Chitown_Mike

Figured some might have come across this on here, but has anyone visibly lost weight but not actually seen a significantly smaller number on the scale?

Since I got back into cycling earlier this summer I have put probably around 1000 miles in a couple of months on the bike. Not all of it tracked because I didn't do it BUT I have noticed a "slimming" of the midriff area and (not-so)love handles. But despite that I find my pants fitting tighter, in the sense I used to be able to just undo the belt and pull them off but now I need to undo the button to get them off. The thighs is where they seem the tightest when before it was the waist.

A little info on me in case someone is wondering, I am one of those guys who can easily pack on muscle when I work out. I have lost maybe 6-7 lbs and even then my pants were very loose, now they seem tighter. It is also apparent that my legs are stronger, not just based on my rides, but they is muy sexy and I haven't had them this buff since I was a gym rat 10 years ago.

So anyone else run into this before? Go from thunder thighs to thighs of thunder powa?

Plan for the winter is to ride when I can, probably borrow my dad's hybrid and park my old roadie, and use my TRX for a lot of upper body and core exercises. Will I perhaps seen a loosening of the pants then?

AbundantChoice

Yup, happened to me when I was doing a bunch of weight training and lesser cardio at the same time. My weight loss plateau'd, but my BMI kept dropping, as I was replacing fat with muscle. It was most noticeable in my arms and legs, and I even lost 2 inches at one point around my waist without dropping a pound.

krobinson103

Been steady at 85kg for 2 months now, but I just keep on losing fat and gaining muscle. Weight isn't everything. I don't do anything except ride about 1000 miles a month every day no rest days. I can even see all my abs now. Best shape I've been in for 20 years.

Big Pete 1982

Yeah, I used to stress out about it when that would happen. But I think I was just overly fixated on weight loss numbers and goals. Trimming up and gaining a bit of muscle while losing fat is never a bad thing though. Now, even though I do keep track of my weight, I pay less attention to it as far as goals go. I just want to drop a few more pant sizes and get to a "look good with my shirt off" place!

jeepseahawk

Same here, staying the same but 2 sizes down on shirts and pants.

brawlo

I'm hovering around 120kg at the moment. Lots of people have been commenting on how much weight I've lost, but I've lost none in 6 months. I race track and have been concentrating on hitting heavy weights twice a week over the winter. It's a 2 year plan to build the muscle and then hone it for power at a later stage. I've still been riding at least twice a week, but not long or intense efforts, just enough to keep the legs in tune. Over our coming summer, I'll be doing club road racing once a week (only 20km), track racing once a week and track training (1 or 2/wk). If I get the chance, there will likely be a more casual road ride or 2 on the weekends. So over the summer I fully expect to drop a bit more of the fat and perhaps some muscle as I reduce the weights and tune the muscle on the bike.

I have noticed that like you I have put on a bit of size but for me it's around the hips/waist. I think for me that is due to core muscles building up (I'm hitting them fairly hard as part of the weights), combined with the lack of higher intensity cardio to bust the fat. So I'm pushing the fat out a bit with the muscle.

I used to weigh 150kg and when I finally got serious about losing weight, I found myself loving the idea of powerlifting. Very early in that journey I learned to ignore the scales and watch the gut shrink, as I discovered I had a bit of a knack for putting on muscle. I went down to 145kg and stayed there for 18months, while going from size 48 jeans down to 42s.

DieselDan

You can convert fat to muscle and not lose weight. BMI does not account for lean muscle mass.

Chitown_Mike

Thanks all so far, I wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy! Like I said it sort of happened before but not like this, but then again I wasn't cycling so maybe that's why. I have a "weigh" goal of 215 lbs and currently I am bordering 240 so I have a winter of less riding and more upper/core exercises so I am hoping that I will balance out so to speak.