Why Am I Losing Weight But Not Body Fat?Reading time: 8 min

Losing weight is one thing, but body fat is probably what you want to target and get rid of. Forget the myth – if you step on the scale, the number you see is not a clear indication of what you want to lose because you are looking at the weight of your body composition. 

This combined number on the scale includes your muscles, bones, fat, and organs, all lumped together by a few digits. Losing excessive fat is usually a great idea, but losing muscles? No, that will not be the wisest decision. If you want to lose weight, that’s fine, but do it responsibly. There really is no magic cure to lose weight fast. 

Read this guide to understand the problem if you are losing weight rapidly without losing visceral fat. You also learn about weight management to lose excess weight.

Losing Weight but Not Fat 

As we’ve mentioned, most fast weight loss programs may not be the healthiest option, and you can still lose weight fast in various beneficial ways. It’s also important to remember that the number on your scale is mainly represented by your water weight – a crucial element you need to survive. 

Read on to find out how you can do healthy weight loss while staying healthy and what may be causing you to lose weight but not fat.

You are Eating Too Few Calories

You may think that the fewer calories you consume, the more fat you will burn, but that might not be the best mindset if you want to lose weight fast. Suppose you don’t consume enough calories regularly. In that case, your body goes into survival mode to break down muscle mass for energy. You can think that taking a few calories can accelerate your weight loss effort then you might have a misconception on your mind. Few calories can’t do proper weight reduction as healthy eating habits.

In an extreme calorie deficit, your body doesn’t care about building muscle to save calories. This will make you lose muscle mass instead of burning stubborn body fat. 

Secondly, your metabolic function may also be influenced by an excessive calorie deficiency. This, in turn, affects your hormones which then slows down fat loss and increases cortisol levels. High cortisol levels will further affect your body in a way that will make it struggle to burn excessive fat. Creating healthy habit, avoiding processed food can lead you to successful weight loss.

You should instead take a page from obesity diets that follow a VLDC (Very Low-Calorie Diet) or an LCD (Low-Calorie Diet), proving just how vital calories are for losing fat. In essence, to lose fat without losing lean muscle mass, you will need to consume at least 8 calories per pound of body weight each day. This is the perfect way to see a positive change in your weight loss journey and start noticing the loss of excessive fat instead of muscle. 

You Are Losing Weight Too Quickly

Who would have thought, but losing weight too quickly is not only unhealthy, but it’s actually not helpful for losing fat. According to recent international studies, the rate at which weight is lost is associated with loss of mass that has nothing to do with it. This results in fat-free weight loss, so you won’t see the results you are working so hard for. Instead, strive for gradual weight loss and to get rid of excessive body fat.

As we’ve illustrated, losing weight rapidly is not helpful to your weight loss journey. Losing weight slowly can greatly assist you in reducing fat mass instead of muscle mass, which is essential for healthy living. 

You Are Not Strength Training

By building muscle, you are essentially losing body fat. Muscle tissue is seen as metabolically active, so it helps your body expend energy and maintain and build on existing muscle. 

With muscle mass making up almost 20% of total daily energy usage, fat mass only accounts for abo 5%. Suppose you are not focusing on strength training but only reducing calories and doing cardio exercises, you will not be decreasing your body fat percentage. 

You should remember that strength training obviously increases your heart rate, by which your body is forced to use your fat as fuel to produce the necessary energy for carrying out the workouts. Strength training is the perfect way to increase heart rate and cardiovascular health while also burning fat. Now, you will be using fat to fuel your workouts! Wave bye-bye to workouts without energy. 

If you are not strength training regularly, you will be reducing your chances of losing fat. Strength training is the perfect workout to incorporate into your daily exercise regime if you want to bring about results faster.

When increasing physical activity then you also control high blood pressure, cholesterol, reduce the risk of heart disease, blood sugar, diabetes. Physical activity is also but extra calories and helps to reach your weight loss goal.

Reading the Scale

Once you have incorporated strength training into your workouts, it’s time to see those results in nutrition. Just remember to also incorporate calories into the strength training. When you are new at strength training, you do not actually want to see the scale number drop – you want to see it level.

Assessing Your Progress

Suppose you’re being a good girl (or guy) and you’re sticking to your calorie intake and strength training, all while not indulging in your usual guilty t eats. In that case, you should start to assess your progress and celebrate. The most helpful way to see your progress is to see how your clothes fit and how you look in the mirror. 

Taking measurements of your thighs, waist, and upper arms can also guide you to exactly how your body size changes. Just remember that you are strength training, so the muscle will be building up. 

Many women opt to get their body fat tested, which is another way to see the exact fat mass percentage. This is done through several medical methods; skin caliper tests and hydrostatic underwater weighing are just two ways you can get these tests to measure actual fat mass.

A weight loss plan is also very important. Without a proper weight loss plan, you can measure your progress and also not be able to check for rapid weight loss.

Eat and Train Smart 

So there you have it! Eat your calories and strength train. This can ultimately solve problems with losing weight but not fat. 

Lift those weights and see the fat melt away. Strength training and calorie intake, it is also essential to living an overall active lifestyle. You can do this by taking regular walks or runs. The intensity of workouts should also be increased from time to time to ensure the ultimate results. 

With calorie intake, it’s vital that you do not get it through supplements alone but through nutritious foods that provide natural calories. Lean proteins can support the growth of lean muscle mass, and dietary fiber can help you to control your calorie intake while encouraging fat loss. 

As with the minimum amount of calories needed depending on your overall weight, protein should also be taken in at a minimum of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of your body weight. If you are taking your strength training seriously, you may take in more protein to make up for the energy that you are burning. 

Calories and Dumbbells – Embrace Them

Through reading this guide you have hopefully noticed the importance of consuming enough calories while also including strength training in your workouts. By focusing on these important factors, you should be losing more fat while gaining enough lean muscle mass. Follow this guide and you will lose weight fast, where you want to lose it. 

Don’t think that every fat is harmful to the human body. Our body also contains healthy fat, that very much important to us. Do not give much concern with these. Avoid saturated fat, do weight maintenance, increase physical activity, create healthy habit. All of these are can lead to losing weight.

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