Gaining inches but not pounds? - Women's Health Message Board

blue_cool · 12-21-2002, 01:24 PM

I already know that I'm overweight but now I need to know why this is happening. In Ausgust I had a waist of 36 inches and weighed about 178 pounds. Now today I weigh 180, but I just measured my waist and it's 39. Why have I gained so many inches but only 2 pounds. If your getting more fat around you waist shouldn't the numbers on the scale be getting higher or something?

Merrida · 12-21-2002, 01:58 PM

Nope, not at all! In fact, what you're experiencing, rather what you are now consciously paying attention to, is what happens to us as we age, but most of us don't pay attention to the process as it occurs.

I'm a personal trainer, and I've battled being overweight my entire life from the chubby little kid to the adult, and I do this for work not only because it is the only thing that worked (once you understand human physiology), but also because of working around a back injury and needing to keep moving.

Bear with this as I write on, but it's important to understand so you can reverse this.

We've all heard muscle is heavier than fat, but most of us (especially women) don't really care, so long as the scale goes down. But what you need to understand beyond the muscle density issue is what muscle does. Think in terms of volume: Just for the sake of easy identification, let's suppose you weigh 150 pound, and 100 of those pounds are muscle. That means 50 pounds of you are fat. The 100 pounds of muscle is ALL you have for an engine to burn calories and regulate your metabolism.

As we age we lose muscle. The more inactive we are, we lose muscle. Poor diet can contribute to muscle loss. Not actively trying to put muscle ON can contribute to muscle loss. Add this up and what you'll see is that your "engine" becomes smaller, meaning you burn fewer calories. So even if you eat the same, if your engine is smaller, it means you will gradually add fat. But since the engine is smaller, part of you is technically "losing" weight, but is being replaced with fat, -- fat that takes up more VOLUME than the muscle.

This is why people can "weigh the same as they did in high school" but be a lot larger in size! You can weigh the same and get fatter. You can even put ON weight, and actually SHRINK in inches.

It's all about the composition, how much muscle and fat you've got, not the bottom line of poundage.

You can reverse this and fix it if you're interested in doing so. If you just wanted an answer, then absolutely you CAN put on inches and get bigger, even without gaining any, or very little overall weight.

1Dove · 12-21-2002, 02:42 PM

Merrida, That was very informative. I have a question for you. Is it possible to spot reduce certain areas of the body such as the mid-section without losing weight and reducing in all areas, or is it all genetic where we store our fat? Do any of the abdominal exercises really work? I am asking because my abdominal area is larger that I'd like it to be. But I don't want to lose weight because I am already at my ideal weight, and all the other areas are just right. For years I have been exercising, but nothing seems to help. Any ideas?

Merrida · 12-21-2002, 05:11 PM

You cannot spot reduce, no matter how hard you try. If your entire body is right where you want it to be and the area you are concerned about is the only area that has extra fat on it, - AND (this is important), if the fat on that area is subcutaneous and not visceral (meaning, if you can pinch it beneath the skin's surface rather than having fat beneath the muscles inside where your organs are) - the closest you'll get to spot reducing is liposuction. Liposuction is ideal when it comes to spot reduction when the rest of your body is where you want it, and you've only got one or two "problem" areas.

You could exercise your abs for an hour a day and it won't cause you to shed fat from your abdominal area.

You may have an apple shape (android type body) rather than a pear shape body. Apple shapes tend to have thinner arms and legs, and carry most of their bulk in the midsection. Very often the fat is not under the skin, though, and it's intra-abdominal fat. These types are also at a higher risk statistically for heart-related illnesses.

You CAN resculpt your body pretty considerably, and sometimes it's a matter of building muscle on opposing areas. Example, by building some muscle on your shoulders and back and building your glutes, it will help to make your waistline look smaller and narrower, more like an hourglass rather than straight up and down.

There is a lot that can be done, but there are also important factors to consider such as genetics and diet, as well as exercise.

1Dove · 12-21-2002, 08:43 PM

Thanks Merrida, that's what I thought. I'm 5'4", and 120 pounds, I try to eat healthy, lowfat foods, and I exercise daily. I also have high cholesterol, and a really bad ratio. My doctor has ordered the VAP test for me to see what my real risk is of heart disease, etc. Then I'll probably have to go on a statin. Guess I just have bad genes. Thanks for responding.

[This message has been edited by 1Dove (edited 12-21-2002).]