Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

Took and edited from Stronglift.com

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: Are you sure you’re Losing Fat?

Weight loss is one of the hottest topic ever. Everyone seems to be trying to lose weight nowadays. But what’s the difference between weight loss & fat loss? People seem to use both terms interchangeably.


Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss. What’s the difference?

Let’s start by defining weight loss & fat loss so you know what I mean here. Weight Loss. You want to lower your body-weight, the sum weight of your bones, muscles, organs, body fat, …

Fat Loss. You want to lower your body fat, the amount of fat your body carries. Healthy goals are 10% body fat for men and 15% for women.

Problems with Weight Loss. If you want to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. There are people who must lose weight, like athletes before a competition, but most want fat loss.

Your body-weight can fluctuate daily since it’s influenced by your stomach/bowel/bladder content, water loss/retention, muscle loss/gain, fat loss/gain, you’ll have no idea what’s going on.

2 people with similar height can weigh the same, but look completely different because one has lower body fat than the other. Check the picture at the top for an example.


The last point shows why the BMI standard is flawed: it doesn’t take your body fat into account. Both guys in the top picture have the same BMI, but one is clearly healthier: his body fat is lower.

Carbs & Water. Carbs bind to water. So eating less carbs will make you lose weight: water loss. This is why you lose so much weight on a diet like Atkins the first 2 weeks: it’s mostly water. Of course, increasing your carb intake will make you gain weight again: water retention.



Muscle Gains & Fat Loss. You’ll gain muscle while losing fat when you get into weight training. But on the weight scale it will look like you’re not making progress: your body-weight doesn’t change

How to Make Sure You Lose Fat, Not Muscle? 5lbs muscle takes less space than 5lbs fat. That means you’ll look slimmer at the same body-weight by building muscle.

Some keys to losing fat not muscle:

Get Stronger. Weight training builds muscle & prevents muscle loss. It also helps sticking to your diet.


Eat Healthy. Eat whole unprocessed foods 90% of the time

You can do cardio to speed up fat loss. But without weight training, cardio will cause muscle loss and you’ll end up skinny-fat.

You Might Not Want to Lose Weight. Big guys who want to lose weight often change their mind once they’ve lowered their body fat. They realize they prefer to stay big as long as their body fat is healthy.

Focus on fat loss first. Once you’ve got your body fat down, check if you like what you see. Then decide if you still need to lose weight.

Time for a protein drink