A lot of people are under the false impression that they are losing fat when they lose weight. Weight loss can be a combination of fat loss and muscle loss. Effective weight loss is achieved when muscle loss is minimized and fat loss is maximized.

Effective weight loss cannot be measured or monitored with a weight scale alone. In order to maximize fat loss, you need to measure and monitor body fat levels as well. This is the easiest and most simple way of keeping track of fat loss.

The examples below will give you an impression of what happens when all the weight loss comes from fat loss as compared to when the weight loss comes from a combination of fat loss and muscle loss. In the examples below, differences in lean body mass is assumed to be due to fluctuations in muscle mass. It is very unlikely that a person would have large fluctuations in the mass of the internal organs, bones or body fluids.

Fat Loss While Sustaining Lean Body Mass (Example Mary)

Duration                  Wk 0          Wk2           Wk4            Wk 6             Wk8           Wk10            Total

Weight……………….120lbs       118lbs         117lbs          115lbs           114lbs        112lbs            -8lbs

%Body Fat …………..30%           27.1%         25.6%          24.3%           22.8%        21.4%           -8.6%

Body Fat……………..36lbs         32lbs           30lbs            28lbs             26lbs          24lbs            -12lbs

Lean Body Mass ……84lbs         86lbs           87lbs            87lbs              88lbs          88lbs           +4lbs

As you can see, Mary only loss 8 pounds but she dropped 8.6% points of body fat. She went from a body fat of 30% to 21.4% in 10 weeks. That is an amazing improvement in body composition. She has also put on an additional 4 pounds of lean body mass. This increase is most likely due to increase in muscle mass. The increase in muscle mass will boost Mary’s metabolism. This will help her to sustain her fat loss.

Mary lost all her weight via exercise and a healthy diet. She did not deprive herself. In fact, she ate 3 main meals and 2 snacks. The increase in muscle mass came from strength training. After 10 weeks, she is more excited than ever. She feels that she can keep on doing what she is doing. Her healthy diet and exercise is giving her tremendous amounts of energy. She releases her cravings once a week via her cheat meal. But Mary realizes that her cravings are becoming less with each passing week. After a while, even the cheat meals are not exciting anymore.

Fat Loss While Losing Lean Body Mass (Example Alice)

Alice tried to lose weight via a low-calorie diet. She missed meals and starved herself. She also did lots of crunches and sit-ups.

Duration               Wk 0     Wk2      Wk4     Wk 6     Wk8      Wk10    Total

Weight……………….120lbs     114lbs     110lbs    106lbs     103lbs    101lbs     -19lbs

%Body Fat …………..30%       28.0%    27.3%    26.4%      26.2%    26.7%      -3.7%

Body Fat ……………..36lbs     32lbs      30lbs     8lbs          7lbs        27lbs        -9lbs

Lean Body Mass …..84lbs     82lbs      80lbs    78lbs        76lbs      74lbs       -10lbs

As you can see, Alice lost a massive 19 pounds. That will make a lot of people extremely happy. But let’s have a deeper look into the numbers. Alice lost 9 pounds of fat. This is only 3 pounds less than Mary. She also lost a massive 10 pounds of lean body mass. Almost all the loss comes from the loss of muscles.

After 10 weeks, her cravings are unmanageable. she has had enough of dieting and wants to start eating like normal again. This is where the problems will start. This will severely affect her metabolism. Her weight would very likely rebound as soon as she stops her diet. Alice can no longer sustain her diet anymore. She did not learn habits that would help her sustain weight loss.

Focus on Fat Loss

Keep track of your body fat levels. Make sure that you are losing fat and not muscles. Also note that a massive weight loss may not be ideal as a lot of it could come from losing muscles.