The FastDay Forum

I thought of tacking this one onto the "Why Exercise..." thread, but decided it would hang better here by itself.

In the spirit of a group of pictures is worth far more than 100,000 words see for yourself why muscle is better than fat:

http://www.google.com/search?q=density+of+fat+vs+muscle&rls=com.microsoft:en-US:IE-SearchBox&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=cwr7UZWMIoOVqQHvioCwBQ&ved=0CEsQsAQ&biw=1344&bih=682

Ugh but I got the point. Thanks for sharing!

This is exactly why I have started a kettlebell workout. My 24 pound weightloss is now loose flub. If I could tighten the rolls and continue 5:2 I feel sure I will get the trim body I am looking for. Thanks for the 'graphics'.

Liked the westie pic, reminds me of my Jack when he was a pup the other pics don't do a lot for me, I must be getting old

Chris x

Really very interesting. Thank you!

Given my high-intensity exercise, I'm changing shape, even when I not technically losing weight. I think I'll end up a size 12, which is something I've never been even when quite light before.

Interesting. At last someone talking about the density of fat versus muscle and not the old chestnut about muscle being 'heavier'! That sooo aggravates me! A pound is a pound be it muscle, fat or feathers!

Is it just me or does this WOE seem to reduce fat unevenly? To start with I had been losing pretty consistently over my body. Since I started fasting its going off my arms and legs and they look awful! My thighs are all lumps and craters and my upper arms are like bags of bubble wrap!

I'm doing my weights religiously and I can see the improvement in the muscles below. Obviously with my health problems I have to go slowly but I seem almost to look worse than before I started! Nice muscles, shame about whats hanging on them!

So, am I right in thinking that, having reached my 147 lb target, if (big IF, believe me!) I were to start exercising, then I would have to continue to restrict calories in order to maintain my weight?

Hopefully one of the exercisers will be able to put this better but, I think its about going more on measuring muscle and fat levels when you reach that stage. Some of the graphics demonstrated that a well toned body can actually weigh a little more than a fat one but its not unhealthy. There's a point where weight and BMI aren't very useful if you exercise to build muscle. A target weight is only a guide. Lots of people alter target when they see what fat is left and where.

I think the point might better be stated that if you exercise, it can alter your shape and sometimes more is less. Eg, better to be 155 lbs and look toned than be 145 lbs and still flabby but it's all individual. Google "skinny fat".

Without a person looking in a mirror, no-one can say what someone's ideal weight is. It's all the shifting sands of time, aging, water, body composition...endless variables...

How people arrive at what their target weight "should" be fascinates me as every time I've lost weight, I've looked different.

I didn't set out to actually do anything other than preserve what muscle strength I have left. Over time I have been able to stop the decline and start to build and I have really noticed the difference in how I look and how my clothes fit. I'm no believer in exercise as a means of weight loss but its a good tool in improving general health.

I remember years ago my mother going to see our elderly GP and being told to lose some weight. She asked what she should weigh and he told her he didn't believe in charts, just to keep going until she could stand naked in front of a mirror and when she jumped up and down nothing wobbled that shouldn't!

Yes, I get it. One can be slim but flabby.

I mainly exercise because I dont want to be stuck in a chair in 20 years due to muscle wasting and joint stiffness. No sir ree. I want to hike the walks, not sit at camp because of body aches.

The "mirror wobble" is going to be my way of working out a maintenance weight as I don't fit charts.