Weight Loss And Fat Loss -What’s The Difference And Should You Care?

Weight loss is considered to be one of the most talked-about topics ever.

Since people have become more health-conscious, every person wants to lose more weight. Many people use the terms ‘fat loss’ and ‘weight loss’ interchangeably.

However, they are different!

In this post, we’ve discussed everything to help you understand the difference between fat loss and weight loss.

In the beginning, you should understand the basic definitions of these terms.

The Main Difference Between Weight Loss And Fat Loss

Weight Loss VS Fat Loss

Weight Loss

Weight loss is a term used to define a reduction in body weight, which is the sum of your muscles, bones, body fat and organs.

Fat Loss

On the other hand, Fat Loss – is a term used to define a reduction in body fat, which is the fat carried by your body.

Until a few years ago, people could only use a tape measure or bathroom scale to check their body weight and composition.

Since then, we have come a long way. With advancements in technology, you can use accurate body fat scales to check body fat and weight. Every person understands that less body fat makes us appear younger and look better.

A body fat scale can also let you know if you are in danger of health problems. Fat is required for survival. However, excess fat can cause many different health problems.

A lot of people find it easier and convenient to measure body fat percentage at home. A high-quality body fat analyzer can help you make informed choices to improve your quality of life and health.

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Understanding Your Body Composition

When you don’t see any changes in your body weight after working out or dieting, it can leave you frustrated. It can also ruin your motivation.

When you start an exercise program, you gain muscle and lose fat. However, when you step on a basic scale, it looks like you are not making any progress.

Carbs bind to water. Thus, when you check your weight after consuming a carb-rich meal, it temporarily causes weight gain. Hormones and stress can also cause your bathroom scale to not move when you start losing body fat.

What Does Your Body Fat Percentage Mean?

In simple terms, body fat is considered the amount of fat in your body as compared to everything else, including muscles, organs, tendons, bones, and water.

Women, men, and children carry varied body fat percentages. A male bodybuilder with competition caliber tries hard to minimize body fat percentage. Most bodybuilders have 3-4% body fat. A female bodybuilder may have 8-9% body fat.

What Should Be Your Ideal Body Fat Goal?

In case you want 6 pack abs, your body fat percentage should be around 8-11% (men) and 15-17% (women).

If you just want to feel and look healthy, your goal should be 18% (men) and 21% (women). For a professional swimmer or model, the goal should be 6-8% (men) and 13-14% (women).

As mentioned earlier, body fat percentage is considered the amount of fat in the body. It does not have anything to do with the amount of muscle.

Thus, you can see two people with the same body fat percentage look completely different from each other on the basis of muscle mass, body composition, and height. 

Basic Problems With Weight Loss

When you want to lose some weight, the most common reason is unwanted and excess fat. There are a lot of people who need to lose weight, such as athletes or bodybuilding professionals before a competition. However, most need to focus on fat loss.

Therefore, you shouldn’t constantly weigh yourself.

It’s unreliable and not trustworthy. It’s important to understand that body weight is influenced by bladder, bowel and stomach content, muscle gain/loss, water retention/loss, and other such issues. Therefore, it’s irrelevant to your fat loss goals.

It’s worth mentioning that two people with similar body composition can weigh the same, but look different. The primary reason is that one person has lower body fat content than the other.

According to most healthcare experts and fitness trainers, the Body Mass Index standard is flawed. It does not consider your body fat.

Two guys may have the same Body Mass Index, but one person may be healthier due to low body fat.

How To Lose Fat And Not Muscle

When you are trying to lose a good amount of weight, it’s important to retain muscle. It’s important to understand that 5 pounds muscle takes much less space than 5 pounds fat. This means, when you build muscle, you look slimmer with the same body weight.

Some important keys to lose fat and retain muscle include strength training exercises, high protein diet and use high-quality supplements.

Eating healthy is considered to be one of the most important aspects to lose weight. You should eat whole unprocessed foods, and reduce your consumption of starchy carbs. In order to speed up fat-loss, you can also perform cardiovascular exercises.

However, without strength training exercises, cardio can lead to muscle loss.

How To Track Your Fat Loss Progress

There’s no need to track your progress on a weekly basis. Within a short period of time, you won’t notice any drastic changes. You should track progress on a fortnightly basis.

You should stop weighing yourself every day. Daily fluctuations can mess up your motivation. Moreover, you should also stop looking at yourself in the mirror. Some self-image issues can lead to skewed perception. You should shoot your full body pictures and compare them with your old pictures.

It’s also very important to track your body fat content.

You should purchase a body fat analyzer to track your body fat every couple of weeks. It’s necessary to take right measurements of your chest, neck, waist, thighs and arms. Your waist should go down, and everything else should go up.

Once again, you should only take full-body pictures from side/back/front and ankle to neck. You will then be able to compare them with your previous pictures.

In order to check your strength statistics, you should log your workouts. When your strength increases, it leads to muscle gains. Strength training can also prevent unnecessary muscle breakdown.

You should also listen to what other people have to say. Others will notice your change, and might start giving compliments. Last but not the least, you should seek help from a professional fitness trainer or healthcare expert.

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