Good morning everyone! I hope you are having a great day today!

Okay, so this weekend (friday-sunday), I splurged a little... but stayed within my calories every day but one. However, I still got some cardio in each day. Now, yesterday I finally started trying to work some body weight exercises for strength training. I did some push ups, some crunches and some lunges. The workout room at my apartment complex doesn't have any weights or weight machines, so for now, I am stuck doing body weight exercises at home.

Anyways... as some of you may know, I gained some weight back after last week's 3+ lb weight loss. It sucks, but because I know I haven't strayed off plan too badly, I am not that concerned. I am totally back OP now, and I upped my water intake.. so we'll see if the scale drops at all.

So, I went to take the dog out this morning. And even though I am still up those 2 lbs... my pants felt even looser today. I also looked pretty good in the mirror.

Considering I JUST started body weight exercises yesterday, I don't expect to have lost inches yet, LOL. So, I am looking at it from a purely cardio standpoint right now.

Is it possible to lose inches and NOT lose weight, when only doing cardio? I was always under the impression that such a phenomenon only happens when doing weight training because you are just swapping muscle for fat. Since cardio doesn't build muscle, I wouldn't expect that to have happened to me... but the loose pants are a curious find. What do you think?

I say most things are possible.

Abdominal size can shift a couple of inches either way due to bloating or water weight. So you may be seeing some normal, temporary fluctuation. Another consideration is that we don't necessarily lose weight evenly. Our bodies tend to lose first where they lose, and stick where it sticks. It kind of redistributes throughout the weight loss process and the first few months of maintenance.

Yes, to build muscle you need to do strength training, that is, challenge your muscles to work harder than "normal" so they can break down and rebuild stronger. However, cardio exercises may include some muscle-challenging component. And strength training can definitely get your heart rate up and have some cardio benefit.

But, to answer your question, IMO, I think that you are likely seeing some temporary fluctuations due to fluid shifts. You have to look at the progress over weeks/months to assess weight and inches lost. Just keep it up, you are on the right track!! I love body weight exercise, there's SO much you can do there. For variety, you might consider buying elastic bands to work with, they can be very effective too and don't take up any space to store.