QUESTION!! (2 actually)

R

rosee

New member
Hey everyone. Maybe you can help me out with this and calm my nerves... I started working out about couple months ago and have been doing pretty well. The scale says I've lost weight but ever since i've started working out, I think that the fat on my body is even MORE evident than it was before. WHYYYYYY? I was thinking that maybe I built muscle underneath my fat and now its just sitting on top. Anyone else have this problem?

Another thing: How much should I weigh?? Currently, I'm 5' 9'', 18 years old and 163 lbs. My BMI is 'normal' but in the higher end. Mgoal weight is 145 but a few 'how much should you weigh?' calculators that ask your age, height, shoe size, hip to waist ratio, etc. tell me that I should weigh like 125 - 130 pounds. I think I would look SICKLY at that weight. Ugh. Can anyone help me out?
 
Hey everyone. Maybe you can help me out with this and calm my nerves... I started working out about couple months ago and have been doing pretty well. The scale says I've lost weight but ever since i've started working out, I think that the fat on my body is even MORE evident than it was before. WHYYYYYY? I was thinking that maybe I built muscle underneath my fat and now its just sitting on top. Anyone else have this problem?
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Hmmm.. could be that you're losing fat in some places more rapidly than others, making some areas look bigger as an illusion? for example, if you're losing a lot of fat in your arms and legs, and only a little in your tummy so far, might artificially make your tummy look bigger as a result due to the fact that your arms are proportionally smaller than they were before, even though you've really got smaller all over. Make sense? Did you take a before picture? Loss really shows comparing odler and newer pictures, and will really show whether areas really are bigger, or just look bigger to you.

Another thing: How much should I weigh?? Currently, I'm 5' 9'', 18 years old and 163 lbs. My BMI is 'normal' but in the higher end. Mgoal weight is 145 but a few 'how much should you weigh?' calculators that ask your age, height, shoe size, hip to waist ratio, etc. tell me that I should weigh like 125 - 130 pounds. I think I would look SICKLY at that weight. Ugh. Can anyone help me out?
Click to expand...

Weight really is pretty meaningless, other than a guideline. There really isn't a number you could pull out of mid air and say you should weight that much. It really is, you should weight whatever you are when you like the way you look in the mirror. BMI is BS imo. Really, you should decide what bodyfat % you want to be, and try to hit that number at whatever weight the scale says when you get there. I think for a woman, 20-25% bodyfat is supposed to be around average and healthy. You could get there at 100lbs, or 200lbs, or anywhere in between, depending on a number of things including the amount of muscle on your frame, and the size of your frame itself.
 
MAR pretty much nailed it on the head. At one point last year I lost 30 lbs, but it was all in my stomach, which made my face look chubbier than it actually was. I knew the scale wasn't lying because I used multiple ones.

As far as the "what you should weigh" question, he was dead on with that too. Look at it this way. If you follow UFC or boxing, you can have 2 different fighters who are 6'1, one weighs 205 lbs & one weighs 170 lbs...it's a 35 lbs difference but both have the same exact body fat %. It all has to do with your frame. I'm 5'7 & weigh about 285 now...my "ideal" weight is probably around 130. I don't believe I'd look right, nor be healthy if I weighed under 155 lbs. My body fat % is lower than a normal person who weighs 285 lbs and is 5'7.

It's cliche, but much like age, weight is just a number. Don't go by how you perceive yourself in the mirror, as a close friend who isn't gonna sugarcoat anything for you if he/she has seen any changes in your appearance. Keep in mind that the "ideal weight" philosphy was created 30+ years ago and was never modify with the changes in genetics/lifestyles.

Goodluck!
 
Thanks guys. Yeah, it's hard not to focus on numbers when body perception is so relative and skewed sometimes. But I'll keep that in mind.
 
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