat. So a 1 lb blob of fat looks bigger than a 1 lb blob of muscle in the same that a 1 lb pile of feathers looks bigger than a 1 lb chunk of steel. Personally, I think that keeping your body fat percentage and inches low makes more sense for someone your size than worrying about the scale. If you are that active, the scale will depress you while the mirror makes you swoon because you will look lean but have a low body fat percentage (which means you could weigh more since you'd be a higher percentage muscle).

    2. If your aim is to be healthy (as I hope it is) you do not want to be starving yourself. I ran rough calculations on your BMR and TDEE

    Your BMR is around 1350. That is what your body burns if you're in a coma. You never want to eat below that and you should always aim to eat above it.

    Your TDEE (I just put in 6-7 days of exercise) is around 2300 calories.

    Using both of those numbers if you are trying to lose weight (although you probably shouldn't worry too much about that as I noted in point 1) you might want to net around 1800 calories. To determine your net caloric intake take the calories you ate that day and subtract your exercise calories (e.g. you ate 2300 calories and burned 500 to get a net of 1800 calories). MFP does this for you on the home page. Net is the number to the far right at the top of the newsfeed.

    But again, at this weight, I wouldn't worry too much about the scale and I would just make sure to eat enough to fuel your very active body. Good luck at the firm. Watch out for those lunches, haha.

    YOU ARE NOT SEDENTARY. At the LEAST you are lightly active but I think you are actually moderately active.
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