How much does muscle weigh?

[peonyinparadise]

Jumped on the scales & horrified to see I've gained 5kg in 7 days. I'm recovering from a foot injury and have been to the gym 3 times in the past week. Light cardio on the reclining bike & upper body weights. I eat healthily, not calorie counting. One Italian carby blow-out meal at the weekend. My waist band was feeling pleasingly looser yesterday & I have been really enjoy my rehab gym sessions. What's with the 5 kg??? Could it be muscle or am I deluded getting really heavy? ☹️

Well 1kg of muscle weighs the same as 1kg of fat . Obviously muscle is denser - but still about 80% volume of the same mass of fat, I believe. So not the huge difference that a lot of people think.

Honestly if you feel better - looser waistband and enjoying exercise - then what do numbers on the scale matter.

Thanks Serendipity, of course! 😅 My post this morning was written in total shock. How is it even possible to gain 5 kg in one week? Especially when exercising & eating pretty well. I'm anxious at the mo & peri menopausal. I was hoping to have shed 1 kg not hit my heaviest weight ever. ☹️

The only things that I can think of is fluid, I can be 4kg heavier the week before my period.
Or dodgy scales.

Inaccurate scales, water retention, menstrual cycle, different time of day, combination of all of the above! Just off the top of my head.

Congrats on the 3 gym visits (that is impressive) and feeling healthier.

An eating plan I have followed before always concentrated on 'NSVs' (non-scale victories) like sticking to plan, measurements, clothing fit, exercise goals (distance/time/reps etc), energy, emotional wellbeing etc. Writing those things down helped me focus on the bigger picture rather than just how much I weigh. I hardly ever weigh myself any more, it's just not a relavent parameter for most things. It's transformed now I feel about my body.

I like your NSV mindset Serendipity. My recent gym sessions have been a revelation. I've been going purely to get my body moving after 6 weeks in a foot cast. Last week I found myself looking forward to doing a workout. My anxiety disappears post exercise (returns next morning 🙄) which is defo a NSV. My period is due but might not make an appearance due to perimenopause. Plus DD was jumping around on the scales. Waistband definately looser. I go in hope!

It's not going to be muscle, I'm afraid! It takes ages to put on muscle for a woman. I've been lifting heavy for well over a year whilst eating well and not doing much cardio, and I've put on a stone in that time. I estimate that maybe half of the weight I've gained (so roughly 6kg) is muscle.

I like the NSV mindset too. I agree that if there has been any gain, it's more likely to be water retention, that has a significant effect. I notice that myfitnesspal says any weight fluctuation within the first three weeks of trying to lose weight is to be disregarded as it's not a linear process.