Weight - why?...

KateSykerd started this discussion · 7/18/2011

So, this last year I've put on a stone, and I've got a few ideas why... But they're oposite! Firstly, let me just say I don't put weight on easily (before now), although I am only 20 and in the words of my mum "I'm a growing girl" (eurgh lol). I'm only 5"3 so you think a stone would show up loads, and my mum says I've put on weight but I just can't believe its a whole stone... With my BMI now being about 24.5 :S I'm still the same dress size, although I used to be a little UK10 and now I'm a bigger one, and I've gone up 2 cup sizes. So, why? Well, I now do more exercise than EVER before - I've taken up dancing and poling, and because of pole I do more strength exercises (push ups, etc), so is it muscle? I've literally gone from NO exercise, to a "moderate" amount - being able to actually *shock* run up staires without getting out of breath. However, I am now the fabled creature of university student, and if you've ever met my species you'll know students tend to put on a lot of weight (esp. in their first year)... I drink a lot more alcohol, and eat a lot more (although its normally more healthy than I used to eat, since fresh is cheaper). So, which seems more likely? Obviously if its fat, I should aim to loose it, but if its muscle its ok and I'll just carry on. Like I said, I've never put on so much weight before, but I've never been so active or eaten so much, so I don't know anything about these things....

32 replies

Kira · 7/18/2011
Yup it's muscle - that's good :) weight gain doesn't always have to = unhealthy/fat, there's lots of different factors too. I'm only 5'0 and I used to be about 7/7.5st but now I'm around 8.5st and I've never been as 'slim' or toned as I am now so I'm not bothered that I am that weight. I tend to forget about looking at the scales anyway because I know I am eating healthy and exercising right :)
Runemist34 · 7/19/2011
My thought would be this: Have you actually gone up a dress size, or needed to buy new pants? Because, if no, then it's totally muscle, and you should feel proud! I rarely, if ever, look at a scale, because I know they can kind of lie to you. You aren't necessarily healthier because you weigh less! You DO need fat on your body to be healthy! And I am also a university student! Congrats on embarking on yet more education! I have heard that we tend to put on more weight, but if you're poling and dancing and stuff, you're counteracting all that sitting in class...as well as helping your brain to work better!
Dancing Paws · 7/19/2011
I can't say anything for sure. Just keep in mind that your are still yung, and your body is still changing.
chemgoddess1 · 7/19/2011
Have you by chance started taking birth control? This is a huge factor for many.
Dancing Paws · 7/19/2011
I second what Chemmie said!
KateSykerd · 7/19/2011
Haha! Its strange you should say that chem, I've just come off the pill! I know I might put on weight/take it off, but I've only been off about 2 weeks after being on it years, so I doubt its that. The only new clothes I've had to buy is bras but to be honest, I haven't brought a new one in ages so that might be it... Happier now :) I guess I was just worried because I do eat a lot more than I used to, and I didn't want all my exercise to be in vein! Thanks for all the advice ladies :) Feeling so much more confident! Yay!
Cocoa0 · 7/20/2011
Throw out your damned scale! It lies!!! The best advice I have ever gotten is to judge your weight by your health. There is a BIG difference between healthy and skinny. If you feel healthy and you don't need to special order Moo-Moos from the Big 'N Tall store you are probably ok.
Anne39 · 7/20/2011
Cocoa0 what great advice and very funny too!
dustbunny · 7/20/2011
I wish there was a "like" button for Cocoa's comment about the moo-moos LOL
heathalynne · 7/20/2011
Your BMI is borderline normal weight to overweight. Did you calculate your body fat %? That'll be more accurate to evaluate if it's muscle or fat. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/body-fat-calculator/ Also a lot of women lose metabolism in their 20s so it's normal. Since you've gone up a bigger dress size and 2 bra sizes, more likely it's body fat than muscle. Since you're eating a lot more, you're compensating more lost cals from exercising. That's good considering you're replacing lost cals but also moderate your portions and watch your cals/fat/sodium intake. Sometimes it depends on what type of exercise you're doing. For some, it's poling, for others it's cardio like running and treadmill. For me, it's vinyasa yoga. I never really lost weight with poling. Here, instead of stone, they call it the "freshman 15". Again, normal! :) Love your body no matter what!
BMI CalculatorBody Fat CalculatorEstimate your body fat percentage using the US Navy method. Get your body fat category with charts for men and women by age.
Runemist34 · 7/20/2011
Cocoa0 has the right idea! Heathalynne - BMI is an inaccurate way of determining weight and health. It wasn't created with such a measurement in mind, nor was it created by someone who was any kind of health practitioner at all! If you want a great example...my husband is "Underweight" according to BMI, and yet he is in great shape. I, of course, am "overweight" on the BMI, and I have never, ever been in this good a shape in my life. I feel wonderful. But I liked your sentiment at the end: Love your body no matter what. ❤️
mynxpole · 7/20/2011
Hey Ladies, I wanted to jump in here too! Cocoa0 is right! You dont need the scale! Take this into consideration.... your muscle mass accounts for approximately 40% of your total body weight! So think about how much muscle you have as a poler! Since I started pole almost 3 years ago Ive put on 30 lbs but actually buy smaller clothes now. So the total weight that scale says is NOT the number to focus on. Its all about how YOU feel. In the pole community we are breaking society's view of pole being related to strippers, so lets break the society view of what healthy is. It doesnt mean that if you are skinny you are healthy, most skinny people who dont work out have a higher body fat content than those that do work out!
amy · 7/20/2011
NPR (national public radio) is a pretty unbiased news source, and they had a great article about the BMI a while back and i think it's REALLY great reading. i highly recommend it =) http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106268439 BMI makes no sense as a measure of physical fitness. i don't own a scale and never have, but as i get more physically fit and more in tune with my body, i have put a lot more faith in my ability to understand what my body needs. being healthy is a process that changes over time. sure, putting on freshman 15 can suck. drinking a lot is not great for you-- moderation of EVERYTHING is key. but, you know that! it's great that you're working out and feeling better about your physical abilities. maybe, as you see yourself improving, you will be more motivated to work harder and be a little healthier. pole was one of the reasons why i stopped smoking a few years ago, after being addicted for over 10 years at almost a pack a day. i feel great and that is more important than my dress size, weight, BMI, or any other number that society or scientists choose to label me with.
Runemist34 · 7/20/2011
Amy, I'm already married but...can I have your babies? ;) This is exactly how I feel about it. I struggle often with the numbers society puts on me (particularly, the ones attached to clothing!) but it's been a long process of sloughing them off, and allowing myself to just...be myself! Even if I do still struggle, I know I'm getting there, and I'm far happier for it.
Sassafrassle · 7/20/2011
Definitely do NOT go by bmi as a measure!! It doesn't take into account ethnic variations or muscle mass or anything like that! As an example, I think most of our rugby players (I live in NZ so it's a typical example!) would be classified as overweight to obese based purely on bmi - and have you seen how sleek and strong those guys are?? Personally, I lost a pile of a weight about 10 years back (c.20kgs) and I've managed to put about 10 of that back on in the past 3-4 years - part of it is what I call Happy Jub (the stuff you put on when you're in a happy stable relationship and the associated eating out etc) but part of that has got to be because of pole and strength work because I probs wouldn't have even gone back up a whole dress size even with the 10kgs and I'm still well below the country average dress size (I don't know the equivalent of NZ sizes to other country sizes so putting down numbers here doesn't mean much but I'm about an NZ 10), despite being borderline "overweight" according to bmi!! It's so important to make sure you tailor your eating to the exercise you do and it's just as important to not undereat as it is to not overeat. If you're a student, you may have subsidised access to uni gym trainers (I know that's what it was like when I was at uni anyway) so it might be worth going and having a chat to them and see if they'll do a body fat percentage test for you - the 2 I've had done before are either with the tanita scales that measure it based on lower body or the skin fold test, which is using calipers to measure particular areas and calculate the figure. This is a much better way of getting an idea of how much is lean muscle and how much is body fat.
reenie aka Mysfit · 7/20/2011
The only true calculation of accuracy is hydrostatic weighing........and most people are not going to pay that kind of money... The BMI calculations are a guideline.....only a guideline. As it was pointed out, they don't take into account a whole bunch of variables. My reccomendation to my clients.......Go with how your clothes fit and how you feel.
heathalynne · 7/21/2011
I agree with all of the above. BMI is just a guideline which is not accurate most of the time. Which is why I recommend using BODY FAT % to determine if it's muscle or fat. It goes by your measurement proportions of forearm, wrist, waist, hips, plus height and weight.
reenie aka Mysfit · 7/21/2011
Yeah...anthropometric measurements are generally more accurate for determining an excess off body fat %. They can be tricky to get an accurate reading though....To measure progress---the measurments must be done in exactly the same spot as the original measurment. But~I use this in combination with a multitude of other tools to assess fitness levels.
Runemist34 · 7/21/2011
Heathalynne, this intrigues me. Why does this calculator only require height and weight for men, but all of those other measurements for women? How does it calculate these things?
reenie aka Mysfit · 7/21/2011
Where did you see those requirements Rune? These measurments(if Heathalynn and I are talking about the same thing) Use a skin caliper to "pinch" measure the excess in particular areas. There is a master chart we use as a gauge.. When I measure women---I generally measure differently than men. Only because men tend to gain weight in different areas than us. Especially around the mid section.
heathalynne · 7/21/2011
@Runemist - IDK, beats me! Lol! It's okay, we don't have to worry about the men. ;) Although Reenie might be onto something about men gaining in diff areas. It just calculates the proportions from wrist to forearm, then waist to hips. Compared to ht/wt. Then there's a chart that says athlete, fitness, acceptable, etc. @Reenie - It's on the link I posted above. The body fat skin caliper and body fat calculator are pretty much the same thing when it come to measuring fat percentage. I want to pick up a BF caliper or if I find the scale that supposedly zaps and measures body fat.
Runemist34 · 7/21/2011
I used the same link as what Heathalynne put up- it's way up at the top there! It says I'm "average," at 26.8% body fat. I find this curious, because I know that if I were to lose the weight I have (I would know, I lost all of it when I was starving for several months, several years ago), my hips go to about 40 inches (I'm currently at 41 inches), and my waist doesn't really change. I put most of my fat pretty evenly through my body, though there is something of a concentration in the thigh region ;) So, how does this thing account for things like, genetically huge hips, like mine? They aren't really fat, it's all mostly bone! Or, what if you've got gigantic, muscly arms, where the wrists are significantly smaller than your big, sexy forearm muscles? I'm always curious about this kind of stuff- as I said, I don't generally like to measure and weigh, but I'm curious because I like to know how things work!
poledanceromance · 7/21/2011
I just needed to jump in this thread with a bit of information because you ladies are singing my song. I find once we set benchmarks for health that have little or nothing to do with actual image, we get more appreciation out of our bodies, become less focused on nitpicking appearance, and find we're more confident in appearance just because of that focus on health. The best two indicators of overall health, particularly for active women whose body muscle to fat ratios are inconsistent with the math for BMI and will mislead scales, are resting heart rate in BPM and total body fat percentage. You can look up what resting heart rate is normal for your age and compare to that by using a stopwatch to count how many beats in 30 sec and doubling it. Take three measurements breathing slowly and evenly in a relaxed state and average those three numbers for a good bench mark. The best way to measure body fat percentage is with a 12 point caliper average. If you look up caliper points, make sure you look up the points for women as they are slightly different from the ones they use on men. If both of those figures are within normal, and your scale or BMI scale says you're not normal, THROW OUT THE SCALES. If you must judge your progress in that sense, go by how you're looking in the mirror and in your clothes. And don't be afraid to directly ask a close mate if they've noticed your progress. Particularly if you've got male mates like I do, they won't always come right out and say they've noticed your hard work. Keep track of those two figures, update them regularly, every 3mos or so. In addition to being a helper for self-esteem when the scale has been lying, it's good info for your doctor to have since their scale won't give them enough info either. And it shows your dr you really look after yourself more than most do.
poledanceromance · 7/21/2011
I should clarify that the calipers are specifically designed to not be thrown off by statistically significant deviations from average in bone mass or muscle mass or whatever as water submersions or other math methods can. They all presume certain percentages and ratios of different tissues in your body that might just not be average. Who the heck wants to be average, anyway? We're all extraordinary just for being able to do pushups. I think that's a good kind of abnormal!
reenie aka Mysfit · 7/21/2011
Hmmm....I will have to do some measuring and see how I compare....LOL Sorry guys~~missed the link in that post. In my mind---the only measurement that I honestly care about it---is the hip/waist ratio as it tells you whether or not you are at a potential higher rate for heart disease. At the end of the day--we all gain/lose weight differently. I have a client who would be considered class 1 obese.......but she isn't. She is 6ft 2 to start with. She weighs 280lbs there abouts, but she is damn near rock solid all over. Large bone frame. Very large bones actually. We bitch about finding a good fit in clothes----holy hannah~~I feel for her. She is ALL legs..... Anyway, going a bit off topic. As for these calculators, really---guidelines. I will see if I can drum up some better resources.....

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