If muscle weighs more than fat...

[RubyTuesday]

Funny, I said this to my husband last night. In three weeks I have gained two pounds. Lovely.... I am going to start standing backwards on the scale when I go to the doctor. I don't want to know anymore.

Everyone always calls me trim. I look at the scale and just laugh. My weight is always under estimated also.

[VeganBikeChick]

Funny, I said this to my husband last night. In three weeks I have gained two pounds. Lovely.... I am going to start standing backwards on the scale when I go to the doctor. I don't want to know anymore.

Everyone always calls me trim. I look at the scale and just laugh. My weight is always under estimated also.

I always stand backwards on the scale at the dr.'s office and make sure they don't say the number out loud. I'd rather live in my fantasy world

[kcmpls]

A friend of mine was training for an Ironman Triathlon and was in awesome shape. She went into the doctor and was weighed. Her weight was well above what it should be, because she was all muscle. The doctor told her to lose weight! She had very little fat on her, but the doctor couldn't see beyond the BMI. She changed doctor.

[kcmpls]

Of course, me on the other hand. I'd like to think I'm 235 pounds of muscle, but my belly tells me otherwise...

But I'm down about 10 pounds this summer, but my waist and arms are considerably smaller than they were, so I know there is some muscle building happening.

[Velocivixen]

Muscle doesn't weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound. Muscle is more dense and takes up less space pound for pound. But I gather you've figured that out by all of the prior posts.

[goldfinch]

A friend of mine was training for an Ironman Triathlon and was in awesome shape. She went into the doctor and was weighed. Her weight was well above what it should be, because she was all muscle. The doctor told her to lose weight! She had very little fat on her, but the doctor couldn't see beyond the BMI. She changed doctor.

I just had the opposite experience. I went into the doctor for a drug check as I had lost 22% of my body weight. I am 4'11" and 123 pounds. I told the doc that I had probably about 15 more pounds to go but I needed to work on building muscle. The doctor looked at the BMI tables and said I am close to not being overweight at all and don't worry about it. Well, excuse me but losing weight will result in muscle loss and I know that my fat percentage remains way too high. It isn't just about the pounds. Plus, I am very small boned.

She should be able to look at me and see that I still am "fluffy."

[ny biker]

Yes, of course one pound of muscle weighs the same as one pound of fat, or one pound of gold for that matter. The OP was merely commenting how frustrating it can be to gain weight while getting smaller.

[OakLeaf]

Neither the OP nor anyone else said that a "pound" of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat.

A liter of muscle DOES weigh more than a liter of fat. And that's exactly what she was remarking on.

[marni]

the one thing that no one has mentioned is that while muscle may weigh as much as fat, muscle does burn more calories than fat, so that is certainly an incentive for changing the ratios.

If I go by scale weight, bmi my body fat is 26% which puts me just barely in the normal range. If I go by circumference measurements, my body fat % is 19 %, if I go by caliper meaurements, my body fat % is 22% so I have a choice. I mostly go by how my favorite skirt, pair of pants and dress feel and look like on me.

marni

[malkin]

Neither the OP nor anyone else said that a "pound" of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat.

A liter of muscle DOES weigh more than a liter of fat. And that's exactly what she was remarking on.

Right.

Go to the grocery store and compare the sizes of a pound of butter, a pound of cheese and a pound of the leanest meat they have. Check the size of something that is mostly water too--like produce or juice.

[skywalkerbeth]

Oakleaf and NYbiker - that's what I meant, you're right.

Though I do wish I could get rid of belly fat more quickly. My legs look pretty good, not happy with the gut.

[Owlie]

I've lost some fat this summer, though probably not much weight. I lose fat around my waist pretty quickly, but there are stubborn spots of belly and inner thigh fat. Less of either now than a year or so ago. Let's try to keep it that way.

[Juliegoddess]

A friend of mine was training for an Ironman Triathlon and was in awesome shape. She went into the doctor and was weighed. Her weight was well above what it should be, because she was all muscle. The doctor told her to lose weight! She had very little fat on her, but the doctor couldn't see beyond the BMI. She changed doctor.

Oh I have a tough time with this, too! I don't even care what the BMI number is anymore, because it absolutely does not take muscle into account. It makes me LAUGH out LOUD when I hear about hard-core athletes with BMI's over 30...their bodies are hard as ROCKS, but according to their BMI, they are OBESE!! Yeah, RIGHT! I think the BMI measurement works for the "average guy/gal", but is totally skewed when applied to an athlete. It's quite discouraging to a person who is trying to become an athlete, too...the scale goes up, and with it, BMI, but fat is going DOWN...!