No weight loss during exercise = FRUSTRATED

I have joined a gym about 2 1/2 weeks ago and have been trying to make a habit of going every day, even if it is just for an hour of cardio on a treadmill. I am working with a trainer. He has me doing a variety of weight resistance exercises, lunges, stretches, to tone up and help build muscle. I know that muscle weighs more than fat, and that at first I may not see results on the scales, but come on now. I am not seeing any results on the scale AT ALL, and I feel like this is something that I should definitely see by now.

I do my weight circuits about 2-3 times a week, and I do 60 minutes of cardio 5-7 days a week. I do low weights with lots of reps.

Am I doing something wrong?

Someone has mentioned in the past measuring fat vs muscle. I have found one and am going to check it out this weekend. Does anyone know how accurate are the scales that measure these comparisons?

Any ideas that anyone has on the topic will be greatly appreciated.

First - Muscle does not weigh more than fat - a lb of feathers is the same as a pound of lead.  Muscle is more dens than fat. 

Forgive me, I'm an engineer little things like that stand out to me.

Second,  You are building muscle and depending on a lot of factors you could not see the scale changing.  You could be burning a lot of glycigen and then replacing it.  Look at other measures - How is your body fat percentage changing?  What are your measurements - are they changing?

*giggle*

I think I love you a little for clarifying that for others. It drives me a tad batty to read it over and over.

Thank you for also jumping on the measurements and body fat percentages... those are so important and so many do not consider them.

Your post brought out my inner geek for a moment so I apologize for it a little but...

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I am someone who will lose fat... not weight in general. I will lose inches and only a few pounds. It is how I have always been... My 6 months leading up to surgery netted me an overall 46 1/2 inches (9 off the hips, 8.5 off my waist, etc.) and only 25.4 lbs weight lost.

i could have pouted and sulked when the scale didn't move but instead I celebrated.

Muscle is 1.06g/ml to fat being 0.9g/ml

I know I likely lost a combination but I am happier thinking I was just losing fat. So I have my inner geek moments and try to figure out how much fat I am losing (besides nearly 2% body fat according to the formulas for that).

25.4lbs = 11521.25g so at a rate of 0.9g/ml that is approximately 12.8L of fat... 3.38 gallons for the Americans out there. That's a whole lota fat but the interesting thing is if we filled something squishy with that volume and put it, and myself into the clothing I was wearing last July it would be about spot on.

 

You know, at one time, I knew this. It's just when you hear it all the time, you start to get it in your head. Thank you for snapping me back into reality!! I am the village idiot!! Ha! I will have to find something that measures my body fat and muscle.

What does your trainer have to say?

Stay off the scale for a bit, measure your body for changes. Work out in your fat burning zone, up your water and protein intake.

My trainer says muscle weighs more than fat...think I should fire him??? JK, I love him, he apparently is NOT a geek!!

With exercise make sure you are getting 100+oz of water each day. You are probably not getting enough and end up retaining water.

I have the EatSmart precision scale from Amazon and it measure the body fat %, water % and muscle %.  Its pretty accurate to the device I hold in my hands at the gym.  It been great for me to see those percentages change and the muscle increase while the fat is decreasing - that actually means more to me than what I weigh.  I find it interesting that when I weigh myself and my weight doesn't change the water weight in my body is up.

I have been going to the gym regularly since mid November and now I can really tell the difference in my body - it's becoming "hourglass".