Fat to Muscle Question (concern) UPDATE

[tiggerlover]

I am wondering how long after beginning a weight program will you see the fat turning to muscle?

I started a weight program on Monday and I can already feel my muscle building in my arms, but I have a concern. Yesterday morning I was down another pound for the week and I have been doing great on program, I have been doing my cardio and now my weight program, well.... I jumped on the scale this morning, as usual, and it said I gained 4 pounds! I re-weighed myself 10 times and I am sick to to my stomach. I pulled out the old tape measure and just since Monday my hips are down 1/2 inch and my waist is down a 1/2" so where on earth did those 4 pounds come from? The only thing I can think of is that fat is turning to muscle, but I can't believe that is possible, it has only been 5 days with the new weight program.

Help!!!

 

[dmslush]

I am a firm believer that a big gain over night like that is water weight. I'm betting by tomorrow it will all be gone! Especially if you are losing inches, then you know you aren't gaining fat.

 

[bicker]

Weigh yourself only weekly, at the same time of the week at the same time of day in the same type clothing. Then, never look at the single week's reading on the scale: Add it to the previous four weeks' readings and divide by four. Four-week rolling averages is probably the least reliable measure women should consider using for monitoring their weight-loss progress. (Men can probably get away with three-week rolling averages.) Anything less reliable than that, such as a single week's weight, or even two weeks averaged, is simply too prone to irrelevant variation.

 

[TigH]

Hey, Debbi!

From what I have read, when you lift weights, you are actually tearing down the muscle mass in whatever body part you are using. That's why it's a good idea to wait several days to work that body part again, because the tissue needs to rebuild (I am not sure how accurate that information is, I know it's not like your whole muscle just dies on the spot and rebuilds!) I really don't know for sure, but I don't think a woman can gain 4 pounds of muscle in a short period of time unless she is using steriods.

However, I agree that it has to be fluid retention. Nobody gains for pounds of fat or muscle over night! Hang in there. Do you weigh every day? I used to do that and would drive myself crazy. My weigh in day is Friday and I do weigh on Monday just to get myself psyched for the week ahead.

Ross usually plays raquetball during the week. He will only lift weights once a week now and does a total body workout. The day after he lifted most recently, he was up 1.5 pounds the next morning. I thought maybe it was fluid retention because I know when you work your muscles hard some types of lactid acid build up in the body. So maybe that is responsible for the temporary gain?

Please don't let this gain make you upset or feel sick to your stomach. You are doing a great job. I would expect that at the rate you are losing, any muscle gain will either show up as a SMALL gain (not 4 pounds) or a week of maintaining. Use Annie's post about her BF% loss as your inspiration. Even though it seems like Annie has been losing weight slowly, she really hits it hard at the gym and she has reduced her BF% greatly in a short period of time!! Now she is on a losing streak and has claimed her new clippie.

You are doing the right thing for yourself. The more muscle mass you have, the more calories you burn at rest. It takes something like 4 calories burned to keep a fat cell alive, but 9 calories burned to fuel a muscle cell.

Sending you pixie dust!!!! Ross says thanks to you! He weighed in this morning and his loss is up to 12 pounds. He knows you are the one who inspired me to jump back on the WW bandwagon, so he sends his regards and thanks!!!

 

[bicker]

Originally posted by TigH
From what I have read, when you lift weights, you are actually tearing down the muscle mass in whatever body part you are using.

To be precise, you're not tearing it down. Rather (from Mistress Krista's web site "When muscles contract, their microscopic fibres slide over one another. With sufficient amount of muscular stimulus, such as that which occurs when lifting a weight, these fibres pull apart, causing trauma at the microlevel."

That's why it's a good idea to wait several days to work that body part again, because the tissue needs to rebuild (I am not sure how accurate that information is, I know it's not like your whole muscle just dies on the spot and rebuilds!)

Mistress Krista's web site is particularly good at explaining this stuff:

http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html

 

[TigH]

Thanks, Brian. I knew I wasn't explaining it right! I was hoping to find some information to link to, so thanks for posting one! Phew!

 

[DiznEeyore]

Yes, everything above is definitely true! I've been doing Curves now for 2 weeks. The first week I had a small gain and everyone reminded me that muscle weighs more than fat. My WI day is Tuesday, but I "snuck" a peek at the scale this a.m. -- I've lost 4 pounds, so I think the exercise is starting to take effect.

Hey, do WI's a few days early count?

 

[nativetxn]

Don't panic, sweetie. You stayed on plan, right? Then the gain is either a sign that the bloat fairy has been to your house <i>or</i> (even better) that you are replacing fat with muscle.

I like that second explanation a lot, don't you? Don't get so upset about seeing a change in the number on the scale. You are getting <b>smaller</b>. That was your true goal, to get smaller, you just used the scale to measure your progress. Now you will use the tape measure too.

Do you really care how much you weigh as long as you are <i>smaller</i>? I sure don't. Hang in there, my friend, you are doing great.

 

[tiggerlover]

Okay, you were right, no reason to panic, down three pounds this morning back to where I started on Tuesday, (sigh). I was thinking about this all yesterday (as you can imagine) and I was wondering if drinking a lot of water and eating a lot of salty food (that I normally do not eat) could be the culprit? The night before I weighed we had chinese food that I could tell was salty, so I don't know.

I know I am not supposed to weigh every day, but I have a hard time staying away from the scale. However in the last 3 months I have never seen a fluctuation like I did yesterday. Maybe I will try to cut back to a few times a week.

On the brighter side of yesterday I went to my friends house and we were trying on some new clothes she had bought and I was able to get into a size 16!!! That may not seem like much to some, but when I started last year I was in a 22 and when I started WISH in February I was a 20, so a 16 is definitely something that perked up my mood yesterday.

Thank you all for your support, that is why I love this place.

PS - Karen, tell Ross he is welcome and congratulations on losing 12 pounds!!!

 

[WebmasterAlex]

OH man I HATE that... you start a diet and excersize program and the scale goes NO where because your mucsle gain matches your fat loss. Since there isn't and easy way to measure mucsle gain you feel like you are going no where!!!
Very frustrating but hang in there.. it will catch up soon.
If you are having that problem the Cloth's test is one of the most important!! I am amazed at how quickly it shows up there. I have actually went down a size without the scale budging.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by WebmasterAlex
...(snip)....If you are having that problem the Cloth's test is one of the most important!! I am amazed at how quickly it shows up there. I have actually went down a size without the scale budging.

Me, too. Like nativetxn, as long as I am getting smaller, it matters not what some stupid scale says! Besides, those muscles look kind of nice under the clothes - much better than what was there before, LOL!