Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

I am going to go on a short rant. This post is dedicated to the ladies. Guys can benefit from it, but MOST of the time, men already understand what is being explained here.

Ladies! At some point during your lifetime, I’m sure you have made the statement “ I want to lose some weight!”. One question. What did you picture when you said you wanted to lose weight.. your body looking like this

   

   If the first picture is what you are aiming for then I offer a simple solution. Stop eating. You will lose weight! But in doing so you will be losing muscle mass, bone density, and water. Many of the times there is very little fat loss, If any! But if that’s the goal, I wish you the best in your endeavors.

If you chose the second picture, then the following message is for you!

When you say they want to lose weight.. what you really mean is you want to lose fat. If you are currently following a program or process that is not resulting in fat being lost then stop immediately and regroup!!!!!

The goal to successful weight loss is to preserve as much muscle as possible, or possibly even gain some, while at the same time lose as much body fat as possible. Your body fat % is a key indicator of your success, NOT the scale. In fact, stay off the scale.

I know Telling people to ignore the scale and their weight is not getting us any cool points but it’s the best advice you will ever receive, and for good reason. Too many times successful dieting is sabotaged because of a meaningless number on a scale. A scale does nothing other than measure the force of gravity on your body. Why should this matter at all? It can’t tell you if your clothes fit better, it can’t tell you if your body fat percentage has changed, and it definitely won’t tell you that you’re looking any better.

When you start dieting, it is imperative that you track your progress using methods other than the scale. You need progress measuring tools that are going to track fat loss – not weight loss. Body fat callipers, tape measures, pictures, clothes sizes, and people’s comments are all going to be more useful for you. Don’t worry about your weight – even if it goes up. If you’re looking better, you’re weight doesn’t matter. The only time it matters is when you tell your weight to someone who doesn’t understand the difference between weight loss and fat loss.

DO NOT… I REPEAT… DO NOT let someone else’s ignorance about “weight loss” discourage you from continuing to progress towards your goal

Preserve Muscle While Losing Fat

Alright then, if your goal is fat loss, you are going to need to focus on preserving muscle while losing fat. Notice I did not say gaining muscle, I said preserving muscle.

To prevent muscle loss, make sure you are following these basic guidelines:

• Get in enough calories for your body size and activity level. People tend to sabotage their fat loss progress by eating too little food and too few nutrients resulting in muscle loss. Once you start losing muscle, you are fighting an uphill battle to lose fat. This is one of the main reasons why diets fail. If you do not eat enough calories to maintain your muscle, you will begin to crave certain types of foods because your body signals the need for one of two things, sodium or sugar. Eventually you start having cravings for chips or cake, juice, etc. You eventually binge out because you can’t maintain that low calorie intake and in some cases develop a food addiction.

• Make sure those calories are nutrient dense by having them come from fruits, vegetables, meats, legumes, dairy, and whole grains.

• Aim for calories in the 10-12 times your body weight range. This is a basic rule of thumb… a starting point. You will eventually have to adjust your calories to keep progressing. If you want to know how to properly determine your caloric intake for weight loss, read The Post about Counting Macros

*******DO NOT DEPRIVE YOURSELF OF ANY ONE MACRO. All of these fad diets going around are BS. They work until you add the missing macro source back in and then you will be back to the drawing board. Losing Fat on a balanced diet will help you to maintain the process longer and more likely to keep the weight (fat) off*******

• Try to get in 1 gram of protein per pound of lean body weight, and divide that evenly among 5 meals.

• Eat enough carbohydrates to support your activity level. You can start at 150 grams and adjust from there.

• Fill the rest of your calories with fat – healthy fats and EFAs (essential fatty acids).

• Make sure you exercise and give your muscles a reason to maintain themselves. I highly recommend lifting weights. Yes ladies, lift weights! It is virtually impossible to look like a man from lifting weights. So please let it go.. that is the BIGGEST misconception about the gym. Lifting weights will help you maintain muscle mass and increase your metabolism. If you don’t , your body is going to shed that unneeded muscle and eventually you will hit a plateau. Force your body to preserve it and even grow it by giving it consistent stimulation.

Follow these basic principles and you will reach your true goal of not just losing weight, but losing that unwanted fat, and keeping your beautiful curvy muscular body! Rant over. Eat Smart, Train Hard!!!!!