Can i lose inches but not weight

Honestly, I do understand. Even if you logically know that your scale weight isn't the best indicator of your progress, it still would feel really good to see that number drop. So what's the solution? First and foremost, I want to strongly encourage you NOT to do what you're already doing, but at a more frenetic pace. Jenny starts eating "healthier" in brackets because this can mean many different things to different people and exercising for a few weeks.

She needs to deprive herself more in the kitchen and punish herself more in the gym. Instead, I challenge you to try something different. Try something, no matter how insignificant it might seem, that you've never tried before. I'm not doubting you. I don't think you're lying to me. But, I do know that most people have very little idea as to what they actually eat on a daily basis.

This can become even more of a problem if you've recently increased the amount of exercise you're doing. A study out of Cornell University showed that the size of your plate is directly proportionate to the amount of food you will put on that plate. You've likely heard this before, right? When you put a small amount of food on a large plate, your brain will likely interpret this as having too little food. You'll end up going back for more.

In contrast, if you put the same food portion onto a smaller plate, your brain perceives this as a full serving. It's all you need. That's a significant decrease that requires very little effort on your end. Plate size isn't the only thing that matters. Colour counts too. The colour of your plates makes an even greater impact than the size of plate. Why blue? We don't typically eat a lot of blue foods, so the contrast is perfect.

I've written before about the powerful weight-loss benefits of drinking more water, so I won't rehash all the details here. Point blank: if you're dehydrated, your body isn't going to shed fat. It's not. Just as it is with food, most people have a very unclear picture as to how much water they actually drink. Elasticizing your water is a great way to stay accountable to being hydrated every day. If you're frustrated because you're losing inches but not any weight, please try to stay calm and look for a more reliable way to measure your progress.

Measuring inches lost or noticing changes in how your clothing fits is much more honest than the scale. Additionally, there are other signs of progress—better sleep, healthier looking skin, more energy, better digestion, improved mood, etc.

Signs that you're doing good things for your body. Celebrate those changes! And if you do want to speed up your results, look for a new approach or strategy to stimulate those results. Doing more of the same will not work. Be smarter. Be open to change. Try something new. If the scale is making you crazy, taking a break from weighing yourself may just open your eyes to other possibilities.

Your weight isn't the only measure of your success. Put away the scale and you may just see how far you've really come. Looking to lose weight? Our nutrition guide can help you get on the right track.

Sign up for our newsletter and get it free! Long-term weight loss maintenance for obesity: a multidisciplinary approach. Diabetes Metab Syndr Obes. Your Privacy Rights. To change or withdraw your consent choices for VerywellFit. At any time, you can update your settings through the "EU Privacy" link at the bottom of any page. These choices will be signaled globally to our partners and will not affect browsing data. We and our partners process data to: Actively scan device characteristics for identification.

I Accept Show Purposes. Table of Contents View All. Table of Contents. The Truth About Weight. Fat Loss Vs. Body Weight. Measuring Success. Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Sign Up. What are your concerns? Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Your friend might weigh less than you, but they might have more fat in their bodies as compared to you. Other than weight loss, some other ways in which exercise improves health include 2 :. You do not need to buy clothes in a smaller size to measure if you are losing weight. After a few weeks of a healthy diet, conscious portion control and working out, your old clothes that fit you at a bigger size will start feeling quite loose on you.

While your weight might not change due to the growing muscles and increased bone mass , your clothes will start to fit better, and eventually, they might start hanging off you prompting you to have them taken in or send you on a whole wardrobe shopping trip.

Recognizing that you are getting stronger can be motivating. When you start exercising, you will most probably get winded and need several breaks during a ten-minute high-intensity interval workout. Instead of obsessing about what the scale says, set a goal that by the end of two weeks, you will be taking lesser breaks and breathing better during your workout.

Some other goals that you can set for yourself can include:. Such simple things are more positive for your mental health than whatever numbers appear on your bathroom scale. BetterMe app will kick you out of the mental funk, shake off your extra weight, rid you off you energy-zapping habits, and help you sculpt the body of your dreams.

Hurry up and change your life for the better! As we have discussed above, normal scales measure everything without really telling you what is happening inside your body. Scales that use bioelectrical impedance are better as they measure your body and muscle fat. These measurements are more important than your overall weight. The great thing about your yearly physical is that it measures things such as your cholesterol, blood pressure, blood sugar and inflammatory markers.

While your weight might not change from exercising and eating healthier, these factors will show an improvement once you get your results back from your doctor. This proves that while the scale does not show what you wish it to show, your efforts are working. Are you sleeping better? Have you stopped constantly craving sugar and junk food? Do you have more energy during the day? If the answer to all these questions is yes, then you are doing great, and the number on the scale is not as important as all these factors.

Yes, it is. Most of us expect that with lost weight come lost inches, meaning that those jeans will no longer be digging into your waist. But what does it mean when the numbers on the scale go down, but the jeans still do not fit right? What could be the cause of this? Here are some factors 16 :. While most of us know what types of exercises to do to reduce our arms, thighs or abs, not many of us know or pay mind to the proper form needed to do these workouts in the right way.

For ab and core exercises, you need to engage the transverse abdominis and the rectus abdominis for great results. However, without proper form, you will most probably engage your rectus abdominis six-pack abs and disregard the inner transverse abdominis. While the outer muscle strengthens, the inner one is left as weak as it was before you began working out and thus, the inches along your waist will not reduce.

In regards to exercise type, workouts such as lateral bends, weighted crunches, cable wood chops and ab wheel rollouts 12 can increase the inches around your waist since they work out the external and internal obliques. Many people start dieting and exercising with the aim of shrinking some parts of their body, such as the arms, stomach, thighs, hips, and love handles. This means that while working out, many people will mostly end up measuring these areas and using them as a determinant of their progress.

However, we tend to forget that these parts have a lot of fat, and it cannot disappear quickly. Also spot exercising is a myth. Working out one body part, excessively will not make it shrink faster and will only lead to fatigue and injury. Instead of measuring the biggest areas of your body, try paying mind to the smaller areas that do not carry a lot of extra fat. We lose fat relatively evenly throughout our bodies, meaning that the smaller parts will show results faster than the bigger areas Those rings that you could not wear before will start slipping on easily before those pants ever make it past your thighs.

When you change your diet, some of the things that come from this change can cause bloating and gas which affect the size of your waistline. Here are some healthy foods that may lead to gassiness and bloating 3 :. Making adjustments such as gradually increasing your fiber intake, drinking plenty of water, rinsing and pressure-cooking your dry beans, or choosing lactose-free dairy products can allow you to include these healthy foods while minimizing gas and bloating.

We all know that cutting calories is among one of the best ways to lose weight. It is advisable to cut to calories a day from your typical diet for sustainably-paced weight loss 7. However, cutting calories or being on a caloric deficit without workouts of any kind — cardio or weightlifting — may lead to muscle loss instead of fat loss. Remember that while a pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle, the latter occupies less space within the body as compared to the former.

This means that while your weight might go down, your inches might not change at all. Focusing on why you are losing inches but not weight is truly not one of the best ways to approach fitness. Many factors can hinder the scale from changing, and most of them are things that we cannot control.

Instead of dwelling on your scale, choose instead, to better yourself at your workouts and keep making healthy food choices as you mind your portions. At the end of the day, your athletic performance during workouts and what you see in the mirror does not lie.