Can you lose pounds and not inches

We need a certain amount of subcutaneous fat to be healthy, make hormones, and insulate our body properly. Visceral fat is stored deep in the abdominal area. It surrounds your internal organs and can negatively affect their function. It also can increase inflammation in the body , as well as raise your risk for heart disease.

The good news is that visceral fat will also decrease as you lose weight. The simultaneous gain in muscle and loss in fat can result in no weight loss or much slower weight loss over time.

Besides, your ratio of muscle to fat is a better indicator of health than your body weight is. A body fat scale is like a typical bathroom scale, but it estimates your body composition by sending a weak electrical signal through your body 5. You may be simultaneously building muscle and losing fat through a process called body recomposition. Some days you may lose weight, some days you may gain weight, and some days your weight may not change at all.

Part of the reason your weight fluctuates is because of fluid shifts or water retention. Most weight loss tends to occur within the first 4—6 weeks of calorie restriction This weight loss tends to happen more rapidly in people who follow a low carbohydrate or keto diet than in those who follow a low fat diet due to the loss of stored carbohydrates and water Over time, weight loss may cause your metabolism to slow, significantly decreasing the rate at which you lose weight Your weight loss may even come to a plateau after months of restricting your calories.

However, this decrease in metabolism is generally not significant enough to cause a plateau in your weight loss Therefore, it can help to track your calories for at least 1 week to determine whether your calorie intake is too high based on your needs. A weight loss plateau commonly occurs after several months of restricting your calories.

It can also reinforce the idea that factors like diet and exercise move you closer to your weight loss goal, while others, like a lack of sleep and excess stress, push you farther away. Indeed, people who weigh themselves and engage in other self-monitoring behaviors, like tracking diet and exercise, seem to be more successful at both losing weight and maintaining the loss in the long term 17 , 18 , 19 , The truth of the matter is, at the beginning of a weight loss program, science has shown that the first bunch of pounds that are going to go are likely to be from water weight.

Earlier we looked at how genetics have a say so on how a weight loss program is going to go for each of us. I hope that my article on losing weight without losing inches and how to fix it is useful to you, and I wish you well on your fitness journey. Learn more Accept X. Greg Simon. Share on pinterest. Share on facebook. You may be turning to foods that contain low-calorie sugar substitutes like sugar alcohols sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol and mannitol are a few in an effort to reduce your sugar intake and overall calories.

Understandable, but some people find these cause bloating and water retention, Berkow says. First thing in the morning before she gets out of bed, she drinks a large container of water and then lays there for 20 minutes. This is called Japanese water therapy. Once she stands up and gets going, she usually has to go to the bathroom.

Staying regular can help beat bloating that leaves your belly looking a bit inflated. Plus: You'll feel better, too. Jessica Migala. Jessica Migala is a health and fitness freelance writer based in the suburbs of Chicago. She spends her time with her two young sons, husband, and rescue beagle mix. Connect on LinkedIn.