Getting smaller but weighing more...

[RoadRaven]

Hi y'all

I discovered something interesting yesterday... I weigh more than I did 10 months ago... but I am two dress sizes smaller....

Infact, I weigh a whole stone more!!!

Now, I know fat weighs more than muscle, and I expected not to lose any weight initially as I began to get fitter and drop fat but build muscle.

I don't have scales to weigh myself in the house and have always known my size by the way I fit my clothes...

But a whole stone (btw, I am 5'10") more even though I have changed shape?

Anyone else had this?
I just expected to be a little lighter by now... how am I supposed to get better on hills if I put ON weight!!!

GRRRR!!!!

[caligurl]

actually..... you have it backwards... muscle weighs more than fat... thus your smaller size but heavier weight!

[jeannierides]

Actually, this is a misnomer. A pound is a pound is a pound (or a stone is a stone, if you will). Muscle is more effective in burning calories and muscle defines your shape...it also can hold more water...so the extra weight is not due to the muscle, but most probably the water.
But congratulations on your great new shape!!

[Dogmama]

Just think - you'll bomb DOWN the hills!

[latelatebloomer]

Raven, I know, it's a shocker! I stay off the scale entirely now - only hear the number if I go to the doctor's office. I judge by how I feel and how my clothing fits (or doesn't.) I tell myself at some point, I'm gonna reach a magic point in the equation - the strong muscles + increased fitness = longer, faster rides = fat melting away = revealing the buff amazon I really am now.

An idea is visiting me now & then, an article or book about my fitness journey. Working title : Melting the Iceberg

There would have to be a big chapter on "NUMBERS."

Sincere question, RR - Are you worse or better on hills than you were 10 months ago?

[DeniseGoldberg]

Actually, this is a misnomer. A pound is a pound is a pound (or a stone is a stone, if you will).

Jeannie is absolutely right, of course. A pound of muscle is exactly the same as a pound of fat. But where the belief that muscle is heavier than fat came from is based on volume. At equal volumes, muscle is heavier. So if you have a cup (yeah, I know, you can't but body components in cups!) of muscle, it will weigh more than a cup of fat...

--- Denise

[Lise]

I've had the same experience--my weight varies between 146.5# (the week after the marathon) to 152#. Lately more like 148-150. (yes, I get on the scale waaay too often). But my clothes fit differently, better, and I've had to get rid of all my size 12's and larges. Never thought I'd fit into an 8. It is great to see muscles on my body. I'm more proud of that than any clothing size change. (not that I'm complaining about new clothes, mind you!)

Now, the burning question, how much is a stone in pounds?

Hopelessly Americanly yours,

Lise

[kiwi girl]

According to the table of conversion factors in the front of my diary a stone is 14 pounds.

[Lise]

Thank you! I wonder how that standard got established. And how Americans came to use lbs instead of stone. And why the sky is blue...

Come to think of it, our dachshund of blessed memory, Schatzi, must have weighed about one stone!

[wabisabi]

I used to fret that I weight seemingly a lot for not being very big, but then just decided to give up any attachment to weight being a measure of anything. It just isn't. Matter of fact, when I had foot surgery a while back and couldn't exercise as much, I actually lost weight, i.e., muscle.

[CR400]

I hear that about gaining weight. If I were not actively trying to drop weight by cutting calories I would be getting heavier. I have to keep telling myself that muscle weight is worth it. Think about it wouldn't you rather be a stone heavier and able to use more watts on a climb and in the flats or be lighter on hills and get burned on flats because you don't have the muscle you need to generate power. If I remember right you were into ITT here it is better to be a little heavier and have greater power, except if the TT is uphill.

[ACG]

I recommend taking your measurements and keeping it in a journal.

I took my measurements this weekend, I lost almost an inch off my hips, 1/2 inch off my thighs, 1/2 inch off my arms, 1/4 inch from my waist AND my weight did NOT change. The last measurement I took was about 6 weeks ago. So I'm feeling pretty good right now.

[RoadRaven]

Garrgh!!
I'm such a dork... major typo... I know that fat weighs less than muscle... and it has been too many days since I last popped in so I can't "edit" my first post so it makes more sense to anyone who chooses to read this!

Anyways, its interesting to read the responses, particularly LateLate and Lise... so I am not alone... I just espected to be becoming this lean athelete... and I really seem to be getting there very slowly. I know this is the best way to change your shape/alter your metabolism... but I IS GETTING IMPASHINS!!!

Lise, pounds are part of a stone (like grams are part of a kilogram). Its funny cause I work in both imperial and metric. Distances and speeds are always in kilometres... weight is usually in imperial (I know all my babies' weights in pounds/ounces but do my cooking in grams...) ... length is a combination (height in feet/inches but sewing in centimetres and metres)
I was part way through school when Aotaroa New Zealand changed from imperial to metric...

I know a pound of fat weighs as much as a pound of muscle (LOL, used to get my kids with that - what weighs more... a kilo of feathers or a kilo of stones?)... sorry I was being unclear... I was referring to weight in relation to volume... thanks for the heads up on that too.

Anyways, here's to chucking out the scales (well, I'll have to toss out my parent's ones!) and stop worrying about weight. I've said it often enough on this forum. Time to take my own advice I guess!

[RoadRaven]

Sincere question, RR - Are you worse or better on hills than you were 10 months ago?

Um... *shuffles feet a little* ...yep...

My partner asked me the same thing when I moaned to him...

Yup, I am, a lot better... I no longer have to stop (and one of the hills to get home is about 11%) and I have been learning to stand and these last couple of weeks I am mastering standing on medium grades.

[RoadRaven]

If I remember right you were into ITT here it is better to be a little heavier and have greater power, except if the TT is uphill.

Yeah... thats my understanding too... on a TT (flattish of course ) the weight is not a disadvantage... so I guess it is good that I want to (and am) focus/ing on TTs... But I do want to climb hills well too...

*stamps feet*
I WANT IT ALL!!!!