Discussion Board

I have often heard that muscle weighs more than fat. That when you start building more muscle that you may not lose weight, but stay the same. I was wondering if that was true. How much should I depend on the scale. I am 43 yr. old female and I am 5'7 and weigh 144 lbs. I do eat Mcdougall way of eating and I work out 6 days a week. I do 3 biking classes a week, 1 boot camp class and the other two days I lift weights and do some other form of cardio ( Kickboxing, step or elliptical). I do lift heavy one day a week when I do weights. My goal is to build a little more muscle, especially in my arms. I noticed that I feel like I have lost weight, but it is not showing on the scale.

Plus I know that you have covered this before, but protein myths are everywhere. My sister is doing a protein shake so that she can build more muscle. While I don't believe it will help me build more muscle, I was wondering if it would help my preformance to eat more protein rich foods.
Thanks, Kathy

Kathy,

A pound of muscle weighs as much as a pound of fat - 1 lb! But the lb of muscle takes up less space. So it is possible, as you build skeletal muscle, to have your weight stay relatively close to the same while you take up less space.

Here is an image showing the comparison of muscle to fat, same weight, difference space:
Body Fat Percentage vs. Body Weight

Protein madness and special interests, aka the #1 thing I learned in plant-based nutrition school

If you are working out hard, you need more protein, but realize you just need more calories which will bring more protein right along with it. The idea of pounding down more protein as if our muscles are just going to lap it up and pack on the strapping poundage is hard to die. No matter, I don't mind answering the question again and again.

You might be interested in my column today at Engine 2 Diet; I have a Q and A column there every Tuesday:
Plant-strong Q&A with fitness expert, Lani!

Hope this helps!

Lani