"muscle weighs more than fat"

[StealthPolarBear]

Sounds right, muscle is all dense and hard, fat is flabby, but is it correct? Can anyone quantify it?

Nope, it's definitely bad science.

This explains it better than I could:

www.aworkoutroutine.com/starvation-mode/

I can confirm that starvation mode is a myth.

I've had my tonsils out and have had no appetite and I'm obviously still in pain, especially when I eat.

I've lost nearly a stone in two weeks, I was four stone overweight. I currently disabled.

The muscle/fat thing is often irrelevant anyway.

I did free weights, at Women only classes etc. It's hard for a Woman to build muscle. I did heavy weights, daily and micro managed my diet.

There is a big lack of respect for what it takes, as a Woman, to gain muscle and maintain it. You get lots of comments about "not ending up looking a body builder", which would take a year of dedication, if you are lucky, but not everyone is genetically able to achieve it.

If your reducing calories and only doing a few classes a week, it isn't the muscle/fat myth as why you aren't dropping weight. On one thread the OP was eating two chicken burgers for tea.

Thank you maid

leptin-gherkin axis

Yes this is a common problem, peoples gherkin levels getting too high, maybe eating more gherkins would work?

However, I think taking measurements is a better way of documenting body change.

A lot of overweight Women probably weigh around what Rhonda Rousey and other fighters do.

Weight is meaningless, if you properly train.

I do a lot of running and some other exercise and dropped a dress size without my weight changing at all because I toned up.

It does make me laugh when people spend one week being "good" and then when they put weight on it is excused using the "muscle weighs more than fat" takes a lot of sustained exercise for that to be the case

The problem with very quick weight loss (ie when you're ill) is that it's water weight that drops off, and then lean muscle. So your body fat % goes UP even though your weight has gone down. Which isn't a good thing.

Starvation mode is one of my pet hates.

Yes it's a thing at the extreme end of the scale. Your metabolism will slow down eventually if you are truly starving (concentration camp starving, long term).

My own experience with body transformations:
Starting weight (April 2016): no idea, guess around 9.5 stone, maybe more.
Diet: 1200 cals a day.
Exercise: upped running, started weightlifting (heavy free weights).

My weight dropped steadily to just under 8 stone. I was always waiting for it to increase again, a result of the weights/increased muscle. It's only in the last few months that I've seen steady increases (but measurements still decreasing). So it took a year or more of weights to hit the point at which my muscle gains were bigger than my fat losses.

Yes that was always my gripe. I believe it exists I just don't think it affects people like me who have a salad for lunch instead of the usual sandwich

It's true, but it's also not easy for beginners or those who exercise very lightly to build muscle.

First the muscle must be taxed and stretched. This will lead to tiny tears. Many people don't exercise hard enough to create the tears or put the muscle under enough strain.

The muscle will then repair itself, but it is not yet growing. The muscle must reach its limits first - this is known as 'newbie gains', when you begin strength training and feel like you're getting stronger each week. And you are, as you use more and more of the muscle's capabilities. But then, the muscle will reach its limit and you'll stall.

People tend to quit now.

However, if you're ready to keep going, begin to eat a surplus of food each day (keep this in check.) Your body will recognise your muscles need to grow in order to cope with the stress you're putting them under, and some of the surplus calories will go to muscle growth. Some to fat. This is why after a bulk (consumption of excess calories and heavy strength training to encourage muscle growth) athletes will then do a cut (careful weight loss to shed the fat, whilst minimising muscle loss at the same time.) Cycle and repeat.

You won't automatically build fresh muscle tissue in the first few weeks at the gym - otherwise all overeaters would just get muscley. You also won't build muscle doing very gentle things like a dainty 10 minute jog - the muscles have to be put under strain, such as with weights or with bodyweight training/calisthenics. That's why runners may look lean but not heavily muscled.

Deliberate gaining of muscle is actually pretty difficult, requiring not just time in the gym but careful managing of diet, intake and ensuring nutritional balance. It's not something that can be done with little effort, accidentally, or at your fourth session of Zumba.

You will feel some muscle swelling after each workout, this is usually water and blood flow. But it's pretty cool all the same.

Five pounds of fat is a lot bigger than five pounds of muscle just like five pounds of feathers will take up loads of room compared to five pounds of gold xx

I said this on here in a losing weight thread and was told it was a load of nonsense

That's what prompted this thread I think, didn't want to derail. I wanted to know if it is accurate as it sounds right.

This.

The people who laughed at you (though I thought it was another poster) haven't been back, strangely

Oh, should say that not all my measurements are decreasing. My upper back/chest is increasing, as is my ass.

La I'm currently navigating through my first plateau (post-newbie gain) and I haven't quite figured out the dietary/cardio/weights balance yet. It's been going on for months too!

But if you are in starvation you don't lose water first then muscle. You lose a bit of water but then you go into ketosis where your body starts to metabolise your fat stores to turn them into glucose to fuel your brain and body. You won't start to use your muscle until almost all your fat is used up and then your muscle is mined - a state of ketoacidosis which is dangerous. This is why a ketogenic diet works. You are feeding your body just not with readily available carbs (glucose). This switches the body to metabolising the stored fat and is a survival mechanism. You stay well because you are eating good food such as moderate protein and good fats and low carb healthy veg and fruit but the body has no choice but to use it's own stores.

If you are sticking to your diet strictly and take up a new exercise program you do sometimes get a weight stall or gain for a few weeks. This is due to what a pp described above about how the muscles naturally become stronger by developing micro tears then renew themselves. During this process inflammation occurs around the tears and fluids are retained. So if you have been exercising enough to feel a bit sore and achey this is what is probably happening and it could easily be a lb or so of fluid throughout your body cancelling out the weight loss from fat so it appears you haven't lost any weight or even gained. This effect doesn't last though once you are used to the exercise and no longer aching the inflammation will disappear.