Losing inches but not pounds

[gettingalife]

For 2 weeks now I've been eating 1300 carefully calculated and logged calories per day. I eat no refined carbs.

I walk 3 miles at a fast pace every day dog walking and run 2 miles 3 times a week at 11 min/mile pace.

The good news is I've lost an inch from my hips and 2 inches from my waist in 2 weeks but have gained 2Ibs!!!! My clothes feel looser too. I've got two sets of recently bought scales and both say the same! I am on HRT patches (75mg) and wonder if this is something to do with it. I'm 52.

Has anyone got any advice? I can't work it out!

Just ignore the scales and keep doing what you’re doing. At our age if you can hang onto your waist you’re doing better than most.

I am in the same boat. I try to exercise daily and I've been tracking my calories too which have ranged from 900 - 1300 per day. Lost inches of waist and hips but still same weight. Like you, this is also week 2

Well Done! Try not to be demotivated by the scales - lean muscle does weight more than fat, fact!

The scales don't matter! You know that what you're doing is working, as your clothes are fitting better - and you look leaner.

My advice is ignore the scales - this is the problem with our fixation on body weight. Muscle weighs more than fat and research shows for health losing inches is more beneficial. Well done, you are doing well, although 1300 kcals per day quite low, and may not be sustainable. Focus on eating a healthy Mediterranean style diet, keep up the exercise etc and this just proves how arbitrary scales are as a measurement tool, tape measure more accurate!

These replies are really motivating, thank you. It's just gutting to see my weight increase despite the efforts I'm going to.

I am the opposite. I thought I was OK because my weight had stayed the same. I am going to a wedding soon and a couple of days ago I tried on the dress I intend to wear. It was very tight. I haven’t done any serious exercise recently.
I always wonder when I go on hill walking holidays and do long days why I don’t loose weight. I think my muscles get more toned.

The scales will show the amount of gravity you are exerting on the planet, nothing more! Throw them away.

You've lost fat and gained muscle. What you see in the mirror and your measurements tell you all you need to know.

Well done. I'm trying to do similar although I can't cut out refined carbs aI am trying to reduce them, eat more protein, excercise more and eat around 1,300 calories a day.

I have no idea how much I weight, I just want to get toned, lose some inches and flab.

Definitely noticed the change in the fit of my trousers is much more consistent and telling than the change on the scales. I'm also keeping an eye on my waist, target is to make sure it's consistently less than half my height, and that was a nice change to see.

Inches nearly always come off before the lbs do. Just keep going.

I recall seeing Joe Wicks calling scales the "sad step" and the only way to tell you're getting fitter and (in time) losing weight is when your clothes feel looser on you. He's got a point there.

I'm ditching the scales I think! Off for a run after another good low calorie day and will go on the inches lost in future. I just find it all very bizarre, when I've dieted before it always shows on the scales. But I'm older and in the throws of menopause which no doubt changes everything!

I'm 58, and the weight is slowly coming off. I don't run, but am doing a daily exercise (following a programme of exercises on YouTube) and watching what I eat.

My clothes feel a lot looser, which is good. I weigh myself from time to time to see what's happening but am not worrying about it. The trend is downwards, so that's positive. I'm not calorie counting. I hate doing that.

I'm hoping that I will reach my goal weight, roughly, by the end of the year, and I'm happy with that. But if I don't get there, I'll just carry on until I do. No timescales.

Agree with the poster talking about our obsession with scales. For years the diet industry has only talked about weight loss, when in reality what most of us want is actually fat loss.

Not the same thing.

Losing weight on the scales just shows you losing mass - can be of all types - muscle, water and fat.

Fat loss is a very different thing - sometimes you can stay at the same weight, or even gain weight whilst losing fat!

If your clothes are looser and your measurements are changing then use these as your success measures - the scales are not telling the right story and are only one part of the picture

I learned that I have to ignore the scales and go by my clothes and how I feel and look. Weight is not everything, even if we seem to be told otherwise all of the time. About 10yrs ago, I went down two dress sizes through a combination of eating less rubbish and exercising (particularly running) and lost no weight whatsoever for an 8 week period. In then suddenly when down 4lbs (same scales as usual in exactly the same spot) and then, over the next couple of week, lost a couple more pound but that was it.
With me, it works both ways. I can stop exercising, eat crap and get bigger but not gain weight for at least the first 4-6 weeks and then it's only gradual

Would you rather be a size 12 and 8 stone or a size 8 and 12 stone? What really matters is how much space you take up, not how heavy you are.

It sounds like you might be losing fat but gaining lean mass. A body composition scale would tell you if that was the case.

I lose muscle quickly if i'm sedentary so I can stay the same weight but get flabbier. Conversely if I start watching what I eat and doing more exercise I can stay the same weight, or even gain weight becaise i add muscle. Muscle is denser than fat so lb for lb it takes up less space so your measurments going down. Eventually the gaining muscle thing slows or stops unless you're actively trying to persue it by lifting heavier weights or similar but the two go hand in hand initially.

I was the same. Do you weigh regularly? I was weighing randomly every few weeks. I then weighed myself more regularly and that’s when I caught the difference. However, there isn’t as much difference as I’d expect for this difference in the photos!