Question:
SOMEONE TELL ME AGAIN HOW YOU CAN LOSE INCHES AND NOT WEIGHT? I JUST DON'T GET IT!

I DONT UNDERSTAND HOW SOMEONE CAN GET SMALLER AND STILL WEIGH THE SAME. IF YOU HAVE A SCIENTIFIC WAY TO EXPLAIN MAYBE THAT WOULD HELP...LOL I JUST DON'T GET IT!!! HELP    — Karen Kay (KK) O. (posted on February 6, 2003)

February 5, 2003
Muscle weighs more than fat. You can be gaining muscle and losing fat (which is a good thing, by the way) and have a net gain of weight...JR
   — John Rushton

February 5, 2003
I know what you mean...I lost two lbs. one week and was suddenly in the next size down. I guess when you lose inches things are just tightening up, or the fat cells are just shifting to a better place. How's that for a "scientific" explanation? Ha Ha!
   — rebeccamayhew

February 5, 2003
Technically, muscle does not weigh more than fat: a pound of muscle weighs the same as a pound of fat. What is different is the MASS of those two things. A pound of fat has a lot more mass than a pound of muscle. Therefore it takes up a lot more space. Here is a visual, think of how much space a pound of popcorn would take up versus how much space a pound of steak takes up. If you are exercising, you are gaining muscle, as John says this is good. But you are also losing fat, so your weigh stays the same, but your mass (the amount of space you take up) goes down.
   — Ali M

February 6, 2003
Actually, Allison, we're both wrong - I was just going off the old WLS axiom. Mass is equal to weight at 1G. Muscle is *denser* than fat, so fat will have more volume for a certain weight (or mass) than muscle will for that same weight or mass. So, when you replace an equal weight of fat with an equal weight of muscle, you will weigh the same, but take up less volume (i.e. lose inches)...JR (open RNY 07/17 -151 lbs)
   — John Rushton

February 6, 2003
Karen, here is how it works for me...I was a size 20 @ 233 (xmas), I am now 214 and down to a 214...I have only lost 6 lbs this month, but, the 18's and 16's I bought just a few weeks ago, ARE HUGE! I work out 5X/wk, so, even thought the lbs aren't dropping o the scale, my fat is tightening up and its all about space, tighter bods fit in smaller sizes! Good Luck to you! Heather (Ope RNY 8/15/02, 305/214/150)
   — heathercross

February 6, 2003
If it helps think of it this way. When you exercise you are burning fat and building muscle. So when you meausre, you can be smaller even though the scale may not be moving much. Think of a pound of feathers and a pound of coal. The pound of feathers would take up a lot more space than a pound of coal. Think of fat as the feathers and muscle as the coal.
   — garw