Most of us worry about some pounds gained and probable weight loss from time to time, and usually, this is very much related to the number we see on the scales.
Well, sometimes weight is truly just a number, and these strength training lovers will prove it to you. Compiled by Bored Panda, these before and after photos show that weighing yourself isn't always the best way to see whether or not you are actually getting a toned body, and you definitely don't need to starve yourself or go on a very strict diet to see the actual difference.
Even though these photos show that you can maintain your weight by weight lifting and some serious muscle gain and still look stunning, some people did choose the other path, and their results are inspiring nonetheless. Different physiques require different choices!
Scroll down to see how incredible these women look without losing a single pound, yet gaining incredible muscle tone!
This post may include affiliate links.
The Scale Doesn't Measure Sexy
For Anyone Fretting Over “Holiday Weight” This Is Your Reminder To Screw The F***ing Scale!
Nothing Quite Like A Reminder That Weight Can Be Deceiving, Age Means Nothing And Healthy Looks Different
Pleaseeeeee Stop Getting Hung Up On The Number On The Stupid Scale! Please Stop Thinking Your Weight Equals Your Progress And For The Love Of Everything Please Stop Letting Yor Weight Have Any Affect Whatsoever On Your Self Esteem, Like I Used To
Same Weight - Different Year And Shape
Stop Letting The Scale Determine Your Success - It’s Literally Just A Number!
For people confused, it's a loss of weight and gain of muscle mass (which is heavier than fat obviously)
Muscle is leaner than fat, however a pound of fat weighs the same as a pound of muscle and a pound of bricks and a pound of feathers... everyone need to quit saying that fat is heavier, its not, its just more mass than a pound of muscle
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I wish someone had explained that too me a long time ago. I use to go to the gym faithfully, every single day but my weight stayed the same so after 6 months I gave up. Looking back at my pictures, I can plainly see the huge difference in my body shape while I was going thru this. I should have kept it up!
You can start again right now! Find a youtube video for a 10 minute workout, do it, do it again tomorrow. Keep doing it!
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a pound of muscle is SMALLER than a pound of fat but still weighs the same. Like a pound box of cotton balls versus a pound box of rocks. One's gonna be bigger in size but they weigh the same. Obviously as her photo proves, fat takes up more space than muscle mass.
for those confused, those people aren't muscular enough to pack on that much weight
Great work, I admire that, the effort put in to having a good healthy body
How do you have self motivation...i need some bad...i want to loose weight before summer
Start small! Just find a YouTube video of something you like to do for a short amount of time. Keep doing it!
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I do not understand how this one is possible. She really hasn't lost weight? I don't know I believe this one...
Muscles have a higher density then fat, so it's very possible to lose inches without losing pounds.
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First photo is much closer up, and she looks a lot heavier than 145 lbs. Is that really the same woman. Much better on the right though.
Throw Away The Scale!!!!!!!
Now This Is A Very Common Question I Always Get Asked. “How Much Weight Have You Lost Since The Start Of Your Fitness Journey?!” Uhmmmm. The Truth Is That I Have Stayed Almost The Exact Same Weight As When I Started
I Weighed Myself Today For The First Time In Forever...i’m Exactly The Same Weight As When I Started Last June!
Age 26, 5'8'', 137 Lbs. My Weight Has Stayed Constant Since I Began Lifting
Don't you find your quality of life is restricted with big black discs on your head? :p
This Is A Little Reminder That Number On The Scale Is Just Number. Your Weight Doesn’t Equal Your Progress!
Would You Care If Your Weight Stayed The Same, If Your Body Composition Completely Changed?
And This Is Why The Scale Should Not Be The Main Measurement Of Progress Or Health. The Scale Does Not Differentiate Between Muscle, Fat, Water, And Organs
Muscle weighs more than fat, hence, she loses Bodyfat through sweat and carbon dioxide, and gains lean mass in turn. :)
Screw The Scale, Seriously.
I Get Asked All The Time "How Much Do You Weigh?"
you look great, but that's still rude for people to ask that... I mean, come on. but great work, you look wonderful!
It Was Never My Goal To Be Skinny
Scales Versus Pictures
By The Scales Standards And My Old Way Of Thinking, I'm Failing At This Weightloss Thing.
That's the kind of thinking they have on those weight loss shows like Biggest Loser. They dont have a clue how fitness works...they're so focused on the scale.
Guess What, Exactly The Same Weight In Both!
It's A Comparison Of Over A Year. This Transformation Could Be Done Within 3 Months
In Both Of These Pictures I’m The Exact Same Weight, Normally I Would Be Devastated And Feel Like I’ve Failed. One Of The Biggest Things I’ve Achieved On This Challenge Is To Ditch The Scales And Learn To Feel And See The Changes I’m Making To My Body
Some Things Change: 2014 And 2016
I Feel Like I Haven’t Posted A Transformation In A While, So Here You Go! Same Weight And Such A Difference
This Is My Proof That It's Not All About The Scale!
Don't Be Fooled Or Ruled By The Number On The Scale!!!
Same Weight But Different Body Fat!
BINGO!! This is not Rocket Science either. Muscle is much denser, and takes up less space. Why are people so surprised at this revelation? 00-banghea...083768.gif 
OK, this is the type of post on weight that I love. People working to get healthy. Great job, ladies, and men.
Great job ladies! The scale is very deceiving, if anyone asks how much you weigh, there's a simple answer: "One hundred and Sexy!"
I was always told when you are dieting and/or working out (whether to lose weight or gain) never use a scale, use the mirror, mirrors never lie. Go by what your eye finds appealing not what a number says.
For me it was the way clothes fit. I lost 40lbs and then started working on muscle tone. I went from a size 12 to 4. Haven't stepped on a scale in a year and don't plan to any time soon. On the negative, when you do tone up you do notice every extra lb. No scale necessary.
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so from my understanding, muscle weighs more than fat, but it's more condensed so takes up less space. I reckon if you compared waist size you'd see the difference, they all look great though (before AND after).
muscle weights around 6 times more than fat in equal volume.
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But have you noticed that all these chicks were skinny to begin with before they toned themselves, if I, who is actually obese, were to do the same thing the scales WOULD show that I'd lost a lot of weight before it started coming back on as muscle tone
You're absolutely right- results will vary. But I think the message here is to not just focus on weight, instead, focus on improving your health. Exercise, eat right, and don't worry about the stupid scale.
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Wow - this thread could not have come at a better time! Thank you!!!! I have been working really hard to lose weight and more importantly, tone and slim. I've not been doing it for very long but I have been careful with what I eat and doing a hard 90 minute workout every other day for the last 2 months. And I've been starting to get seriously disheartened because my weekly weight is just not changing. I have lost about 3lb in all that time. But.....I feel better...I can see my tummy starting to tighten, and I can feel my clothes getting looser. I just never realised exactly HOW much of a change there can be in your body shape, without actually changing your overall weight. This thread has made me realise that my weekly weigh-in is not the ultimate measurement of my progress. I honestly don't care how much I weigh, as long as I feel fit and healthy and can wear the clothes I like. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this has helped with my morale!
I have a flat stomach when I stand up straight and a considerably 'fat' stomach and double neck when I slouch. Fun fact, posture also changes everything.
All of these comments; "don't care about the scale!" ...... yet they all obviously do, obsessively.
Your weight is IMPORTANT, not meaningless. Well intentioned slogan fails miserably.
Question about selfies: why is it common for the person to partially block their face w the phone, and why do a lot of people look at the phone instead of straight ahead (or the reflection of the lens in the mirror?)
They might not want to show their face. They look at the phone to see the exact image they're capturing.
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Why are all of them women? Is it only important for women how do we look? Just be happy with what you have, if you want to work out, work out, if you don't enjoy without it. Life is short.
Agree. I see a lot of pretty women on streets but none of them are worked out. I think a lot of worked out women has many complexus about herself and there are a lot of men, who feels himself not enough masculim and starts to fun about worked out women. Such men yelling full the Internet with "the good woman is a worked out woman."
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Weight most assuredly is not meaningless. It's just not the only thing to take into consideration.
Exactly. This article is very misleading. Weight is for sure important, but it needs to be measured along with fat percentage, sizes and such to get a proper understanding of someone's health.
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The title seems to imply that you don't need to do anything and maby 'suk it in'. Muscles weigh more than fat that's why.
This post seems to devalue the importance of having and wanting to get a healthy body. Seems like really bad advertising Boredpanda. But then again Boredpanda doesnt really have morals. They have revenue goals.
People will rarely give you proper answers to this question. But the real solution is having a really LOW FAT percentage. It does not matter how many crunches you do. Even if you have insane belly muscles you won't see s**t if you have a layer of fat on it. The main reason you see abs on people is because first of all they have a really really low fat percentage. You don't even need that much muscle. If you have really low fat percentage you will see them. If you have alot of muscles and a layer of fat you won't.
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This confirms what I've been saying for years. Something that I'm amazed about, is the fact many people take BMI as gospel. They don't realise that muscle ways more than fat, so you could weigh more than before but that's due to losing fat and gaining muscle. I can't believe that it's still being used in the medical field to determine someone's ideal weight depending on their height. It's utter nonsense.
Oh my god, I meant weighs, not ways! Cocking autocorrect!
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join the weight loss inspiratio n page on instagram and our community will help you in weight loss https://www.instagram.com/weightlosssecret_1/
My OH took control of his weight and body shape,and he calls these No Scales Victories. Don't worry about the numbers, it's the shape and tissue balance that matter the most.
Thank you for the posted pics - certainly are heaps people who have worked hard . From my personal experience I can tell you that If you like idea of losing weight & getting fit but maybe the bodies here look a little scary, you can still have a tight body & feel more energetic without the six pack and defined muscles. I did GYM & Aerobics (incl weight training) 3 times week for years plus a year or 2 of Personal Training & NEVER looked like these guys (they look great btw just wasn’t for me). Simple Fact - MUSCLE IS HEAVIER THAN FAT - that’s it. If you build even a tiny bit of muscle You Will Notice the difference in your body. Some light weights every week done correctly (slow methodical movements breathing correctly keeping yr stomach in & feet flat on floor eyes up etc - repeating each exercise 3 reps @ a time) will do it for you & Weigh training Increases your bone density as well - something we all need as we grow older.
Remember, guys; when you say you wanna lose weight, you really wanna get rid of fat. Trash the scale.
We are talking about weight and muscles ? Men are not concerned about weight and muscles ? This kinf of publication serves only to strengthen the female ego, already well inflated. He does not talk about weight, he talks about the weight of women. The men are always judged very severely by these women who preach the acceptance of the body of his neighbor. There is hypocrisy in the air.
Muscle waigh way more than fat but unfortunately some of these pictures show wrong (too low) weight for the before pictures.
I weigh the same as I did 10 years ago - and I used to starve myself! Don't do that now, exercise 4 times a week and ear properly - you have to put the work in to get what you want!
I would like to say that reaching a better health goal for any person, is a feat many cannot stick to and follow up on. They all look wonderful . Congratulations to all for a happier and healthier life :) :)
wow, looking at the comments people really have an issue with muscular women... wtf
Hm. I find most of the before photos perfectly nice looking. Now, the athletic look ist way better than the bony one that prevailed for so many decades, but, still: We women are way too hard on ourselves.
This is because muscle is denser than fat, when your clothes get tighter and you get stronger then you know you're doing well!!
I think these should be on the wall of every female public bathroom. Skinny is not fit. Thanks for publishing this
I can't be the only person who thinks that most of these people look strange in the after photo right? I understand they are more muscular, but their waists make them look strange, and in my mind not as attractive body wise. In the pictures with faces even their faces don't look at cute or nice. Maybe the pants make their waists look out of proportion? Just my thoughts while scrolling through.
It seems like you've judged the whole article on your misunderstanding of the title, which as a book reviewer would be like literally to judging a book by it's cover.
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It's supposed to say: "It's not always weight you need to lose, sometimes you need to gain muscles"
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LOL if you spent much time exercising you'd know this is common, and definitely true. LOL again because it was that stupid.
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It's not about that, it's about how so many people, specially women, focus too much on weight when trying to get fit when you shouldn't because as you lose fat, you gain muscle, and your body changes but the weight can stay the same or even increase. So the numbers don't matter, is what this post is about.
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They don't and if they did the point they're making would still be valid, that weight alone does not mean you're not making any progress because Muscles weight more than fat.
Load More Replies... BINGO!! This is not Rocket Science either. Muscle is much denser, and takes up less space. Why are people so surprised at this revelation? 00-banghea...083768.gif
OK, this is the type of post on weight that I love. People working to get healthy. Great job, ladies, and men.
Great job ladies! The scale is very deceiving, if anyone asks how much you weigh, there's a simple answer: "One hundred and Sexy!"
I was always told when you are dieting and/or working out (whether to lose weight or gain) never use a scale, use the mirror, mirrors never lie. Go by what your eye finds appealing not what a number says.
For me it was the way clothes fit. I lost 40lbs and then started working on muscle tone. I went from a size 12 to 4. Haven't stepped on a scale in a year and don't plan to any time soon. On the negative, when you do tone up you do notice every extra lb. No scale necessary.
Load More Replies... so from my understanding, muscle weighs more than fat, but it's more condensed so takes up less space. I reckon if you compared waist size you'd see the difference, they all look great though (before AND after).
muscle weights around 6 times more than fat in equal volume.
Load More Replies... But have you noticed that all these chicks were skinny to begin with before they toned themselves, if I, who is actually obese, were to do the same thing the scales WOULD show that I'd lost a lot of weight before it started coming back on as muscle tone
You're absolutely right- results will vary. But I think the message here is to not just focus on weight, instead, focus on improving your health. Exercise, eat right, and don't worry about the stupid scale.
Load More Replies... Wow - this thread could not have come at a better time! Thank you!!!! I have been working really hard to lose weight and more importantly, tone and slim. I've not been doing it for very long but I have been careful with what I eat and doing a hard 90 minute workout every other day for the last 2 months. And I've been starting to get seriously disheartened because my weekly weight is just not changing. I have lost about 3lb in all that time. But.....I feel better...I can see my tummy starting to tighten, and I can feel my clothes getting looser. I just never realised exactly HOW much of a change there can be in your body shape, without actually changing your overall weight. This thread has made me realise that my weekly weigh-in is not the ultimate measurement of my progress. I honestly don't care how much I weigh, as long as I feel fit and healthy and can wear the clothes I like. Thank you so much! You have no idea how much this has helped with my morale!
I have a flat stomach when I stand up straight and a considerably 'fat' stomach and double neck when I slouch. Fun fact, posture also changes everything.
All of these comments; "don't care about the scale!" ...... yet they all obviously do, obsessively.
Your weight is IMPORTANT, not meaningless. Well intentioned slogan fails miserably.
Question about selfies: why is it common for the person to partially block their face w the phone, and why do a lot of people look at the phone instead of straight ahead (or the reflection of the lens in the mirror?)
They might not want to show their face. They look at the phone to see the exact image they're capturing.
Load More Replies... Why are all of them women? Is it only important for women how do we look? Just be happy with what you have, if you want to work out, work out, if you don't enjoy without it. Life is short.
Agree. I see a lot of pretty women on streets but none of them are worked out. I think a lot of worked out women has many complexus about herself and there are a lot of men, who feels himself not enough masculim and starts to fun about worked out women. Such men yelling full the Internet with "the good woman is a worked out woman."
Load More Replies... Weight most assuredly is not meaningless. It's just not the only thing to take into consideration.
Exactly. This article is very misleading. Weight is for sure important, but it needs to be measured along with fat percentage, sizes and such to get a proper understanding of someone's health.
Load More Replies... The title seems to imply that you don't need to do anything and maby 'suk it in'. Muscles weigh more than fat that's why.
This post seems to devalue the importance of having and wanting to get a healthy body. Seems like really bad advertising Boredpanda. But then again Boredpanda doesnt really have morals. They have revenue goals.
People will rarely give you proper answers to this question. But the real solution is having a really LOW FAT percentage. It does not matter how many crunches you do. Even if you have insane belly muscles you won't see s**t if you have a layer of fat on it. The main reason you see abs on people is because first of all they have a really really low fat percentage. You don't even need that much muscle. If you have really low fat percentage you will see them. If you have alot of muscles and a layer of fat you won't.
Load More Replies... This confirms what I've been saying for years. Something that I'm amazed about, is the fact many people take BMI as gospel. They don't realise that muscle ways more than fat, so you could weigh more than before but that's due to losing fat and gaining muscle. I can't believe that it's still being used in the medical field to determine someone's ideal weight depending on their height. It's utter nonsense.
Oh my god, I meant weighs, not ways! Cocking autocorrect!
Load More Replies... join the weight loss inspiratio n page on instagram and our community will help you in weight loss https://www.instagram.com/weightlosssecret_1/
My OH took control of his weight and body shape,and he calls these No Scales Victories. Don't worry about the numbers, it's the shape and tissue balance that matter the most.
Thank you for the posted pics - certainly are heaps people who have worked hard . From my personal experience I can tell you that If you like idea of losing weight & getting fit but maybe the bodies here look a little scary, you can still have a tight body & feel more energetic without the six pack and defined muscles. I did GYM & Aerobics (incl weight training) 3 times week for years plus a year or 2 of Personal Training & NEVER looked like these guys (they look great btw just wasn’t for me). Simple Fact - MUSCLE IS HEAVIER THAN FAT - that’s it. If you build even a tiny bit of muscle You Will Notice the difference in your body. Some light weights every week done correctly (slow methodical movements breathing correctly keeping yr stomach in & feet flat on floor eyes up etc - repeating each exercise 3 reps @ a time) will do it for you & Weigh training Increases your bone density as well - something we all need as we grow older.
Remember, guys; when you say you wanna lose weight, you really wanna get rid of fat. Trash the scale.
We are talking about weight and muscles ? Men are not concerned about weight and muscles ? This kinf of publication serves only to strengthen the female ego, already well inflated. He does not talk about weight, he talks about the weight of women. The men are always judged very severely by these women who preach the acceptance of the body of his neighbor. There is hypocrisy in the air.
Muscle waigh way more than fat but unfortunately some of these pictures show wrong (too low) weight for the before pictures.
I weigh the same as I did 10 years ago - and I used to starve myself! Don't do that now, exercise 4 times a week and ear properly - you have to put the work in to get what you want!
I would like to say that reaching a better health goal for any person, is a feat many cannot stick to and follow up on. They all look wonderful . Congratulations to all for a happier and healthier life :) :)
wow, looking at the comments people really have an issue with muscular women... wtf
Hm. I find most of the before photos perfectly nice looking. Now, the athletic look ist way better than the bony one that prevailed for so many decades, but, still: We women are way too hard on ourselves.
This is because muscle is denser than fat, when your clothes get tighter and you get stronger then you know you're doing well!!
I think these should be on the wall of every female public bathroom. Skinny is not fit. Thanks for publishing this
I can't be the only person who thinks that most of these people look strange in the after photo right? I understand they are more muscular, but their waists make them look strange, and in my mind not as attractive body wise. In the pictures with faces even their faces don't look at cute or nice. Maybe the pants make their waists look out of proportion? Just my thoughts while scrolling through.
It seems like you've judged the whole article on your misunderstanding of the title, which as a book reviewer would be like literally to judging a book by it's cover.
Load More Replies... It's supposed to say: "It's not always weight you need to lose, sometimes you need to gain muscles"
Load More Replies... LOL if you spent much time exercising you'd know this is common, and definitely true. LOL again because it was that stupid.
Load More Replies... It's not about that, it's about how so many people, specially women, focus too much on weight when trying to get fit when you shouldn't because as you lose fat, you gain muscle, and your body changes but the weight can stay the same or even increase. So the numbers don't matter, is what this post is about.
Load More Replies... They don't and if they did the point they're making would still be valid, that weight alone does not mean you're not making any progress because Muscles weight more than fat.
Load More Replies...