Weight Loss vs. Body Fat Loss
/So the other day while I was in the locker room between clients I overheard a conversation that made me sad and mad at the same time.
Girl 1: I’m just so frustrated. After all the work that I’ve put in; all the time and effort, and I’m a half a pound from where I started.
Girl 2: (timidly) Yeah. When I started strength training it was kinda frustrating too. So I’ve found if you just pay attention to how your clothes fit instead of your weight…
Girl 1: (bruskly) Yeah, I don’t like that. That doesn’t matter.
What the what?!?!
I didn’t know which part of that conversation I wanted to deal with first. Should I start with the woman who was on track and was giving her friend not only advice but GOOD advice, or the woman who shot her down?!? Needless to say, I was in the stall, so I couldn’t do either at the time, but this conversation has been nagging at me ever since I heard it.
I want to lose weight.
I hate those words. Those words make me cringe. And I realize as I write this, I may lose some of you by saying this. I also realize, that I have been a victim of wanting to lose weight in my pre-training days.
Now wait. What I am not saying is that I think I’m perfect the way I am, that I’m totally confident with my current body image, and that I think everything is just peachy (In fact, I made that confession to you a couple weeks ago). What I am saying is that instead of making my goal to “lose weight” I have taken the time to evaluate what I really want, and it has nothing to do with the number between my toes (well, most of the time).
What I really want, and what I find most of my clients actually want, is to maintain a healthy body fat percentage (BF%). And while yes, changing your body composition to achieve a lower BF% may include weight loss, there’s a very real possibility that it won’t, at least not at first.
Maybe you’ve heard it before. Muscle weighs more than fat. But here’s the thing, if you want to get super nit-picky about it. Muscle does not weigh more than fat. A pound is a pound. However, a pound of muscle is denser and therefore takes up less space than a pound of fat. For example. Say a pound of fat is the size of a softball, a pound of muscle is the size of a baseball. (Disclaimer, this is not exact size or science, I’m just trying to get the image across.) Sticking with this analogy, a bag full of 100 softballs is going to be a LOT bigger than a bag full of 100 baseballs. Does this make sense?
So, if what you really want is to lose inches, to “get tighter” or “tone up” or wear smaller clothes, then your goal most likely isn’t weight loss, but fat loss. And there’s a difference.
I know, this isn’t easy to digest. That’s why sometimes even I can get sucked into the “weight vortex”. But trust me when I say the scale is a lying liar who lies.
It can be doubly difficult to digest when you read all the recommendations about strength training for fat loss. But when you start lifting weights your scale stops going down. Or heaven forbid, goes up. Weight gain can be a thing and we’ll go into that later, but for now just know that lifting weights not only will help you burn body fat, but it will also help build lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass is metabolic potential, so you burn more calories every day just by being a more muscular you. Not only that, but by adding lean muscle you are able to “tighten, tone, lift, and sculpt,” all the other goals I hear on a regular basis.
Unfortunately, too many doctors are still focused on BMI (Body Mass Index), which I realize doesn’t help my argument. However, if your waist is shrinking and you have to add extra holes to cinch your belt tighter (does anyone even wear belts anymore?!), then I don’t FRICKin care if your weight hasn’t budged. After all, you don’t walk around with a sign over your head with your weight.
What am I saying? Stop relying on the scale to tell you the progress you’re making. After all, when did we start placing our value on the number between our toes? Instead use other things like:
Measurements/How your clothes fit
Progress photos
Sleep Quality
Strength Improvement
Flexibility/Mobility
Mood
Hair, skin, and nails quality
How you feel overall!
If you want some inspiration of non-scale goals to track, check out this list I give my clients
So what I’m really trying to say is, “Girl 2, you got this. Keep paying attention to how your clothes feel. You are making progress.” And “Girl 1, what do you really want? Like really in the long run? Do you want a smaller number between your toes, or a smaller number in the back of your pants? Because it sounds like you are losing body fat, which awesome. Keep it up.”