Weight Loss Vs. Fat Loss: Discover Why Your Scale May Be Your Worst Enemy

In your pursuit of a leaner body, you know doubt utilized a bathroom
scale to chronicle your progress. However, you may have been doing
yourself a grave disservice. As you know, a scale measures how much
weight you have lost, but it will never tell you where this weight was
lost from. This is where the problem lies. When dieting, your combined
weight loss could potentially come from fat loss, water loss, or muscle
loss. Obviously, the former is what we all want to achieve, and the
latter two are what we need to try and avoid whenever dieting.

Unfortunately, many of the fad diets claiming rapid weight loss are
often achieving this at the expense of water loss and/or muscle loss.

Generally speaking, if you are losing greater than two pounds per week
you are likely losing muscle as well.

The best way to monitor your progress when embarking on a new diet is
to measure your body fat percentage and your lean body mass. Lean body
mass is your weight excluding fat. Lean body mass includes bone,
muscle, and other fat free tissues with the majority of this being
muscle. By measuring these two items, you will be able to determine how
much fat you are losing and whether or not you are losing any muscle.

The simplest way to measure your body fat percentage is through
skinfold testing. If you know a personal trainer or other fitness
professional in your area, they will likely be able to take these
measurements for you. However, self skinfold testing is available with
the use of the “Accu-Mesure”, which can by found easily online.

Once you have determined your body fat percentage, you are ready to
calculate your fat weight and lean body mass. To calculate your fat
weight, multiply your total weight by your body fat percentage.

Remember to convert your body fat percentage to decimal form before
multiplying. I.e. 11% body fat would be converted to .11 Once you have
calculated your pounds of fat, subtract your pounds of fat from your
total weight in pounds, which will give you your lean body mass.

Armed with these simple equations, you will be able to track your
weight loss much more accurately than by simply using a scale alone.

You will know exactly where your weight loss is coming from, so you can
quickly make adjustments to your caloric intake to maximize your
results. For example, if your lean body mass decreases and your body
fat decreases, this should tell you there is to much of a calorie
deficit and you should increase your daily calorie intake slightly to
prevent the loss in lean body mass. Whenever you’re on a calorie
restricted diet, some loss in lean body mass and therefore muscle is
hard to avoid. However, this loss in lean body mass should be limited
to a few tenths of a pound per week. Initially, when first starting a
diet program, you will likely notice a larger drop in lean body mass
due to water loss. Don’t get alarmed by this. An obvious downward trend
in your lean body mass over time is definitely a concern.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss proper nutrition and
how to calculate daily caloric needs for weight loss; however, I will
mention a simple formula that can be utilized to get you in the
ballpark if you have average or better body fat percentages. To
calculate your total daily calories needed for fat loss, multiply your
total weight by 12-13. This will give you a good starting point. I will
also mention that spreading your calories out over 5-6 meals per day
with each meal consisting of approximately 55% complex carbohydrate,
30% lean protein, and 15% fat will give you the best chance of
permanent fat loss. Obviously, these percentages may not work for
everyone, but they are a great place to start. If you want to maintain
your hard earned muscle, it is also imperative you maintain a weight
lifting routine, while dieting.

I hope this information will help you achieve all your weight loss
goals and help you understand exactly how your nutrition and diet
program is affecting your body. There is certainly still a place for
the bathroom scale, but unless you’re also measuring the items above,
you will never fully realize the affect of your diet program and
reaching your full potential may be difficult. I wish you the best of
luck.

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John V
JohnC.Vincent/CEO/TheOpt.In Magic System
http://The-Dating-Game-Blog.blogspot.com
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