Why the Scale Doesn’t Really Mean Anything

I lost 30 pounds approximately in around 3 months during my recent heart health issue. That averages around 10 pounds per month of weight loss.

So if I started out fairly lean before the 30 pounds of weight loss then I must have been totally shredded after losing 30 pounds? Unfortunately that is not how things work.

Let’s get into the math a bit of what happened:

10 Pounds is equal to 35,000 calories as an energy comparison when in fat stores, normally to lose 10 pounds of fat in a month, one would need to be in a 1200 calorie deficit everyday consistently. So if was burning 3000 calories per day via my BMR (Base Metabolic Rate) and combined activity, then I would need to be eating 1800 calories per day to be in a 1200 calorie deficit.

So unless I was in such a deficit every day for those 3 months, how is it possible to lose that much weight so quickly?

I can guarantee I was not in a calorie deficit during this time, there where of course days where I ate very little but other days I ate like a horse and during this time my actively was either zero to not much above zero. Meaning I was most likely only burning around 2000 calories or just above per day. I would need to be eating 800 calories per day to be in a 1200 calorie deceit to lose so much weight!

So what the heck was going on then?

Muscle has a water consistency of around 80% while fat has a water consistency of 20%.

Out of 10 pounds of muscle, 2 pounds is cellular, while out of 10 pounds of fat, 8 pounds is cellular. As you know, water has zero calories so the energy from either muscle or fat has to come from the cellular tissue. This means fat has approximately 4 to 5 times the energy per pound compared to muscle so you should be able to gain 4 to 5 pounds of muscle while losing 1 pound of fat while maintaining a neutral calorie input.

Example of what this means:

If I weighed 180 pounds and gain 8 pounds of muscle while losing 2 pounds of fat, I would end up weighing 186 pounds without having to eat in a calorie surplus.

This is one reason why a person can be in a moderate diet (calorie deficit) and actually gain weight at the same time. This can happen when a person is dedicated to weight training at the same time and is able to put on a fair amount of muscle during the diet phase. As a person get’s leaner this does get harder to do as fat stores are not as prevalent and the bodies ability to continue to gain muscle has it’s limitations.

TRT 5 Weeks In - How Do I Feel

A week back I made more of a physique update video after being on TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) for a month now (Dose of 100mg per week). I didn't really go over how I am feeling now where I talk about stuff like mood, energy, motivation, sleep, mental cognition, sex drive. These factors are just as important or maybe even more important than what the TRT does for me physically and for sure need to be talked about and that's just what I do in this video.

 

TRT One Month In

A month into my TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) and there have been some changes for sure! During this time I did do a 2 week mini cut in preparation for my Cruise trip, damage control if you will. Of course the cruise itself was a lot eating and so this too is a factor but I am going to say that the mini cut did offset some of the eating for the most part but not all of it as I feel I am up a little bit up in body fat from pre TRT.

I started out at 185 pounds, two weeks in I was 190 pounds but again keep in mind I was mini cutting all that time. I then went on my Cruise and of course gained some weight, pretty sure I hit 202 on the ship but bounced back down to around 195-197 after a few days back eating a bit better.

So now 1 month into my 100mg per week TRT and I am sitting right around 196-198 for sure holding more muscle than before TRT and I do feel stronger in the gym. I want to trim off some of the fat and get down to around the 190 mark as my goal now is not so much size but rather health and if I can be a lean 190 pounds, I know for my frame that will look good and not be to strenuous on my body or require a lot of work to hold on to.

So for now I will stay the program and see where it takes me, I am happy so far with how I feel and the results I am getting in the gym and how I am looking. I will have an upcoming appointment with my TRT doctor to make sure my Testosterone is hitting the mark he has set for me of around 22 nmol/L. I may need to make an adjustment afterwards but for now things are feeling a lot better.

 

Post Cruise Physique Update

So I am not going to lie, I for sure gained some weight on my cruise as was expected! At one point on the cruise ship I was up over 10 pounds hitting 202 pounds, I am now back down to around 195 pounds which is still 5 pounds over my weight before the Cruise.

I am actually pretty happy with this, as I feel I lost close to 5 pounds of fat leading up to the cruise and so my weight now is more of a refection of what the TRT is really doing as my pre TRT weight was around 185 pounds. Not all of the 10 pounds is muscle, but some for sure is, the rest will be water weight and maybe just a bit of fat but I am feeling stronger and I feel the work I am doing in the gym is now paying off more.

I do want to get down closer to 190 pounds and be a bit leaner, I am fairly happy with my muscle mass now but of course I don't mind gaining a bit more muscle as long as I keep my weight down around that 190 pound range, so being leaner is for sure a priority...

I did try a different camera for this video as I was not 100% happy with the Hovercam X1 video as it seemed to be a bit grainy in the indoor lighting I was using. I should of stuck with the Hovercam X1 for continuity reasons as the Insta360 I used with the 1 inch lens I feel softened the look of the video and blew out the contrast a lot which does not make for a good comparison.

I will probably switch back to the Hovercam X1 for my 1 month post TRT Update Video I plan to shoot tomorrow, so hopefully I can properly represent the changes that have been taking place over the past 4 weeks.

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