# How to visualize fat/muscle volume? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 20, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648 "2008-11-20T14:57:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648/1 "2008-11-20T14:57:54Z")
If I hold several pounds of butter or a jug of oil in my hand — essentially pure fat — is that approximately the same volume one would lose if they diet/exercised off the same number of pounds? Is water a better approximation for weight-to-volume? What about muscle tissue? Is it significantly denser than fat? If someone puts on five pounds of muscle weight, is that the same as five pounds of ribeye, tenderloin, boneless chicken thighs, etc? Which is closest? I realize that these would be loose approximations, but if someone says “I lost ten pounds” or “in three months I’ll lose ten pounds,” I think it would be neat to have a visual idea — especially since the weight comes off of multiple and large areas. As in “wow, you lost 25 pounds? That’s like three gallons of water!” ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648/2 "2008-11-20T15:56:34Z")
[My Pet Fat](http://www.mypetfat.com/thetools.asp)sells anatomically-correct models of human body fat in 1 oz., 1 lb., and 5 lb. versions. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648/3 "2008-11-20T16:40:09Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > If I hold several pounds of butter or a jug of oil in my hand — essentially pure fat — is that approximately the same volume one would lose if they diet/exercised off the same number of pounds? Is water a better approximation for weight-to-volume? What about muscle tissue? Is it significantly denser than fat? If someone puts on five pounds of muscle weight, is that the same as five pounds of ribeye, tenderloin, boneless chicken thighs, etc? Which is closest? > > I realize that these would be loose approximations, but if someone says “I lost ten pounds” or “in three months I’ll lose ten pounds,” I think it would be neat to have a visual idea — especially since the weight comes off of multiple and large areas. As in “wow, you lost 25 pounds? That’s like three gallons of water!” Butter is a good approximation of fat, pound for pound; water is not. If you plan to lose 5 pounds, you probably shouldn’t look at 5 pounds of butter; you might think you could never do it. 🙂 Muscle I’m not so sure about. You probably wouldn’t compare it to beef, because most beef sold for food has marbled fat in it. Maybe chicken, since most fat is subcutaneous in a chicken, but I don’t know how the muscle density compares to humans. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648/4 "2008-11-20T17:08:32Z")
Bullets were once fired into pig carcasses for forensics of bullet wound to people, and then a forensics gelatin was used. Reading about forensics gelatin could help you understand the densities involved in human tissue. Make your own! > **[Do My Homework for Me: 24-Hour Homework Help](https://myscienceproject.org/)** > > MyScienceProject team of experts provides online homework help 24/7. We offer quality services at a reasonable price, just say – do my homework and we'll help. > **[Ballistic gelatin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballistic_gelatin)** > > Ballistic gelatin is a testing medium designed to simulate the effects of bullet wounds in animal muscle tissue. It was developed and improved by Martin Fackler and others in the field of wound ballistics. It is calibrated to match pig muscle, which is ballistically similar to human muscle tissue. > Ballistic gelatin is traditionally a solution of gelatin powder in water. Ballistic gelatin closely simulates the density and viscosity of human and animal muscle tissue, and is used as a standardize... ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-visualize-fat-muscle-volume/473648/5 "2008-11-20T17:51:57Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > [My Pet Fat](http://www.mypetfat.com/thetools.asp)sells anatomically-correct models of human body fat in 1 oz., 1 lb., and 5 lb. versions. Wow, pretty neat idea – but five pounds for $150?! Yikes! > [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Butter is a good approximation of fat, pound for pound; water is not. If you plan to lose 5 pounds, you probably shouldn’t look at 5 pounds of butter; you might think you could never do it. 🙂 > > Muscle I’m not so sure about. You probably wouldn’t compare it to beef, because most beef sold for food has marbled fat in it. Maybe chicken, since most fat is subcutaneous in a chicken, but I don’t know how the muscle density compares to humans. Actually, I think I may like the idea. When you’ve got sixty or seventy to go, five pounds is such a wee drop in the (KFC) bucket – but if we’re talking five boxes o’ butter, that’s a _lot_. Clearly they won’t be in nice rectangular shapes but smooshed in a thin layer and whatnot, but it’s still something to go on rather than a nebulous pound label. As for meat (they’re made of what?), that too is a bit hard to conceptualize in the abstract. But five pounds of chicken is certainly less than five pounds of butter (volume-wise), that too is helpful in motivating the picking up and putting down of heavy objects department.