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Old 09-12-2003, 11:10 PM   #1  
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Question Why do some people just shrink?

I really don't know exactly how to describe this so I will give an example of something that really happened to me this week:

I saw a past co-worker who I have not seen in about seven months. This person weighed in at about 190 the last time I seen her. Well when I first saw her I knew something was different?....she looked still to be overweight but really she was not. She had lost about 45 lbs...bringing her to around 145. Which is a really good weight for her height and bone structure. So here is the problem..

She did not look good!...I would NEVER say that to her..not in a million years...BUT..she looked just like she did before ..only shrunken!!...the what I call "tire tube look" was still there!..just kinda looked like someone plucked at her valve stem. It was not at all attractive.

How do we avoid this look..when we lose weight. Is there something she could have done to prevent this?...Maybe she lost weight too fast?
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Old 09-13-2003, 01:39 AM   #2  
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I'm not sure what you mean with your description, but do you mean she looked out of shape? Maybe she didn't exercise while she lost weight. Exercise is important to tone the muscles, and if you don't exercise while dieting, you can end up looking flabby and your skin will hang more. Losing too fast can also have a negative effect on the end result for a lot of people.
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Old 09-13-2003, 09:36 AM   #3  
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Well..she really did not appear to have alot of lose skin except for her face?..Her pants were fitted so I could see her stomach well..and I guess the best way to describe it is her stomach was not flat at all!..It looked like she still had a roll or the same amount of fat deposits in the same areas...only smaller!
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Old 09-13-2003, 05:16 PM   #4  
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From what you describe, I think it's a lack of exercise, like Suzanne said -- specifically, a lack of muscle-building exercise. You see, if we just "diet" without doing any strength-training exercise (lifting weights), we’ll lose muscle as well as fat — in almost equal amounts, I’ve read . This is a bad thing for several reasons.

First, muscle is metabolically active tissue and burns calories all day and night. Fat, in contrast, is inactive tissue and burns very few calories. I’ve read that a pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories per day and a pound of fat burns only three. So the more muscle we have, the higher our metabolisms will be — so we can eat more and still maintain our weight (or lose).

Second, muscle is smaller than fat. One pound of muscle takes up 1/3 the space of a pound of fat (I’ll try to attach a photo of a pound of fat compared to a pound of muscle). So the more muscle we have, the smaller we are. I weigh 135 pounds and easily fit into size 4’s because my body fat % is fairly low, so a higher percentage of my body is made up of muscle instead of fat. People usually guess I weigh about 115 pounds.

Third, muscles give us tone and definition. You say that your co-worker is still flabby. That's exactly what happens if we lose weight without strengthening our muscles. It's known as being "skinny-fat". If we want to end up with awesome arms that look great in a tank top or a stomach that we can show off at the beach, we have to build muscle.

Many women are afraid to lift weights because they think weights will make them bulk up. Not true! It will only make us smaller and tighter. We don’t have the hormones that would allow us to get huge like male bodybuilders.

Of course, it’s also important to do cardio exercise (aerobic) while we’re losing weight because that’s a great way to burn calories. And what we eat is the third key component of the weight-loss formula. So, in my opinion, the best way to lose weight and look great when we’re done is 1) good nutrition, 2) cardio to burn calories, and 3) lifting weights to build muscle.

These three sure were the magic formula for me — I lost 132 pounds of fat while adding 10 pounds of muscle, for a net loss of 122 pounds in a little less than a year. I’m maintaining that loss by continuing to do all three of those things — every day!

If you’d like more info on weight lifting/strength-training, come visit us at the Ladies Who Lift forum!

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Old 09-13-2003, 05:17 PM   #5  
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Default A Pound Of Muscle And A Pound Of Fat

Forgot the picture!
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Old 09-13-2003, 10:05 PM   #6  
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Skinny, I know exactly what you mean! I've thought the exact same thing about someone I know and have been worried about ending up the same way. Your description was just what I was thinking when I saw them. I realize now that I have got to get in some weight training SOON before I too just look "shrunken".

Meg, thanks for sharing that pic. It really puts things into perspective. I definitely want my weight to be from muscle and not fat. That pic shows the huge difference. The fat is YUCKKK while the muscle looks tight and firm. Really made an impression on me.

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Old 09-14-2003, 02:44 PM   #7  
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Default I've seen that .. ick

I know what your talking about, I saw it with a co-worker too. Not sure time wise if the weight loss was fast, don't think so but she bragged about how all she did was follow plan and she lost the weight. Of course I never thought about it this way.. Am so glad that I work out. Still think there will be some extra skin in the tummy but life goes on, at least it wont be all over.

keep it up..
we're on the right track!!
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Old 09-16-2003, 03:02 AM   #8  
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Default Loved the 'visual' ...thanks!

The picture of the 5# of fat and muscle was wonderful ...ugly and beautiful all at the same time! I printed it and took it to Curves ...very impressive, and motivating ...it makes we want to keep working on building muscle, and loosing the fat ...thanks for the picture!
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Old 09-21-2003, 05:25 PM   #9  
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I know a young woman in her 20's, VERY slim, has never been fat but she still looks "gooshy". She doesn't work out, that's why. Exercise is miraculous!
 
Old 01-16-2004, 05:50 PM   #10  
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Default Too late to reply to this? :D

I work with a young woman (23 or 24) who has told me that she was overweight in high school; that by eating right and exercising she has lost alot of weight. She works out about 5X a week on an elliptical machine; she told me that she is on it for almost an hour, and burns around 600 calories each time. She looks like she might wear size 10 clothes...but she has no muscle definition at all.

I have hinted subtly that she might want to try some light weights, if she wants to "shake up" her routine a bit. I don't know if she will try it...I KNOW that she would be happy with the results in a few months, if she continued that great cardio workout and good nutrition, but added the weights for definition and sculpting.
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Old 01-16-2004, 07:37 PM   #11  
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Holly, I LOVE that- THONGWORTHY! I don't know if I'll ever be thongworthy, but what a great goal!
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Old 01-16-2004, 08:07 PM   #12  
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I had an entirely different thought path... am I going to be drummed out of the Exercise thread? I read (here?) and quote frequently to my dearest DH that it takes a year for the skin to shrink to fit. He has skin roll around the waist but it is not noticeable to anyone but him. It'll be less in a year. He looks shrunken to people whose eyes are used to seeing him surrounded by layers of that fat {see above}.

I've been losing slowly since October 2000. My flabby neck may not ever shrink down and I think I look shrunken. ICK! Wait - MY eyes are used to seeing ME surrounded by layers of fat. And they haven't adjusted yet.

For these folks that look shrunken, wait a bit. Your eyes may adjust. And oh yes - add the weights. Even *I* do light weights every single day.
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Old 01-17-2004, 10:02 PM   #13  
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Question hoping it does not happen to me!

I am so worried this is going to happen to me. I have what some may call a"droopy belly" from having 2 c sections and not having much muscle tone there. So, I have an overhang (that I despise with all of my being). I have been losing weight fairly quickly since I started, but I think that I am balancing it all. What do you think? Eating sensibly, exercise of some form every day. WAter aerobics, body ball, treadmill, and thinking of Pilates VHS. I do have a set of hand weights, will be adding that to my workouts in the next week. Any ideas on what else I could do to work on that problem area?
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Old 01-17-2004, 10:45 PM   #14  
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Jolee,

Every persons body is different, so you might not have any problem with it at all. I definitely have the problem but let me assure you that even dealing with that problem is SOOO much better than the extra weight. I had 7 pregnancies, so my poor stomach has no muscle tone at all and is a total mess, but tight jeans can work wonders at holding it all in!

It sounds like you're doing all the right things, and I've also heard that drinking water helps too. Don't let it stop you though, even the droopy belly is easier to deal with once it gets smaller. I will never have a bikini figure, but it is amazing what you can hide with your clothes.

Keep up the great work! You'll be reaching that summer goal before you know it!
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Old 01-17-2004, 11:58 PM   #15  
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I am also petrified that my post pregnancy tummy pouch won't go away. A surgeon who I went to for an umbilical hernia repair said that no amount of diet or exercise would fix my sagging gut. Plastic surgery would be the only route. I almost cried when I heard that. But now that I'm dieting and exercising (running/biking), "the pouch" is looking better. I would like some advise about what kinds of isolated or zone specific exercises that I could do. Oh, by the way I only gained 32 and 37 pounds for both pregnancies the highest weight I reached was 186. It's not like I gained 50 or 60 pounds and my gut is hanging down to my knees!

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