Jillian's Comment on Biggest Loser

Jillian says she is sick of the overused excuse that exercise and gained muscle mass add weight.  A couple of weeks ago on Biggest Loser, Jillan made the comment that justifying a lack of weight loss by saying you have gained muscle is a lot of bunk.  I found this discouraging because I have always believed this to be true.  Would love to hear your comments.

i think you have to put the comment in context.  she was talking to someone who probably has 100 pounds of excess fat. 

Exactly! The girl had only lost 2 pounds in a month, supposedly exercising 4 hours a day, and tried to blame muscle gain. There is no way she gained that much muscle to account for her small loss. It was obvious that she was either eating too much or not exercising as much as she said. I do think the whole "muscle gain" is used too often to explain a lack of weight loss. It just makes people feel better about their efforts, even if it's unfounded. Most people trying to lose weight are not really gaining muscle even if they exercise, just maintaining muscle if they are lucky. It's really hard to lose weight and gain muscle at the same time.

you don't gain THAT much muscle.  although muscle weighs more than fat it also burns more calories than fat so you lose fat gaining muscle (that seems like a tounge twister).  i think in women this is especially negligble....woman don't have the same capabilty as men do to gain muscle....a woman who is 110 pounds does not have the same proportions as a woman who is 10 pounds heavier...i think it's a stupid excuse...

 BUT... i run 7-8miles everday and ocassionally lift weights. my weight always stays at 110..... when i went t asia for 2 months i came back and i was the same weight.  even though i looked pretty much the same i think i actually lost a lot of muscle which was why i weighed the same amount.

In that same episode, Jillian scoffed at what she kind of eluded to as the tape measure myth.  You know the one...... where people might say that you might not be losing weight but you could be losing inches.  She brushed it off as another excuse.

That same week, I was watching this show called The 10 Pound Boot Camp (or something like that).  In this show they take measurements and also have the participant weigh in.  The gal in this episode did not lose weight, but she did lose several inches.

So..... which reality show do you believe?  If any!

I think the "but you're gaining muscle so of course you're not losing weight" line is WAY overused and over rated.  Yes volume wise muscle weighs  m ore than fat, but nto THAT much more. Here are some numbers: 

Muscle density is 1.06 g/ml and fat density is (about) 0.9
g/ml. Thus, one liter of muscle would weight 1.06 kg and one liter of
fat would weight 0.9 kg.

As other people posted it takes a LOT of time and work to build muscle,
it's a very slow process, and as you can see it doesn't weight that
much more than fat.  So usually when people say "Oh you're probably
gaining muscle, I just move along. 

Muscle is a living tissue unlike fat.  It will increase and, if you don't use them, they will atrophy over time (thus it is important to do strength training at least once a week).

For people who haven't really done any strength training, there will be an increase in muscle mass initially.  The body reacts fairly quickly.  That muscle soreness you experience the day or two after a workout is the muscle repairing itself.  In essence it is trying to build up for the next time it is needed.  So yes, you do gain muscle and it does wiegh more than fat.

As a result, you may have a weigh in where you don't see the loss you expect and it will be because of muscle replacing fat.  It is not a myth, it's reality.

That being said...there will be limits to that. Muscle growth does take time.  Micro tears are repaired and slowly the muscle grows. 

Muscles provide a longer term benefit to wieght loss. As you increase muscle, so  too your BMR increases.  It takes energy (measured in calories) to sustain the new muscle everyday.  As you build muscle (or at least maintain it) it will continue to burn extra calories.

This is the real secret to weight loss.  Engage your big muscle groups actively as often as you can and strength train at least once a week.  The legs for example, if you build them a little and keep them active are one of your biggest allies in battling weight.  They are big muscle groups that are easily used and will residually burn calories...even while you sleep!

Original Post by kaufmkk:

In that same episode, Jillian scoffed at what she kind of eluded to as the tape measure myth.  You know the one...... where people might say that you might not be losing weight but you could be losing inches.  She brushed it off as another excuse.

That same week, I was watching this show called The 10 Pound Boot Camp (or something like that).  In this show they take measurements and also have the participant weigh in.  The gal in this episode did not lose weight, but she did lose several inches.

So..... which reality show do you believe?  If any!

Brushing off losing inches does sound to me a little short-sighted. Isn't the goal to get physically smaller, not necessarily lighter? I thought that women who were not that overweight to start with, if they exercise a lot and eat sensibly, will often not change their actual weight that much but they will go down a couple of sizes in clothes and reshape their bodies.

Am I deluding myself here? Lighter is not always better. I have been a muscular 160 and a non-muscular 160 and if memory serves, they were very different things: different clothing sizes, etc. And I looked way better as a muscular 160.

I suspect Jillian's referring to people who, after not having lost any weight, suck their stomach in as tight as they can so that they can say "but I lost inches!" when all they really did is suck their stomach in harder than when they last measured.  In my opinion, real inches lost are just as important as pounds - but someone who weighs as much as Aubrey did wouldn't be able to lose real inches without losing some pounds too.

And I love Last 10 Pounds Bootcamp (as well as Bulging Brides), and if I had to choose between believing Tommy and Nadeen vs. believing Biggest Loser, Tommy and Nadeen win hands down.