“Don’t look at the scale, because muscle weighs more than fat.”

[samuelperla]

I’m 6 months into my fitness journey, and I continue to hear this all the time. I do a combination of strength training and cardio 5 days a week for 1 hour sessions.

I understand that 1lb is 1lb whether it is muscle or fat, and that mathematically, I clearly am somehow still eating enough to maintain my current weight.

My body composition is noticeably changed, but losing weight continues to be an issue.

Scale just won’t seem to budge, though I can visually see that I don’t look as fat as I used to.

Any advice for a beginner?

Obviously less calories in will solve this, but I already feel that I’m on a VERY strict diet that includes a daily 24hour fast, and then a high protein dinner. I have been strict about tracking my intake, and I cannot imagine eating any less without feeling completely unhealthy.

 

[deandrade]

@samuelperla If your body composition is changing in a good way, I'd say stop weighing yourself and keep doing what you're doing.

Often we find something that works and for some reason make changes. Just keep at it.

 

[flo54ste]

@samuelperla There is a huge difference between losing weight and losing fat, which is really what people mean when they say lose weight. If you are building muscle, I would legitimately disregard the scale. It doesn’t tell the right story. If you are eating at a calorie deficit and getting enough protein, you WILL lose fat. It’s impossible not to. Use other ways to measure your success. I would take a body pic once a week or once a month. Your appearance and overall health are what’s going to change, not necessarily weight. As an example, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson is obese when using BMI.

 

[buddyt]

@samuelperla Ask yourself, would you rather see the scale number drop or would you rather drop a pants size? I’ve been working out for 6 months and the scale has only gone down about 10 lbs but I’m way stronger and all of my pants are loose. The scale isn’t telling the whole story.

And be careful not to go overboard with the dieting so you are losing muscle. That will indeed make the scale go down but it won’t help anything.

 

[danielleadrivet]

@samuelperla If your body comp is changing, why do you need the number on the scale to go down? Serious question. Like, are you a wrestler or something?

 

[dawn16]

@samuelperla I’m a little confused like you heard this before, you made the necessary changes and you’re seeing improvements. So why obsess over the number on the scale? Just ditch the scale it’s not a tool you need to progress from what I read.

 

[samuelperla]

@dawn16 Because according to my BMI I’m overweight.

 

[blazer70x7]

@samuelperla The BMI of nearly all bodybuilders will show them as being overweight, even obese.

It's an almost useless tool. Don't pay attention to it.

 

[dawn16]

@samuelperla I think you should ask a professional for your bmi than relying on a scale for your bmi. They can properly assess your body fat percentage. You could be mostly muscle but because of your height you could be considered overweight.

 

[jessephilz]

@samuelperla Get a tape measure or calipers and calculate your body fat %. Then make your decisions from there.

 

[dawn16]

@samuelperla It sounds like you’re doing a ton already. Are you legit overweight? If you’re on a strict diet already and doing a lot of strength training, eating less might not be the best answer.

A couple suggestions are have are taking a look at what your habits are outside of your training schedule. What do you do for work? Are you sitting at a desk the whole time? If so, a standing desk is super helpful to avoid some of those sedentary periods. Maybe every few hours during your work day you take a 10 minute walk or something as well. Sometimes focusing on little adjustments throughout the day can add up over time!

But yeah your situation is exactly when I would tell someone to not pay as much attention to the scale. ESPECIALLY if you’re new to the gym. You could be gaining a ton of new muscle and losing quite a bit of fat, which is usually good

 

[samuelperla]

@dawn16 BMI calculator says 26.3, down from 27.4. Seems like a super small amount of change, but I'm also just a short and stocky guy.

I'm stoked to be building visual muscle mass, and feeling my arms fill out my t-shirts, but my ultimate goal was always to lose the belly and lean out.

 

[dawn16]

@samuelperla Hey that’s still something! A big thing with fitness is that you’re not usually going to see insane results right away unless you’re super brand new or you’re on gear. This goes doubly so for weight loss. Seeing results is all about consistency.

Another huge suggestion I’d give you, is take two shirtless pics of yourself a week. Do a front facing pic and a side profile, then every week, look at the very first pic you took and then look at your most recent one! You’ll start to notice alot more

 

[skilletgirlepic]

@samuelperla Sounds like you have built a good foundation. Go on a "cut" aka calorie deficit. Track your calories and aim to lose about a pound a week. Continue strength training as your prime focus as you lose weight through calorie counting. Eat 1gram of protein per pound of lean body mass or goal weight. Cut your fat for about 12 weeks and re-evaluate from there.

Lose the one-meal-a-day fasting because your body is missing on a lot of opportunities for protein synthesis during your fast. Keep your body fueled.

 

[anonymous18]

@samuelperla If one of your goals is not specifically losing weight, don’t worry about the scale. In addition to taking photos, you could also measure your waist weekly. If your aim is to slim down and your waist keeps disappearing you’re on the right track.

If you do want to lose weight and are not doing so you are either overestimating your tdee or simply underestimating what you eat

 

[james2175]

@samuelperla you have to be specific about your goals. Do you want a lower number for your scale weight? Why? So you can fit more people in an elevator, so you can be a jockey, so you can make weight, so you'll be easier to carry? How did you select that to be your goal?

Your diet is questionable with a daily 24 hour fast. That doesn't even make sense.

 

[dinafrancis]

@samuelperla

I’m on a VERY strict diet that includes a daily 24hour fast, and then a high protein dinner. I have been strict about tracking my intake, and I cannot imagine eating any less without feeling completely unhealthy.

If it works for you, feel free to keep fasting. But otherwise... why are you fasting? As long as you keep your calories in check, you can eat multiple meals throughout the day and still lose weight. But it's also entirely possible to eat way too much food in one meal as well if you just stuff your face. I know for myself, if I try and fast too long, when I do go to eat food, I eat WAY more than I would (in total) than if I would have just eaten earlier.

My body composition is noticeably changed, but losing weight continues to be an issue.

You have very likely built some muscle and lost some fat... aka recomp. Which is great, but if you are overweight, you'll still want to lose weight overall. This comes from your diet. If you aren't losing weight, you aren't in a calorie deficit. Period. You cannot build muscle fast enough to counteract a calorie deficit.

So you need to figure out your diet better. Clearly what you're doing isn't working. Do you weigh out your food and track calories?

 

[samuelperla]

@dinafrancis I determined that I stress eat, and so by eating multiple times a day, I was unable to portion control. Totally a personal choice, but meal prepping and trying to keep macros in check is a total nightmare for me.

One large meal at the end of the day pretty much garuntees that I can keep it under 2000 calories (maintience), while also burning about 500 calories +/- at the gym. I feel good, and like I've earned it. Technically my body also hits the ketosis stage and eats my fat reserves during the day.

 

[dinafrancis]

@samuelperla You do you, if its working for you!

but meal prepping and trying to keep macros in check is a total nightmare for me.

Maybe focus less on overall macros and just focus on eating healthy. The way I approach food is to pick a significant protein source (usually some meat), pair with a starch (like half a sweet potato, or some rice), and then have some green veggies along side it. I don't track macros basically ever beyond loosely tracking protein in my head and just making sure to not avoid eating fat. You don't need to bulk prepare meals in advance or anything.

Basically, work on the habits to be able to eat in a sustainable, enjoyable way that you can maintain for life. Because how you eat to lose weight should resemble how you eat to later maintain weight.

One large meal at the end of the day pretty much guarantees that I can keep it under 2000 calories (maintience), while also burning about 500 calories +/- at the gym

How far under 2000 are you going? And are you sure that's your maintenance? Also, if you got that number from a TDEE calculator... realize this INCLUDES the calories you burn at the gym. So you very likely should be eating then around 1500 calories a day in order to lose 1lb a week.

What's a typical meal for you like?

Technically my body also hits the ketosis stage and eats my fat reserves during the day.

Eh... maybe? Entering ketosis typically takes 2-4 days according to google. But you could maybe hit it in less if you're eating very low carb and high fat. But ultimately, if you're eating enough to just replenish those fat stores at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you're in ketosis or not since you're not actually losing weight.

 

[dawn16]

@samuelperla I'm in the exact same position as you. I was even starting to wonder if my scale was broken. I have not lost a single pound, but it is perfectly clear just by looking at me that I'm much slimmer than I was 6 months ago! Look at the mirror, not the scale. Even then, who cares about that either. As long as you're feeling good about yourself, that's the only thing that matters!