Why do i look fatter? for Questionland Seattle

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Why do i look fatter?

I've been doing cardio four days a week for an hour a day for about a month, lost at least 14 pounds and quit smoking and drinking coffee. Now instead of looking solid well rounded fat I look sloppy fat. I'm 6' and back down to the 250s, when does the weight loss start looking good instead of worse?

JJM asked in Fitness & Exercise 6 months ago | Report

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Russ Campbell, NWEBS

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You will lose visceral fat, that fat that surrounds your internal organs as well as subcutaneous fat, that which pads your entire body between your muscle and skin. The visceral fat loss is much more important to your overall health and allowing your internal organs to function better with less strain. You can be losing weight internally and not really show the overall physical effects as much as you might expect. The overall health effects, though, are hugely important.

With your internal body cavity slimming down you start to lose that "well rounded fat look". With additional calorie expenditure you will also be losing that subcutaneous fat and will see the physical changes you expect. It is true that it will take time for your skin to tighten up and adjust. Take periodic looks at yourself by measuring circumference of your upper arms, thighs, waist, etc. at weekly (or other) intervals so you can detect the real changes that are occurring. When losing visceral fat those measurements can actually not change much initially, even though you see the scale weight going down. Remember if you build muscle mass through exercise this may even show as an increase measurement to your limbs that will reduce as caloric expenditure goes up with increased muscle tissue and you burn that subcutaneous fat.

BTW, good for you! Keep up your efforts and bravo on the lifestyle changes.

Russ Campbell, NWEBS answered in Fitness & Exercise 6 months ago | Report

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When you lose weight fast like that, it takes some time to redistribute. Skin has to tighten up a bit, stuff has to move around. Gaining weight it's pretty even, losing it is a bit of a shit shoot. The changes in muscle mass are probably making you look a little extra lumpy. Don't worry about it, keep on doing the healthy stuff and your body will work itself out. It's a different process for everyone (and it's been different for me every time I've lost weight).

BasementDweller3 answered in Fitness & Exercise 6 months ago | Report

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Are you doing weight training? A good weight training routine is really important to replace some of that fat you're losing with muscle.

A 14-lb weight loss is also really fast for just one month. If you're not doing weight training, I recommend you start doing that while cutting down on high intensity cardio; my totally amateur opinion is that 30 minutes of intense cardio per workout is just about right, unless you're training for a sport.

keshmeshi answered in Fitness & Exercise 6 months ago | Report

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Cardio isn't best for shaping. Use weight and endurance to do your toning. Get a personal trainer -one experienced in toning and sculpting- if a particular silhouette is more important to you than the other benefits. Overall your engine running well is more important than the surface condition of the body anyway: good health is VERY sexy.

Oh- you don't mention nutrition-- have you made a change here also?
maybe important - the coffee and cigs are drugs, and coming off those addictions your body has a number of reactions that could be at play too. Just about any smoker who's quit will tell you that you gain weight when you quit - the fact you're losing anyway is amazing.
Keep it up -! - when you get close to the ideal BMI you'll likely look great. In the meantime, think of the extra weight and sloppy fat like a bad haircut -- you gotta wait for it to grow out sometimes.

RacerX answered in Fitness & Exercise 5 months ago | Report

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