Many people nowadays are going towards slimming solutions in order to lose weight. However, losing weight is not what one thinks it actually is. You can shed weight by consuming fewer calories than what your body burns in a day for one. What many seek to drop, is the fat content in one’s body. Yes, that extra layering around your stomach or under your arms can sometimes make you feel insecure. This is why we humans want to weigh less not only for our health but also for the way we look.
So, what is the main difference between fat loss vs weight loss, how can one lose fat as compared to weight, and what are some of the tips to losing fat and weight?
There has been a lot of debate over fat loss vs weight loss. Many get confused over the difference or how it impacts the human body. However, we’ve simplified everything for you so that you don’t have to spend hours over the internet searching about fat loss vs weight loss.
Fat loss vs weight loss: The difference
So, we’re back to the main theme, fat loss vs weight loss. So, what’s the difference?
As mentioned earlier, weight loss simply means a drop in a person’s body weight. Usually, you’ll see bodybuilders avoiding drinking water before competitions to fit in their required class (Lightweight or heavyweight titles). This is an example of weight loss. Simply curbing your water drinking can lead to some weight loss as the human body is 70% water. Weight loss also includes fat and muscle loss as well.
So how is fat loss vs weight loss different from each other? Weight loss is more general. You can lose weight even by shedding your clothes as you climb on the weighing scale. Fat loss is very specific and simply aims at losing fat. People are able to lose fat by simply reducing the number of calories consumed in a day. However, with that, generally, you would lose muscle as well. Those that are looking to maintain muscle and simply lose fat need to have a specialized diet. A diet devoid of fat, that targets the fats and burns them off can lead to a good fat loss.
It is to be noted that fat loss can not be achieved by simply having a specialized diet. You need to have a weight lifting program to achieve the desired fat loss. Weight lifting or resistance training does not mean putting on muscle. You can’t add muscle to your body or gain weight unless you have a really huge calorie intake. Resistance training with simple weights can maintain your muscle weight, keep you healthy, and also assist in shedding a couple of pounds of fat around your body.
Now that you know the difference between the two, let’s find out which one is better in the following showdown of fat loss vs weight loss.
Fat loss vs weight loss: Which one is better?
A lot of people argue on the topic of fat loss vs weight loss without clearly understanding what it does to your body aka health benefits or disadvantages associated with the two.
Many people these days, especially young adults tend to starve themselves in order to reduce weight. This can lead to many complications with severe cases of anorexia found in some. Weight loss by eliminating most of your diet can lead to a huge decrease in fitness. You will start to feel drowsy or tired from doing even the slightest bit of work or moving from point A to point B. You might even start to feel that you’re not as strong as you used to be, lifting the lightest of things can at times become challenging. Improper diet can also lead to early aging, stress, and most importantly reduced immunity.
With proper diet and training, fat loss can have more benefits than just simply losing weight. Training and proper diet will keep you active and improve your levels of fitness. You might feel great not just on the outside (reduced tiredness, weakness) but also on the inside as your body starts to enjoy the vitamins, protein, and more in your corrected diet. This aids in boosting immunity and also helps fight diseases thus reducing the chances of you catching one.
It can be a tricky predicament to be in. A pound of fat can be spread across a larger surface area when compared to a pound of muscle. So, if you’re losing weight, are you really losing fat or muscle? Find out the different fat burning diets by reading more.
The different fat burning diets
To ensure proper fat loss, you need to accompany your exercise with a good diet. Exercising without a proper diet will result in lower muscle weight. This can cause health complications as mentioned earlier. Let’s look at some of the things that should be in your diet.
The number one important thing when it comes to fat loss training programs is to increase your protein intake. Protein helps in muscle repair and if in the right amount, it can even maintain it if you’re not looking to increase muscle content. Eating protein with proper training can increase your metabolism and aid in fat loss.
Let’s have a look at some of the diets that are well known for reducing fat and weight in general.
- High protein diet: The high profile diet constitutes about 25% of the calories in one’s diet through protein. It helps in reducing fat and increasing lean muscle.
- Keto diet: Keto focuses on a fat diet. Hear us out, the science behind it works. Keto diet includes up to 80% fat and about 10% protein and 10% carbs. You can have around 50% fat too and add more protein to the keto diet. The idea behind keto is to starve your body from carbs and protein. This results in your body adapting to fats and thus starting to burn more fat as it seeks energy. Your body will run on fat with a keto diet.
- Low-carb diet: This would be around 10 to 30% protein while the remaining percentages are split among protein and fats. This might not be a huge breakthrough in your diet but simply cuts down on the carbs. Cutting down on carbs helps in reducing weight. A low-carb diet ensures lower heart diseases too.
- Low-fat diet: This diet constitutes around 20 to 30% fats while the rest is split among protein and carbs. This diet ensures that you consume the least amount of calories as fat contributes quite a bit of calorie in a diet. There is quite a bit of study that shows that low-fat diet aids in fat loss over a short period of time. The results for the long term remain uncertain.
- Low-calorie diet: There is no argument whatsoever that if nothing else, one can lose weight by simply reducing calories. You can have all the meals in a day but choose to have healthy options in your meals that do not contribute a lot of calories. However, you can also have one meal with enough calories a day. Although not good for health, the concept works. If you burn more calories than you consume, you net the effect of it on your weight by reducing it.
One thing while you will notice is that with these diets, you would start to lose muscle. So, what are some of the signs of losing muscle and what can you do to prevent losing muscle?
Fat Loss Vs Weight Loss: How to know when you’re losing muscle
This is an important aspect of this fat loss vs weight loss article. It can get difficult to know if you’re actually losing fat or weight and by weight, we mean muscle mass. So here are some signs that might let you know if you’re losing any muscle.
Strenuous workout
So when losing weight, it is no brainer that you might be losing muscle mass if you start to feel the strain during workouts. When it comes to working out, the muscles keep on improving as you push through. You’re able to increase the weights on your workout and push more reps. However, if you start to feel that you’re not lifting as much as you used to before, then that’s an alarming sign of losing muscle mass instead of fat. The same is the case if you’re not able to pump more reps.
Low energy levels
Feeling more tired than the usuals or feeling like you’re procrastinating a lot of things lately because you don’t feel like working could be signs of muscle loss. Loss in muscle mass can affect how the human body functions. Restricting the right nutrients to your muscles can lead to energy deficiency which can affect how you feel throughout the day. If an individual used to be active before and starts to show a decrease in daily performance, then either it could be the loss of muscle mass or perhaps the individual is overtraining.
No difference in body fat
Well, this one is quite an obvious sign. Record your weight status before your diet or training program. Note down the percentage of fat in your body as keeping track of that is important. If after a certain period you see a loss in your weight, have your stats measured again. See if the body fat percentage has reduced as well. If it hasn’t reduced then that’s a worrying sign as your body is definitely losing muscle mass instead.
Losing weight fast
So if you do not have much fat and you’re losing weight rapidly, this can become a serious concern. The reason being that since you don’t have much fat, your body starts to shed muscle mass. Secondly, losing weight fast is not as healthy as it can affect a person mentally. Losing weight is not a race and needs to be treated with patience, a good diet, and regular exercise. If you’re losing weight without doing the three, then try to cut back and plan your weight loss accordingly. Think about the fat loss vs weight loss we mentioned and plan accordingly. A good number would be losing 1 to 2 pounds on a weekly basis.
Can’t push for more reps
So yeah, this relates to the earlier point we mentioned, strenuous workout. Once you start to lose muscle mass, you will slowly realize that you’re not able to increase your workout routine. In order to achieve that workout level once more, increase your protein in your diet, add vitamins, and cut down on fat. Also, take it easy. Don’t push yourself too hard.
How to prevent muscle loss?
Losing weight or fat can also mean losing a lot of muscle in the process. So, how to ensure the prevention of muscle loss while on a diet plan?
Well, there are some basic guidelines that need to be followed. Your calorie intake should be proportional to your weight, size, and the amount of activity done. Try to ensure that the calories you take in are healthy meaning they are packed with nutrients. Add vitamins and minerals to your diet by consuming lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, and more.
Another good suggestion would be to take in 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.
You can allocate the total grams of protein over the course of the day, 5 meals or 4 whichever you prefer. Start your carbs intake at 150 grams and see how you feel throughout the day. Carbs give you the energy to get through the day. Try to incorporate some healthy essential fats in your diet as well.
In the end, don’t forget to workout or carry your exercises. Your diet will be meaningless if you don’t work out. Working out will keep you active and feel positive about your body. As part of your journey to improve your body in 2021, you might also want to consider wellness and beauty options such as those offered by Viva Day Spa, packages offering body contouring and skin rejuvenation are popular ways of helping maintain skin tone and elasticity.
