At Body Sculptors in Louisville, KY, while we help you with weight loss, we’re all about fat loss. Yes, there’s a difference between the two. When you lose weight, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re losing fat. Part of that weight loss can come from lean muscle loss and some can occur from water weight loss. Fat loss is just what it says, losing body fat. It might seem like a minute difference, but it’s huge and can affect your attempts at weight loss in the future.
Lose fat and save muscle tissue.
The more muscle tissue you have, the easier it is to lose weight. That’s because muscle tissue burns more calories for maintenance than fat tissue does. The more calories you burn while resting, the higher your metabolism is. If you just lost weight, but didn’t work at preserving or building muscle tissue, many of those pounds would come from lost lean muscle tissue, which slows your metabolism.
Look at your exercise program or start one if you aren’t exercising.
Strength building workouts not only burn calories, but also build muscle tissue. More lean muscle tissue means more calories burned 24/7. If you’re just shedding pounds but not working out or only doing cardio, you won’t get the metabolism boosting action that strength building exercise offers. That makes it harder and also doesn’t leave you looking as slim as you should. One cubic inch of muscle weighs more than a cubic inch of fat, so a pound of muscle could fit into a smaller container than a pound of fat. If you compared two people weighing 130-pounds, but one that has far more muscle mass, the one with more muscle will look thinner.
Watch what you eat and eat healthy.
Much of the effort for weight loss starts in the kitchen. No matter how long you workout or how often, if you follow the workout with a few beers and a couple of pizzas or a shake, burgers and fries, you won’t get the results you want. Clean eating can help you shed fat while you build muscle tissue. It includes about 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight, healthy fat and healthy complex carbohydrates.
- Drink more water to help flush your system and keep you feeling fuller and increases your metabolism. It’s a necessary part of lipolysis, the breaking down of fat. The first step in that process is to add water to the fat to start to break it down. Without water, eliminating fat is impossible.
- Eating food like fatty fish with omega-3 fatty acid or food with MCT—medium chain triglycerides can boost fat burning in the body. Fatty fish also are a protein source and can leave you feeling full longer.
- Have a couple of eggs for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Eggs increase fat burning, help protect your heart and reduce your hunger by increasing your feeling of fullness.
- If you want to lose weight, don’t forget to get adequate sleep. Whether burning fat or just shedding pounds, getting adequate sleep keeps your hunger/satiety hormones in balance so you don’t overeat.
For more information, contact us today at Body Sculptors Personal Training