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By Mary Hartley, RD
Director of Nutrition

What does 5 pounds of muscle look like?
Asked by sissygirl on Mar 21, 2008 in Fitness



I struggle with the growing number on the scale as get stronger.  Yes, I know that muscle weighs more than fat but it's still hard to watch the scale go up with all my hard work.  I've see the glob at the gym that represents 5 pounds of fat but I've never seen it in comparison to 5 pounds of muscle....help me get this one figured out so I can continue on a healthy path.


Answer

One pound of muscle looks like one firm baseball, while one pound of fat looks like three soft NERF balls.  The scale might be going up, but your measurements are going down.  Focus on whether your clothes feel looser and your body look tighter and more defined.  If you checked your measurements at the start of your diet, you would see that you’ve lost inches everywhere.  If weighing yourself on the scale is too upsetting, check your weight only once a week or less often. Depending on your degree of overweight, you might see the numbers on the scale go down in time.

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