I think I gained fat even though I lost weight. HOW????????

[shiwang90]

hey
F16 here and I have gone from 54kg to 52.2kg in the last two-ish months
Yes I know that this isn’t waterweight because 2 months is a long time and my weight never used to go below 54kg before.

Now I checked my body fat % with the us navy thing before and it was 22.8% around 3 months ago.
Now it’s 23.5%
How is that possible. I’m so frustrated because I knew I felt fatter even looking at the mirror but I didn’t believe it.
HOWWWWW

I’ve also been doing body weight/ calisthenics workouts 1-2x per week
Also t with some form of cardio almost daily

So how is this possible and how can I lose the fat. I suppose I ended up losing more muscle? Ughhh

 

[theadmiral]

@shiwang90 Methods of measuring body fat aren't particularly reliable, you might have measured differently or it could simply be that you're a bit bloated, both of which would cause an incorrect measurement being bloated can make you "feel fat" without you actually having any extra mass

Don't get bogged down in the weeds, keep it simple. You're losing weight and doing resistance training, you're on the right track

 

[londonmum]

@shiwang90 You measured incorrectly and are seeing things.

 

[chozenwun]

@shiwang90 You’re feeling fatter because you probably look and feel a little “mushier.” Your skin is losing the fat that was keeping it plumped out, but you haven’t built any muscle to replace the fat. So everything may feel a little saggy for a while, but keep going. Start incorporating at least a day a week of really challenging your body with lifting weights, so you can start reframing those bones with curvy muscles. It’s a shift for your body composition but it’s a good thing.

At the point that you start replacing fat with muscle structure, you also may start to notice your weight plateaus, even while your clothing size continues to decrease.

Fitness is a lifelong journey, just keep going!

 

[cg37]

@chozenwun Yes! I’ve lost weight a few times and there’s always an in-between stage where I feel like I look “worse” because I’m not plumped out any more

 

[shiwang90]

@chozenwun Woah! This makes the most sense. I definitely feel “mushier”.
Thanks for the advice!!

 

[sarahcopeland]

@shiwang90 Yes I know I have lost weight by how mushy my stomach feels which is both good and bad.

 

[shiwang90]

@sarahcopeland Haha

 

[azekual]

@chozenwun I always feel this way at first. Especially when the pants aren't too big yet, but they're no longer skin tight, so I actually look bigger in them.

 

[pixeloriousspriteson]

@shiwang90 Happens more times than you think, you should watch Mind Pump podcast. They have an episode explaining how this happens.

 

[joyce65714]

@pixeloriousspriteson Please do not use podcasts as legitimate sources. They are people talking and that's it.

 

[nickparons6790]

@joyce65714 If you knew anything about exercise science, you'd know that studies on the topic require a functional grounding in practical experience to actually be useful. Utilizing them also requires a fair amount of scientific literacy, which I doubt you have.

If you did, you'd know how dumb this take this.

 

[straykat]

@nickparons6790 Dude literally posts novice questions in this sub himself

Novices trying to “coach” other novices

 

[bhish]

@joyce65714 Can you please cite a study supporting this statement