Lost two pounds since my initial submission. Its likely the metric fuck ton of caffiene Ive needed to keep up with my life.
My legs have gotten noticably bigger since doing single-leg only training. My torso got noticably thicker since switching to a slighly higher rep range routine.
I need to do a % body fat measurement, but will need to schexule an appointment with my nutritionist when im done traveling.
Why?
My weight fluctuates a lot. I can put on a few pounds of muscle relatively quickly while losing fat, but I can also do the opposite.
Ive found the scale to be useless over the short term because of this. Infact it can get discouraging because Ill lose a 1/2 pound of weight over 2 weeks, but by measuring %bf it will show some gain in muscle and loss of fat. Its not visually easy to see until after 3 months.
For example, my results typically lag by 1-2 months on the scale, from past ultrasonic bodyfat measurements.
For me it’s been a great way to track progress. The scale doesn’t tell me anything because weight loss isn’t a goal. The mirror is fine but is too subjective and variable. Plus it gives health markers like visceral fat, bone density, and muscle imbalances.
Fair enough. I just watch scale weight and whether I’m moving down notches on my lifting belt. I’m sure bodyfat is a better measurement, but it also carries a slightly higher barrier
This is a big one for me. How I look, how my clothes fit, and how the lifting belt fits.
Which is, no joke, one of the low-key secrets of success in Super Squats: you do the squats without a belt, so you never have that “I’m getting fat” freakout moment when you start getting that lifting belt creep.
Then just keep doing this.
you’d get a dexa scan to see exactly what caused the 0.5lb difference in scale weight? My dude, pull it together. That is well within the margin of error of a DEXA, and you would not notice the difference in 1/2lb of EITHER fat or muscle.
In fact, if you are training, eating sufficient protein, and in a caloric deficit - you can be certain that you are not losing muscle. If you reach sub-10%BF, that story may change… but at this time, you will not be sweating half a pound.
Going to be slumming it until the weekend. The chicken thighs I made in the oven ended up bland asf. Bland chicken makes me want to vomit.
I feel this.
Hot sauce is clutch in moments like this. It’s gotten me through quite a few dry ass leftover grilled chicken breast lunches in the last week.
there’s only so many miracles hot sauce can preform lmao. I’ve found the holding your breath while chewing and drinking something after swallowing helps avoid the taste
Maybe try cutting it and putting it in a soup, or chili? Also, likely not the most macro friendly with the mayo, but chicken salads (especially one with curry powder) are great too!
To hell with my marcos! I’m not wasting food/money lmao. I’ll give on of the above a shot depending on how I feel tomorrow
Mustard and hot sauce fixes many a cooking mistake.
Pro tip if you want a delicious sauce that is macro friendly. Greek yogurt with about 1/5th as much dijon mustard and a bit of maple syrup and salt. The end result is some really tasting mustard-ish (think kind of similar to Chik-Fil-A sauce) for chicken, or even other things. Just barely discovered this a few days ago and I think I’m in love haha.
Edit : Pro tip may be a bit strong, I am in no way a pro. I just really like the sauce.
Typically I meet every 3 weeks, the difference of a half pound might be due to a loss of 3 pounds of fat but a gain of 2.5lbs of muscle. If I go by the scale alone I wont notice anything for a month. Its very discouraging.
Aside from that, my body compensates really aggressively. If I add calories, my energy goes through the roof. Likewise, if I cut calories all I want to do is sleep. Its a PITA, almost comical. I bet my ancestors survived a crazy famine or really hard times. This is the hard part when cutting calories fighting that urge to “rest”. Ive had luck sitting in the cold to burn more calories passively.
Same thing with lifting, I make my best progress when I rotate rep ranges and exercises weekly. Respond best when I push to failure on the last set.
Its probably a neurological trait, but I studied mathematics and aeronautics in college, I dont know much about biology.
Sour cream is food magic
How do you quantify this, and why are you not doing this ALL THE TIME if this is accurate?
Great, so add calories and increase your activity factor to burn off the extra calories. (See G-Flux).
Yeah, join the club. This doesn’t make you different, in fact it makes you astonishingly the same as everyone else. Less food = less energy. You studied maths and aeronautics, so think of this in terms of thermodynamics.
So I take it you’re a data guy? Most who are data driven tend to overanalyze (paralysis by analysis).
I’m going to cut to the chase… you aren’t gaining 2.5lbs lean tissue in 3 weeks. In fact, most folks on steroids are hoping to gain that much and often don’t… You can also rest assured that if you were gaining lean body mass like this, that you certainly aren’t also losing a pound per week.
If either of these were accurate, I would say to throw your scale away and keep doing what you’re doing, because in a matter of 30 weeks - you’ll have lost 30lbs bodyfat and gained 25lbs lean body mass (which would put you in the very upper percentile of physiques, with no anabolics required).
The dietician I see has a very fancy machine that uses electrical signals to measure skeletal muscle mass, fat mass, water mass, and bone mass, among other things. Ill have to look at my old notes to find the name. It costs like 10 grand. It looks like a scale with handles.
Ill see very little change in my scale weight, but huge changes in muscle mass and fat mass. Im not bullshitting when I said Ive gained 2lbs of muscle in 3 weeks. Typically Ill lose about 2 pounds of fat too. But then Ill swing the other way, lose the muscle gain the fat. I wish I knew why.
This will go on for months, sometimes, unless I take extreme measures weekly (like hiking a few miles, and lifting, and only eating 2000kcal). Thats why this is annoying.
This is bodyfat impedance, which is notoriously finicky. Your hydration levels, electrolyte levels, relative humidity, etc can affect these results significantly. I believe Christian Thibaudeau mentioned seeing a 10% fluctuation (or somewhere thereabouts) in BF% from morning to evening based on BF Impedance readings.
Effectively, it’s an expensive machine that gives you bad metrics. Sorry, your dietician should know better than this. A Dexa scan is pretty accurate, but still has some variance.
I don’t know how else to say this… You are not gaining 2lbs of muscle in 3 weeks. You could be losing that much fat in 3 weeks no problem, but not whilst also surpassing the muscle accumulation rate of the rest of the planet.
What I’m saying is, the only method you have to measure muscle gain/fat loss is a tool that is highly subjective - and this is why you are seeing random LBM gains and losses.
Your weight is staying the same because you are eating at maintenance. Your bodyfat and muscle mass are likely unchanged because you are eating at maintenance, but your dietician’s flawed measuring system is telling you that your body breaks the rules that everyone else’s body follows. There is nothing new or unusual about your ancestry, it isn’t just ‘some weird thing your body does’, it’s a bad tool that’s erroneously trusted by misinformed professionals.
Feel free to google the accuracy of bodyfat impedance testing. I think this will answer why you’re seeing literally unprecedented body composition changes with no change on the scale.
Respectfully, this is not the physique of someone who possesses superhuman body composition abilities.
I hope this isn’t coming off as mean; often my comments do. I’m genuinely hoping that this helps you, and I hope you know that I’m on your side - even if it sounds like I’m being a dick (i kind of am a dick, so no worries).
