I am soo confused. Fat versus Muscle?

Question

I have been on a diet, lost 40 lbs. I am now doing cardio and still watching what I eat.
I met a woman at the gym who is alot heavier than me, but she is working out on machines that build muscle. She said she has lost 21 lbs. She is also careful about what she eats.
I thought muscles weighs more than fat. Does it?
Is it possible to be a size 10 and weigh 160lbs?
My trainer is no help, he just tells me what he has read.
Should I be working on my muscles to? I want to be smaller. Please help me.

Answer 1

ok...first muscle does not weigh more than fat it is more dense than fat, there is a difference. so body parts can actually decreases in size/circumference but the total body weight may have increased or stayed the same. try not to focus on the scale but more on the body composition or amount of body fat that you have because of this. if you decrease your body fat to average levels or below you will lose inches and go down in sizes it just takes some time.

Answer 2

Hello! I just wanted to give a big THANK YOU to the post above which says muscle does not weigh more than fat. Thank you for debunking this awful myth. Yes, it is very possible to weigh 160lbs. and wear a 10. I currently weigh 145 lbs. and I wear a size 6. This is why trainers suggest lifting weight to lose weight. It's not that muscle weighs more than fat. We know that to be false. It's all about body composition. I have had many folks guess my weight, and when they found out my true weight, they couldn't believe it. Keep eating healthy. Make sure you're eating enough. Please start weight training, and look for another trainer. If a trainer is not educating you and empowering you with knowledge, they are not worth their salt.

Answer 3

Congratulations to you, good job!!!! Muscle does weigh more than fat. There is a difference betweem being toned and being muscular. Being toned means you lose weight and work out and still work out your muscles, but your not working out your muscles as hard as a body builder would. It is very possible to be a size 10 and weigh 160 lbs, but hey, if I weighed that much and was IN SHAPE, I would be the happiest person alive. But for me I weigh 155 lbs and still need to lose all my pregnancy weight. If you want some at home workouts, go to http://www.fitnessmagazine.com and go to the videos section. There are some really good workouts in there on toning your body. Hope this helped!!

Keep up the good work! You're doing Great!!!!

Answer 4

First. Lose the trainer. You are wasting your money on him if he doens't even know the basics of exercise.

Second. Don't focus on weight as much as size. Muscle weighs more and is more compact. So you can be "thin and toned" and weigh 130lbs and be smaller than a person who is flabby and weighs 115. Taking your measurement will help you determine how many inches you are losing...which is much more important than weight. ...or just try on your fav pair of jeans...you will know when they feel looser!

Third. If you want to tone up and shrink in size the best thing to do is a combo of cardio and weight training. Try interval training for your cardio (a combo of slow jog and sprints in the same workout). For weight training...you need to do lower weights and higher reps. For example: if your maximum for bench press is 60lbs one time...do maybe 40lbs 20-25 times instead...and do 3-4 sets of that. Basically you want to burn out your muscles.

Answer 5

If you are looking to loose weight cardio and muscle building are both good. You want to focus on cardio to loose the fat. While muscle is heavier than fat it is still good to add muscle because it adds definition. Now, I'm not talking about bench pressing your own weight. Just light weight work. It adds definition but not serious muscle mass which looks nice. Most personal trainers combine cardio and light weight work for weight loss and sculpting. I'm not sure why yours isn't.

Depending on your height, it is possible to be a size 10 and be 160.

Answer 6

Muscle does weigh more than fat. However, muscle is active tissue. Your muscles burn calories to maintain themselves. The more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism will be. So, the muscle is helping her burn fat. Definitely work on your muscles! It's one of the best things a woman can do for her body. Don't worry about getting all big and bulky like a man. Women don't have enough testosterone for that to happen without steroids.

Answer 7

I'm a size 12-14 and weigh 175. when I belonged to a gym, they weighed and measured us once a month. often I hadn't lost a lot of weight, but was much smaller. don't compare yourself to anyone else. no 2 people lose weight or gain muscle the same way. she could have lost 21 pounds of fat or water weight. maybe if she didn't build muscle, she'd have lost more? hard to tell.

Answer 8

If you just add muscle, then this will add bulk.

But if you are losing fat and adding muscle together, you will more than likely look slimmer considering the fat you will lose will be replaced by muscle that is much more compact than fat and will therefore take up less space.

HTH : )

Answer 9

You do not really want to build a lot of muscle just to tone it. I f you build muscles you make your muscles much bigger, kind of like a body builder. If you tone your muscles you get a better looking body.

Muscles do weigh more than fat but fat does not look good.

Answer 10

Try with medication. Xenical has the FDA approval for weight loss. Read more here:
http://www.expodrugs.com/