-Diablo's Journal, 11 Jan 19

I still need to lose 5-10 pounds of fat.  

Oh, if you can find the time to measure - give it a try. It is so gratifying! My start measurements in May of 2017 --> Waist - 44.5, Hips - 52. Measurements in January of 2019 Waist - 31, Hips -36.5. A total of 29 inches lost, and that's just the hips and waist! I actually started in Feb. 2017, but I hadn't taken measurements, yet. I still can't believe I've lost 2 inches in the last month, without going down on the scale. But, it definitely provides motivation to keep up with the resistance and weights. 

They always miss the second part of that phrase... per unit volume... 

Yup, to the point I'm thinking about buying one of those kits that has a piece of plastic fat and a piece plastic muscle in it. I'm heavier but smaller and a heck of a lot stronger these days. Good. 

Yep. I bought some new sweats pants to work out in, and they're a size smaller than what I used to wear. But I've gained 2 pounds this week lol 

YES!! im not losing much but according to my pants, im making progress! 

I don't think this picture is accurate but the concept is correct. 

the same size of muscle weighs more than fat. duh a kilo is a kilo.  

Why no? Abbadda; we have here Chris for example, have you seen his before picture?? He was weighing 155 lb. or so and with big belly, he got down to 130's lb. , now he is back to the 150's but he is not longer big because his weight gain is muscle. 

Yep. Not a pound lost since August but I’ve dropped an other pant size (same story, style, material) 

I really do hate this nitpicky argument. Muscle is heavier. When the normal human says something weighs more, they mean by volume. Anyone not a victim of some sort of bad joke knows the difference. Sorry, I think this is stupid.  

hehe, well at least no one said one pound of muscle weighs more than one pound of fat, LZenn :D  

Muscle is only 78% of the size of fat, not 25% like shows in the picture. So the fat on the left is the same as 4 of the lumps of muscle on the right in the picture. 

By volume Muscle weighs more than Fat, which sounds confusing... but it is true. It should be said that the same weight muscle to fat, Fat takes up 75% more space. So you will be 75% fluffier! LOL 

Thank you for this - of course, I KNOW this but get really weird when people write "muscle weighs more than fat" to explain a weight gain...my pet peeve, I suppose 

Yeah, the difference in size is exaggerated but it's the only one I found that had some words to convey the point. I agree Lzenn, this is obnoxious lol. Maybe I'll find one without the dumb quote haha. 

@diablo, there's plenty of pics on Amazon without words under "plastic fat/muscle models". And holy smoke, these models are expensive, so I'll just keep looking at the pics.  

While true this can be misleading. Putting on muscle is harder than losing fat. It requires caloric surplus and really good diet and training. Exclusive cardio goers are not gaining any substantial amount of muscle, period. And for those who do intensive weight training you can expect an exponential decrease in your gains by half every year of training. If you're perfect with everything you'll be lucky to put on 20lbs in the first year. 

Adding muscle can be done in a deficit. I've been doing it for a while. Of course my success is from muscle memory but novices and especially someone who is obese can do it. I used to believe that you needed a deficit but recently many experts say it is possible and I see it in myself. Ive been recomping since September. Weight has remained the same. Actually I've gained 5-6 pounds while getting leaner and stronger. I think what happens is your body will partition your nutrients in a way that allows both fat loss and muscle gain to occur if your deficit is small and protein high. Of course resistance training is required. You're right about this not ocurring if cardio is the only exercise. I was doing cardio in the summer as I lost both fat and muscle. I was losing mass and strength. 

I meant, I used to believe you could only put muscle on in a surplus* but there is a certain amount you will regain if you've been more muscular before and a certain amount that a noobie will gain.