Re: gaining muscle, losing weight. In my case, I've no doubt I gained some muscle - my jeans are now tight on my lower thighs because my quads are bigger. (Wish I had measured there as well instead of just the upper thigh.) HOWEVER, my waist and belly measurement is also bigger (by 1 inch) and that is not muscle.

Generally I go by how I look and feel and what clothes I can wear over the scale numbers. I guess I was just surprised that I didn't lose anything when I rode darn much.

Darcy - I'm assuming you've talked to a doctor about weight loss - how about meeting with a nutritionist before you resort to lipo?

I have (did have) IBS. I finally learned to manage it and now it looks like I have defeated it for the most part. PM me if you want more info.