When you start on a weight loss plan and you start setting goals for yourself, you may have big ideas about the kind of gains you’re going to make. You might be expecting to see results in a few days or a few weeks, and you may be disappointed if you don’t start to see those kinds of results.
When you step on the scale, it might not tip in your favor. Maybe after weeks of dieting and exercising you might not be seeing the kind of progress you are hoping for.
You may not even be seeing any progress at all. Is the scale lying to you? After all the work you put in, shouldn’t you see some sort of difference for your effort?
The scale may not tell the whole picture. How to tell if you’re losing weight?
You Could Be Gaining Muscle
Why would the scale show that you weigh more or the same if you are eating healthy and working out? Once you start to cut fat, sugar, and carbs out of your diet and you focus on protein and on building muscle toning your body, you should expect to see a weight decrease, right?
Surprisingly, that’s not always the case. What happens is that many times fat will turn into muscle. It doesn’t just change directly from one to the other. However, the fat can drop off and muscle can develop and grow as you’re putting in all this effort.
How to tell if you are losing weight and gaining muscle? What you should know is that muscle weighs more than fat does. By eating right and working out, you can actually gain weight, though you’ll be fitter and stronger.
You can tell if that is what is happening by looking at yourself in the mirror and by testing your muscles. Do your muscles feel more pronounced and less flabby than before?
That could very well mean you’re losing fat and gaining muscle. This is the dream for a lot of people, and if that is what is happening to you, then great job!
How to Tell If You’re Losing Weight without Scale
You may not have a scale available, so what can you do to figure out if you’re losing weight without having to resort to a scale? There are a few simple techniques you can make use of that will give you this information.
One way is to put on the clothes you used to wear and see how they fit you. A lot of people will change up their wardrobe once they start to work out, choosing tighter and more formfitting clothing. They may not be able to tell just by wearing clothes if they lost any weight.
If that’s the case with you, then you can put on some of your clothes you were wearing before you started working out and eating right and see how they fit. If they’re baggy on you and there’s extra room around the waist, it can be easy to tell if you lost weight.
You should know how snugly your clothes fit you before. Once you see there’s some extra room there, you know you’ve been making progress.
You can also try measuring yourself. This is one of the best ways how to tell if you are losing weight without a scale. You can use a tailor’s measuring tape or a doctor’s measuring tape to wrap around your waist, your thighs, and your arms.
You can see if there’s a difference when you measure those trouble spots. This can be a simple method to tell if you’re making progress or not. Sometimes people feel like they’re losing weight, but they’re really not.
How to to tell if you are losing weight? People who are getting rid of fatty deposits and controlling their diet will often feel hungry less often. They will have more control over their hunger urges, which is part of how they managed to lose weight in the first place. Once you see this is happening to you, it’s a good sign that progress is being made.
How to Tell If You Are Losing Fat or Water Weight
Not the weight you shed will be fatty weight. Some of it can be water weight, which won’t necessarily stay off. This is weight that can come right back if you have a lot of salt in your food or you drink more water than you need. How do you tell how much water to drink? If you’re thirsty, then you should drink water. Drinking more than that can give you water weight that you don’t need.
But how do you tell if the weight you’re getting rid of is fatty weight or water weight? If it’s just water weight you’re losing, then your clothes should still fit you about the same. You should also pay attention to how much weight you’re losing or gaining.
If the weight fluctuates day by day, then it is probably just water weight you’re getting rid of. If you lose a lot of weight very fast, that could be a sign that some of it is water weight.
Do you want to ensure that you get rid of fat rather than water weight? There are a few things you can do to make that happen. First of all, focus on a low fat and low sugar diet rather than a low carb diet. Carbs can add water weight and may not give you a true estimation of how much fat you’re getting rid of if you’re eating a lot of carbs.
Secondly, you should get plenty of sleep but not sleep too much. You need anywhere from 6 to 8 hours of sleep a night, not just time spent in bed. This should be time actually being unconscious. If you don’t get that, your metabolism won’t be working like it should.
You should also focus on doing cardio as much as possible for your workouts. Cardio is an excellent way to lose fatty weight.
Try to avoid salty foods as much as possible, as these can cause you to retain water. You can look bloated and flabby when you consume a lot of salt, as it keeps on water weight and makes water weight tough to remove.
Try not to drink too much water as well. A lot of people over-hydrate after they workout, which can make them look bloated and make it difficult to get rid of the water weight.
How To Tell If You Are Losing Too Much Weight
When you start to see major results and you feel the pounds roll off, you may be wondering if you are losing too much weight. That’s a definite danger that you need to be aware of, especially you if you’re already fairly thin and don’t have much fat.
Some people diet poorly when they’re trying to lose weight. Then they starve themselves rather than just eat healthy. This can cause muscle wasting, meaning you can lose muscle mass as well as fat. Your body can go into a state of starvation that is not good for it.
If you feel unwell, you have no appetite, and you feel tired all the time, it’s possible you’re losing too much weight too fast. If you have serious concerns about your health and how much weight you’re losing, then talk to your doctor.
Other signs that you might be losing too much weight too fast include hair loss and a flabby look. When you work out and diet, you should start to look toned after a while. If you’re still looking flabby when you shouldn’t be, that could be because you’re losing too much weight too fast and losing muscle mass, which can result in a flabby look.
Excessive weight loss over too short a period of time can be very unhealthy for your body, resulting in poor skin health, leading to rapid hair loss. If you notice a lot of extra hair in the shower drain, this could be a sign that the fat is dropping off too quickly.
