I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

[Poizon Ivy]

I'm only 5 pounds away from my goal weight but I still wear the same clothes

I only walk for half an hour a day

what's wrong

[gunnabfit]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I know...the same thing happened to me too! I am down 20lbs. and I do a lot of working out, but Im not seeing any inches come off! I am still wearing the same clothes as well...and I dont notice any difference

[chinadoll]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I have found that when I lost my first 70, that it would be 20-25 pounds to change sizes but only if I was toning up with weights work too. My first 40 I lost walking and I was still flabby. The next 30 pounds I lost 2.5 sizes because I started strength training with weights that were heavy enough for me to only complete 3 sets of 12 reps before giving out. Cardio alone won't tone you and the toning makes a bigger difference in your body composition and size.

Poison, give us some details. Have you been taking measurements? Do your clothes fit differently on you? What was your starting weight? How close to goal are you?

[Lyssie]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

If you only walk for half an hour a day, sorry but you weren't gaining muscle. If you want to change the way your clothes fit, the best way to do it is strength training, you can lose some serious inches without actually losing a pound. I wore size 14s at 160, without working out, and size 14s at 190 with working out. It's a huge difference.

[julirama723]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

Do you lift weights? If not, START!

My guess is that you did not gain lots of muscle--muscle is more dense than fat. If you had gained lots of muscle, it's more likely that you'd be at your goal SIZE (rather than goal weight) but still weigh more than you think is possible for that size.

For example, at my smallest, I was a size 8. Do you know how much I weighed? 170 pounds. It was from weight training. Do not be afraid of lifting weights--it will not make you bigger, it will actually make you look SMALLER than you are!

Muscle is lean ACTIVE tissue. It burns calories even at rest. Lifting weights will melt inches off your body, but generally the scale does not like you. So ignore the scale, and focus on the tape measure and how your clothes fit.

[gunnabfit]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

Wow....good tip thanks!

[Poizon Ivy]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I have found that when I lost my first 70, that it would be 20-25 pounds to change sizes but only if I was toning up with weights work too. My first 40 I lost walking and I was still flabby. The next 30 pounds I lost 2.5 sizes because I started strength training with weights that were heavy enough for me to only complete 3 sets of 12 reps before giving out. Cardio alone won't tone you and the toning makes a bigger difference in your body composition and size.

Poison, give us some details. Have you been taking measurements? Do your clothes fit differently on you? What was your starting weight? How close to goal are you?

yes, i lost a couple of inches about 2 but not more
My clothes are a little loose but I can still wear them
I was 154
now I'm 133
i'm 5'8
I'm only 5 pounds away

I feel that I need to lose at least 10 pounds

If you only walk for half an hour a day, sorry but you weren't gaining muscle. If you want to change the way your clothes fit, the best way to do it is strength training, you can lose some serious inches without actually losing a pound. I wore size 14s at 160, without working out, and size 14s at 190 with working out. It's a huge difference.

I play DDR every now and then for a hour or 2
before at the first 2 months I was jogging for an hour an doing pilates everyday
lost 20 pounds and the only noticeable area was my face, and like I said not more than 2 inches, and I didnt buy new clothes because my old fit perfectly
I'm only 5 pounds away and I'm still wearing size 12!

Do you lift weights? If not, START!

My guess is that you did not gain lots of muscle--muscle is more dense than fat. If you had gained lots of muscle, it's more likely that you'd be at your goal SIZE (rather than goal weight) but still weigh more than you think is possible for that size.

For example, at my smallest, I was a size 8. Do you know how much I weighed? 170 pounds. It was from weight training. Do not be afraid of lifting weights--it will not make you bigger, it will actually make you look SMALLER than you are!

Muscle is lean ACTIVE tissue. It burns calories even at rest. Lifting weights will melt inches off your body, but generally the scale does not like you. So ignore the scale, and focus on the tape measure and how your clothes fit.

the scale works perfect, it just the clothes!

[TheDogAteMyName]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I agree with Julie. Strength training is so important. It takes a lot of work to gain muscle so don't worry about becoming bulky. I would much rather be over my goal weight due to muscle than be at my goal weight and no muscle. How much weight did you lose? Congrats on 5 pounds from goal!

[Poizon Ivy]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

20 pounds, but I havnt changed a bit

[ValidRouge]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

The only way to truly change your body shape, In my experience, is to weight train.

I've run, walked, done the elliptical, all sorts of things that I love doing. But, to be perfectly honest, the only time I've seen dramatic inches lost and loved the way my body looked, was when I was lifting weights.

No sissy girlie lifting either, lifting as heavy as you can.

If you want to change the SHAPE of your body, weight lifting is the way to do it.

[TheDogAteMyName]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I agree with Valid...no sissy lifting either! Put away the barbie weights!

[chinadoll]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

Weight train. Weight train. Weight train. Honest. The ladies are all correct. It will do far more to reshape you than weight loss. Just do it safe, don't be afriad to use higher weights, and use proper technique so you don't injure yourself. You will be amazed.

[Dotultimate]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

Do you guys support doing sit ups as well or do you think the ultimate exercise to focus on is weight training?

[chinadoll]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

Crunches (not old fashioned sit ups) go with weight training. Ideally, according to my trainer, you should work your abs daily. Its a habit I still can't get into because I hate ab work. The strength training will change your body much more than the ab work, but you need strong ab muscles to do free weights correctly and not injure yourself. A good pilates class 3x a week with instructors who can explain and cue well will also tone up your core if crunches aren't your thing. The weights are the key. You may not think you will like it, I didn't but the fact that you can visibly see results in a short time was very motivating and I love the feeling I get from each session.

[not2late]

Re: I lost 20 pounds but gained muscle, which is bad

I agree with what the others have said about the strength training. As for the two inches you've lost but you haven't seen any improvement on how your clothes fit, what kind of clothing is it? For example, clothing with a stretch (knits, t-shirts, Spandex blends) will conform to your body due to that stretch. But clothes that don't stretch (broad cloth cotton, linen, silk, taffeta) will hang more loosely if you are smaller. When I was losing weight/inches, I noticed that the t-shirts and stretchy shorts I wore fit me about the same as when I started. However, the silk blouses and fitted skirts I wore to the office were looser. I also noticed that the t-shirts didn't fit "loosely" until I had lost about 40 pounds and plenty of inches.