If you’re losing inches but maintaining your weight and you regularly strength train, you may actually be losing fat and gaining muscle. The process of gaining muscle and losing fat at the same time is called body recomposition. Most scales don’t differentiate between the amounts of body fat and muscle you have.
Regarding this, is it possible to lose pounds and not inches?
If you are on a crash diet or fad diet, you may temporarily lose some weight (it could be water weight or even visceral fat), but this is not likely to affect inches. You have to be in a consistent, steady caloric deficit for true weight loss to start happening.
Then, what happens if you lose weight but not inches? It’s important to consider where the majority of your weight loss is coming from: fat, muscle or water? “If you’re losing weight but not inches, you’re probably losing muscle and water,” Gabbi Berkow, RD, CPT, a registered dietitian and certified personal trainer in New York City, tells LIVESTRONG.com.