What's going on here?!?!

Hello!

I'm getting a little frustrated and need some help/advice!!

I have always been a fairly active person (sports in high school, college and post-college have gone to the gym).  I'm 5'10, my goal weight is 150.  I used to weight 200 pounds, but with pure motivation have been able to get to 165 by counting calories, working out, eating healthy, etc.  It's taken me about 2 years to get to 165, but slow and steady right?! lol

4 months ago I joined a new gym (Lifetime Fitness, love it!), where they did a body assessment including weight, flexibility, oxygen intake....   

My frustration is that I WEIGHT EXACTLY THE SAME (165), 4 months ago as I do today!  I can tell I've lost inches as my clothes are fitting better, and muscle weights more than fat, but shouldn't the scale eventually catch up?! 

Has anyone else experienced this?  Any ideas or suggestions?

PS-  I currently eat 1,800 calories a day, burn 400ish calories per workout, workout 5 times a week

first off, muscle doesnt weigh more than fat. 1lb of muscle=1lb of fat, it just takes up less space.

If you find your losing inches, who cares about the scale?

No, not necessarily at all.  I knew a woman who went from a size 12 to a size 4 and didn't lose 1 single pound.

What is more important, your size or your weight on the scale?  As long as you're losing inches, does it really matter what the scale reads?

Original Post by kankan213:

first off, muscle doesnt weigh more than fat. 1lb of muscle=1lb of fat, it just takes up less space.

Isn't that like saying, "Rocks don't weigh more than feathers; they just take up less space"?  What DOES weigh more than something else if muscle doesn't weigh more than fat?

Weight is just a number... if you can feel that you've lost weight, and you can visually see that you've lost weight, I say screw the scale!

Lots of people get so worked up over the number that they neglect to see that they're actually healthy! I'm 5 11, so I can relate to being tall and trying to lose weight.

For me, personally, I avoid the scale. Since running this summer, I feel better about myself, my clothes fit better and feel better on, and my body just feels healthy. My advice is to keep doing what you're doing--weight is just a number. If you're watching what you eat and you're working out consistently, your body is healthier than any scale would lead you to believe.

Hope this helps... keep it up, girl!

--meg

I felt my body hitting a plateau. It has done everything I asked of it and more since January. I've recently upped my calories and took a new tack at exercise - high intensity and varying what I do. I am going on vacation in a few weeks, and I would be fine going at this weight . . . but I may not be able to get much regular exercise for about 2 weeks while I am traveling. I also knowfood will be thrown at me. I should be OK with upping my calories to my approximate burn rate, but I am doing it gradually over teh next couple of weeks.

My new favorite meal is "second breakfast". I am probably not going to be able to lose weight like this, but I am personally backing off trying to lose for a while and consolidate my loss. Eat what I burn maintenance kind of thing.

I guess sometimes trying to push directly in the sameway that got you where you are (and your effort is awesome!) may not work to get to the finish line (e.g. for the last 4 months for you). I'm personally going to not beat myself up and try to enjoy my "high normal" weight for a while. If it's right to go lower, then I'll make anothe run at it after a few bumps and bruises have healed up and my body is rested.

LOL! I think the idea is that per volume, muscle does weigh more than fat :-)...of course a pound of something weighs the same as a pound of something else :):):)

hi!

i think i am suffering from the same problem as you do. i am 5'6" and 148 pounds, i was very active in high school and now i am watching what i eat and also going to the gym, but  there is no relevant change in weight.

i think it just takes a really really long time

 

 

 

True, muscle takes up less "room" than fat, but the reason I ask is because it appears that my newly toned muscles are still covered by a layer of fat!   

For example, yes, my clothes are fitting better BUT when I sit down, I still have a roll that sorta hangs over my pants..... when I lift my leg to the side, I can clearly see a line of definition between muscle and inner leg fat..... when I lift my arms to the side, I also seem to have a line of definition between my arm muscles and arm fat.....

Also, my body fat percentage has stayed the same!

So is all this working out just toning my muscles?  When will the flub over them start to go away? 

Suggestions/ideas??