There is a significant difference between weight loss and fat loss. It seems that most people are constantly trying to lose weight, but weight loss continues to be a somewhat controversial topic. The fact is that the terms “weight loss” and “fat loss,” often used interchangeably, have two completely different meanings.

If you are serious about your health, as well as attaining a properly reshaped body, then here’s why it is important to know the difference between weight loss and fat loss.

Weight loss is the process of lowering your overall body weight, which is the sum total of your lean muscle, fat, bones, water, and vital organs. With weight loss, your only concern is that the number on the scale goes down, while the weight you lose could be muscle, water or fat.

Fat loss is the process of lowering your body fat, which is the quantity of overall fat your body holds. With fat loss, you are only getting rid of your excess body fat while preserving your lean body mass and properly reshaping your body in the process.

In most cases, when people say they want to lose weight it is because they have too much fat.

Excess body fat is what makes people overweight or obese, not excess muscle or bones. If a person’s primary focus is to only lose weight, the odds are that they could also be losing lean muscle, which is worth keeping.

Why too much body fat is not healthy for you

It is in your best interest to maintain healthy levels of body fat because if you have excess body fat, this can lead to serious health related issues, such as:

• High blood pressure
• Infertility
• Asthma
• Osteoarthritis
• Back pain
• Liver disease
• Kidney disease
• Sleep apnoea

The health benefits of lean muscle

You should always aim to maintain or increase your lean muscle mass because other than giving you a manly muscular or womanly toned look, lean muscle has multiple health benefits, of which some are:

• It regulates weight control. Lean muscle makes you a calorie-burning machine! The more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest,
• It increases your strength and energy to help you live a more active and better quality life,
• Contributes in supporting your joints, which protects you against injuries,
• It pumps blood and nutrients around the body more efficiently,
• It helps with improved digestion.

Given the adverse health related issues of having too much body fat and the positive health benefits of lean muscle, your primary focus should always be to lose your excess body fat while preserving your lean body mass.

And to achieve that you not only need to have the right balance between what and how much you eat, you also need to know how to exercise to preserve your lean body mass while melting away your excess body fat.

But what would be a healthy level of body fat to aim for? To be in good health and have a sustainable lifestyle that is relatively easy to maintain:

• Men should aim for about 12% to 14% body fat
• Women should aim for about 18% to 20% body fat

The number on the scale only tells you how heavy you are

Let me ask you this. If your only purpose is to lose weight and you weigh 4,41lb (2kg) less a week after starting your “new diet,” what did you lose?

• Was it lean muscle?
• Was it fat?
• Was it water loss?
• Or a combination of all three?

The only answer the scale can give you is that you now weigh less than what you weighed a week ago. It doesn’t tell you if your weight loss was good or bad.

If weighing yourself is not the answer to tracking your fat loss progress, how should you go about doing it? The proper way of measuring your progress is through monitoring your body composition.

Body Composition is the relation between your Lean Body Mass (LBM) and your Body Fat Mass (BFM). In other words how much of your weight is body fat and how much is made up of the rest (lean muscle, bones, water and vital organs). To perform this calculation, you will need to know what is your percentage of body fat and how much you weigh. Calculating your body composition is the only reason why you should ever weigh yourself.

For example, a man weighing 196,21lb (89kg) with a body fat of 27%.

• His Body Fat Mass (BFM) will be 27% of 196,21lb (89kg) = 52,98lb (24,03kg),
• His Lean Body Mass (LBM) will be the balance of 143,23lb (64,97kg).

Tracking your Body Composition on a weekly basis will tell you if you’re losing your body fat and preserving your lean muscle or if you’re losing lean muscle in the process as well.

There are many quick, accurate and inexpensive ways to calculate your body fat percentage in the privacy of your own home. You can use an Accu-Measure Body Fat Caliper, or there is even a method you can use by only taking a few simple measurements with a tape measure.

The best thing about tracking your progress by monitoring your body composition is that it enables you to make adjustments quickly if you’re losing lean muscle instead of body fat.

Weight loss through the deception of water loss

Typically when most people want to lose weight, they go on an abnormal calorie restrictive diet, meaning they start to starve themselves. One of the quickest methods of losing weight for a short duration is to lower your carbohydrate intake. This is because carbohydrates hold up to three times more water than protein or fat. Simply put, reducing your carb intake means your body retains less water, so naturally you will weigh less.

So your initial weight loss, in particular on the very controversial low-carb diet, is mostly water weight loss.

And your excitement will soon turn into disappointment when you start eating a normal amount of carbs again and gain the water weight back. Even worse, if you’ve starved yourself for too long, not only did you slow your metabolic rate down, but chances are you also lost some lean muscle in the process.

Sadly, after your starvation diet you will most likely regain the weight, but with a difference. The regained weight is mostly water and added fat with less lean muscle than before. You might weigh the same or even more than what you weighed before starting your diet, but with less muscle and more fat.

Prevent lean muscle loss at all cost

If your focus is purely on weight loss, and you are probably starving yourself to accomplish this, then odds are you will lose lean muscle in the process. Add to that, neglecting your protein requirements and on top of that do the wrong type of exercise, and it is almost sure that you will lose lean muscle.

Losing lean muscle is never a good thing. It adversely slows down your Metabolism and Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). And when your metabolism slows down you automatically burn fewer calories as a result.

• Metabolism is the term given to all the processes by which your body converts food into energy
• Metabolic rate is the rate at which your body burns energy (calories)
• Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the rate at which your body burns energy for essential bodily functions to keep you alive. Therefore your BMR excludes normal day-to-day activities and exercise

The most important factor that determines your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of fat-free mass you have (muscle, bones and vital organs).

As mentioned before, more lean body mass will make you a calorie-burning machine. The more you have of it, the higher your metabolism, meaning the more calories you burn.

In other words, muscle burns more energy, so it requires more food to sustain it. And that translates into the biggest benefit of all! The more calories you burn, the more you can eat without gaining weight.

Your focus should be on fat loss while preserving your lean muscle

So far we’ve mostly talked about why wanting to lose weight purely for the sake of weighing less is not the best option including the multiple health-related risks that go along with it. If you have a normal level of lean muscle for your body type, but you are overweight, it must be due to carrying too much body fat.

So it makes sense that your focus should be on losing your excess body fat while preserving your lean muscle rather than just losing weight.

But how do you go about doing it the right way?

The first requirement for fat loss is that you need to eat fewer calories than what you burn during the day. Of course, there are many other factors at play, but if you get everything else right and still eat the same amount of calories than what you burn in a day, or eat more, you will not lose the excess fat, period.

A good starting point is to reduce your calorie intake by 20%. Regarding nutrition, you also need to be mindful of your Macronutrients. In other words, you need a certain amount and the right combination of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to melt away your excess body fat while preserving your lean muscle.

To accelerate your results, add the right training solution to the mix. The right workout program will assist in preserving your lean muscle and melting away your excess body fat while keeping your metabolism and basal metabolic rate as stable as possible. Your training solution should be primarily focused on weight training with a secondary focus on cardio.

Conclusion

Focusing on fat loss rather than weight loss is not only healthier for you but is also more sustainable in the long run.

By getting rid of your excess body fat the right way, you are making improvements internally and externally. You are doing this internally, by significantly improving your overall health, and externally you are reshaping your body so that you are left with more muscle and less fat.

You will also enjoy the feel-good factor and confidence booster of feeling great about the way you look. Looking good has nothing to do with vanity. It is just an added benefit of looking after yourself.

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The sole purpose of the information contained in this document is to assist people in making better health and fitness choices to enhance their overall health. No health, fitness or nutrition claims are made, prescribed or diagnosed. You know your medical history and condition best. Never use any part of this information if it might be contraindicated for your medical condition, health, fitness, food intolerances and allergies you may have. Always consult your healthcare professional if in doubt before starting a new nutrition or training program.