Think Fat Loss, Not Weight Loss

Weight loss is one of the hottest topics ever. Everyone seems to be trying to lose weight nowadays. Most diet programs are about weight loss and body weight is often used as an indicator of fitness progress. But, this is an incorrect approach.

Your ultimate goal should always be to lose fat and reducing excess body fat is what you should be concerned about. Weight loss and Fat loss is NOT the same thing! Many people confuse the two terms, often believing that they mean the same, when in fact weight loss and fat loss are very different from one another. This article will help you understand how weight loss is different than fat loss and how fat loss is far superior to weight loss in almost all ways.

Weight loss is not just fat loss

What Is Weight Loss?

(Weight Loss = Muscle Loss + Fat Loss + Water Loss)

Weight loss is attempting to lower your total body weight. It simply refers to a lower number on a scale.

Your body weight is composed of all the parts of your body such as muscles, fat, bones, water, organs, tissues, blood, water etc. When you lose weight, you lose a little bit of... fat, muscle and water.

You lose fat but very little and along with the fat you lose muscle and some amount of water. The higher you reduce your calorie intake, the faster you drop weight and the more muscle mass you lose.

Do know your muscle matters? Loss of muscle affects your health and your overall appearance.

Being fit means more than just fat loss

When you lose weight too quickly, your body cannot maintain its muscle. Because muscle requires more calories to sustain itself, your body begins to metabolize it so that it can reserve the incoming calories for its survival. It protects it fat stores as a defense mechanism to ensure your survival in case of future famine and instead use lean tissue or muscle to provide it with calories it needs to keep its vital organs such as your brain, heart, kidneys and liver functioning. If you reach a point where you have very little fat or muscle, your body will metabolize your organs to keep your brain functioning leading to heart attack, stroke and liver and kidney failure.

As the body loses more muscle mass, the body's overall metabolic rate decreases. The metabolic rate is the rate at which the body burns calories and is partly determined by the amount of muscle you have.

So the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolic rate; the less muscle you have, the lower your metabolic rate and fewer calories you burn. This explains why it is crucial to protect your metabolic rate and not have muscle loss.

Loss of muscle also leads to loss of tone underneath the skin leaving you soft and unshapely with no form or contour. If you lose weight too rapidly, your skin won't have time to adjust either. Also muscle is what gives you strength and loss of it means a weak body.

With weight loss you shrink in size and become a smaller version of yourself with a fragile frame with saggy skin.

Weight loss works in the short run to make you smaller but is temporary, almost everyone rebounds and regains the weight. This forces you to find another diet. And then another one, and another one - because eventually they'll all fail.

What Is Fat Loss?

(Fat Loss = Loss Of Stored Body Fat)

Fat loss is attempting to lower your total body fat - i.e. the percentage of your total body weight that is made up of fat.

The right approach for fat loss is to exercise smartly and

Eat the right food to have the right body

eat intelligently in a way that maintains muscle and focuses on fat loss exclusively.

The muscle you have is not there forever. If you don't feed it and don't use it - you lose it. A proper plan with right combination of resistance and cardiovascular training with adequate progression and a right nutrition plan to support it can help you achieve this. Exercise only boosts the burning process but doesn't just melt the fat away on its own - if you do not create a deficit and feed the body too much - it won't touch the stored fuel reserves. On the hand if you drastically cut your calories and do not feed your muscle properly or don't exercise and use your muscle, you will lose it. Fat loss is about finding that right balance.

With fat loss you maintain the muscle and keep the metabolic rate running high. You also develop stronger connective tissue, tighter skin and stronger bones and joints. With fat loss you transform your body.

Fat loss is a lifestyle approach where you give your body what it needs without depriving and shocking it with threat of starvation. You get to see slow but permanent steady progress.

It may sound odd, but it's possible to get thinner without actually seeing a change in your weight. This happens when you lose body fat while gaining muscle. Your weight stays the same, even as you lose inches.

Lets see how this happens.

Muscle uses less weight than fat

Fat tissue is very loose and not dense. It occupies a lot of space in your body. Whereas muscle is more dense and takes up less space. When you lose fat, this space is freed and you can notice inch loss. If you are following a consistent strength training program then gain in lean muscle tissue will balance out this loss of fat and weight stays the same. Since muscle takes less space than fat, you lose inches and start to look more toned, lean and shapely.

consistent strength training program then gain in lean muscle tissue will balance out this loss of fat and weight stays the same. Since muscle takes less space than fat, you lose inches and start to look more toned, lean and shapely.

Myth: "Getting fit" means "Losing weight."

Truth: Getting fit means lowering your body fat percentage!

This Article By Written By:
Rashmi V Jolly
Online Fitness Coach & Founder of Body Redesign
Website: http://www.body-redesign.com

Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Rashmi_V_Jolly/2240871

Wednesday Video - Are You Skinny Fat?

Overcome Your Skinny Fat Body

What Is Skinny Fat

First off what do I mean by skinny fat? You're skinny or you're fat. How can you be both?

• Skinny fat is when the body has a thin appearance and your weight is within the normal range but your percentage of body fat versus lean body mass shows that you are overweight
• The skinny fat syndrome is most common amongst women, although men also run into this problem
• Being skinny fat is most often caused by the wrong diet and lack of (or the wrong kind of) exercise

This video shows how to overcome this common and misunderstood problem:

Monday Muscle - 5 Popular Misconceptions About Weight Training For Women

In spite of great efforts by the weight trainers the myths associated with weight training for women does not seem to go away ever. Weight training for women has a lot of controversy surrounding it. Read below and learn the five popular misconceptions about weight training for women:

1. Training makes the women look masculine and bulky: 

Whenever we hear weight training for women the first image that comes to our mind is of the women bodybuilders. It is a fact that women can't produce testosterone, responsible for increase muscle size and thus it is very difficult for the woman to have muscle mass simply by doing some weights. The women bodybuilder who develop their bodies rely on synthetic testosterones and anabolic steroids. The results are also a combination of genetics and rigorous training programs wherein, they lift very heavy weights. Women who regularly do weight training without the steroids have fit and firm cellulite-free body.

2. Exercise increases the chest size: 

It is a myth that breast size increases with weight training.

Bench Presses

The breast is made of fatty tissues. In case your body fat decreases by 12 percent the size of the breast decreases considerably. The myth was born because weight training increases the back size and thus there is an increase in the size. Just remember that breasts size can be increased either by gaining fat or breasts implants.

3. Weight training makes you muscle-bound and stiff: 

If you do all the exercises through a full range of motion the flexibility is bound to increase. Exercises like dumbbell presses, flyes, chin-ups and stiff-legged deadlifts stretch the bottom muscles. All these exercises improve your stretching capacity considerably.

4. When you stop weight training the muscles turn into fat: 

This is like saying that gold if not used turns into brass. Fats and Muscles are two different entities. After women quit weight training there is a certain loss of muscle and drop in diet. Bad eating habits lower the metabolism system, low muscle mass all make muscles look like fat. Though, the truth is as simple as fat starts to accumulate after muscles are lost.

5. With weight training fats convert into muscles: 

This is like saying brass turns into gold. If you want to transform the body then you must try and lose extra fats by taking a nutritious diet and gain muscles by following a planned weight training schedule for women. Remember you can't change muscles into fat.

Therefore we can say that weight training for women has no actual side-effect. It is just the popular myths that stop women taking up weight training sessions. But remember, when you start with the weight training for women it is very important to do it under a well experienced trainer. This will ensure your well being and safety. Take it slow and steady for healthy weight training!


Article source: Rakesh Vasoya  5 Popular Misconceptions About Weight Training For Women http://www.sooperarticles.com/health-fitness-articles/weight-loss-articles/5-popular-misconceptions-about-weight-training-women-983955.html#ixzz3recRu8GF

10 Of The Biggest Fat Loss Furphies

#1 You can believe what you read in the magazines.

Unfortunately not. And without going on for hours here is the condensed reason why. MONEY! Take most of the major fitness magazines for example. Each of these magazines has articles, editorials and advertisements for the latest and greatest in fat burning products. Ever notice they’re all from the one company. Why? Because that magazine owns that company and all they are doing is using the magazine to promote their own product. Magazines have just become the forum by which supplement companies generate their huge revenues.

#2 The only natural weight loss method is starvation.

Starvation will actually cause you to gain weight in the long run. Yes it is true that you have to burn more calories than you eat. But this doesn’t mean starving yourself. If you drop your calorie intake dramatically your metabolic rate actually slows down and therefore you burn much less fat. Your body as a response increases your appetite to try to get you to eat more calories. Because you deplete your fat stores so quickly your body feeds off your muscles. Then when you eventually do start eating again your body, in anticipation of being starved of nutrients again will store everything it possibly can and therefore result in rapid weight gain again but this time without any muscle tissue- so you have just increased your body fat percentage.

#3 The diet pill is the secret.

People fail to realise the dangers of diet or appetite suppressing pills. Effectively they stop you from eating by making you feel full. The problem with this is that there are no nutrients entering your body. Your body’s response is to slow the metabolic rate to decrease fat burning. Prolonged use can have the same effect as starvation. And then, like starvation, as soon as you begin eating again your weight rises rapidly because your body begins to store fat again in anticipation of the next starvation period.

#4 All I need is a shake for breakfast, lunch and tea!

Meal replacement shakes are nothing more than supplements for an inadequate diet. The problem with them is that the body was never designed to live off liquid lunches. If they have been formulated correctly then they are invariably very low in calories. If your diet is too deficient in calories remember point 2- starvation. Meal replacement shakes also effectively eliminate the thermic value you get from consuming food and therefore slow your metabolism.

#5 All fat is bad.

It all depends on the type of fat. There are good and bad fats. The good fats, poly-unsaturated and mono-unsaturated fats can actually help reduce the risk of heart disease, cardiovascular problems and blood pressure problems. On the other hand, the BAD fats are the Saturated Fats and Trans-Fatty Acids which can be found in many of the deep fried, processed foods that flood today’s market. Fats are essential for our body to function correctly, you just have to know which ones to choose.

#6 Fat becomes muscle.

It is physiologically impossible to turn muscle into fat and vice versa. They are two completely separate types of tissue. If the muscles aren’t being trained then the body gets rid of the muscle tissue and therefore there is more room to store fat. The fat tends to be stored on top of your muscle tissue and therefore you lose your definition. However, when you train and build muscle you burn fat and subsequently the fatty deposits over your muscles shrink. Muscle takes up less room than fat so as you build muscle you can find that you tend to trim down. You cannot turn one into the other.

#7 Constant water consumption makes you bloated.

Water is one of the key players in metabolism, digestion and hunger control. None of these bodily systems function correctly without a sufficient level of water provided constantly to the body. The reason you feel bloated is that your body is not used to receiving the correct amount of water and so, like starvation, it retains the water and gives you that bloated feeling. If you regularly drink water then your body gets used to receiving a constant flow and therefore realises it doesn’t need to retain water, flushing your system and making the bloated feeling disappear.

#8 I am genetically fat.

It doesn’t matter what you metabolism or genetic disposition is like. The scientific facts are simple. If you burn more calories than you consume you lose weight. And if you eat less more often you keep your metabolism working at a higher rate for longer, therefore putting your body into a fat burning state for longer and giving you more energy.

#9 I have to do hours of cardio to burn fat.

Once again this is not the case. It all comes down to intensity. If you are doing very low intensity exercise (walking) then your body isn’t working hard to burn energy (fat) and therefore fat loss is very slow. If on the other hand you perform high-intensity exercise you are forcing your body to work hard, your energy stores are depleted quicker and your body subsequently enters the fat burning zone quicker. You don’t need to train for hours, 20-30 minutes of high intensity training may be all that is required.

#10 Performing a thousand crunches will flatten my stomach.

You cannot “area target” fat loss through exercise. You see the body has certain places it finds it easier to store fat. For men it is usually the stomach area whilst women it is usually the hips and thighs. But you can do no abdominal work at all and still see a reduction in your waistline. Training all parts of your body will burn fat from all those storage areas, not just one.

Article source: Expert Articles

By: Paul James
Submitted: 2007-08-06 21:47:31