Why do I look slimmer but the scales stay the same?

[Darkdiamond]

I went on a long all-inclusive holiday and, as you can imagine, ate far more than usual. I came home extremely bloated and at around 61.6 kg, then lost about 1.5 kg almost immediately as the holiday bloat/water weight disappeared. Since then, I've been deliberately eating in a calorie deficit, using ChatGPT to calculate my estimated calorie needs based on my age, height and weight and checking my food intake with it at the end of each day. I have a reasonable understanding of the calorie content of foods myself, and although I've done the odd bit of exercise, it hasn't been enough to significantly affect my body composition. My period was also extremely late this time (was 3 months late and is just finishing), so I've wondered whether hormonal changes could be contributing to the scale being stubborn.The strange thing is that I feel and look substantially slimmer, particularly around my face, neck, waist and stomach and both my husband and mum have independently commented on the difference, yet my weight has been hovering around 60 kg for weeks and isn't reflecting the apparent fat loss. I even checked the scales by putting a 4 kg kettlebell on them, and they read exactly 4 kg, so the scales appear to be weighing accurately. I'm genuinely eating in a calculated deficit and have been sticking to it as closely as I reasonably can, so I'm trying to work out whether I'm experiencing a prolonged period of water retention/body-composition change or whether there's something else going on. I am 43.

I forgot to add that I have been way more gassy lately. Not sure if that factors into anything!

It’s weird isn’t it but happens all the time to me, usually get a whoosh happening soon to reflect my appearance.
I don’t know if its weight redistribution or hidden water somewhere, we might get rid of water in the skin but something internal is holding onto something. It will come off

Muscle weighs more than fat! I’ve only lost 4kg but I’m back to a size 10 from a 12 and I’m much healthier.

Muscle does not weigh more than fat 🤣

I understand that muscle is much denser than fat but I not been doing enough resistance work to have had that effect. I weighed myself this morning and I was 61kg. Its soul destroying! I feel like my body likes the weight I am at but I do not. All of my clothes fit, and look, better with another 3 or 4 kg off. I had 3 days off over the past 3 weeks for different celebrations that I couldn't avoid and I got straight back on in the next day each time. That must be what is holding me back.

When you lose fat your body holds on to water. Once it loses hope of fat returning it releases the water and you drop weight overnight. That’s the whoosh effect that people talk about. Ditto if it’s hormonal, you’ll probably get a drop soon enough, just keep going.

A pound of muscle and a pound of fat weigh the same, of course. However, muscle is about 18% denser than fat, meaning an equal amount of muscle takes up much less space in your body than fat does. People with a BMI of nearly 30 would be called borderline obese, but there's a difference between someone with a physique like Alan Ritchson, and someone who weighs the same with high body fat and low muscle.
OP, muscle, water weight, where you are in menstrual cycle etc can all affect how you look and what you weigh-we can change by several pounds depending on time of the month.

If you’re having less sugar and alcohol your face will look much better and slimmer very quickly due tl
less inflammation even if not enough time to lose weight

I never go by the scales but by my clothes or glasses.
if I need to have my glasses adjusted or my clothes are too big then I know I’m doing something right.

scales are banned in my house