Losing Weight VS Losing Fat

Joke: Dude walks into a gym, and hires a personal trainer. When asked his goals, the dude says, "I want to lose 30 pounds as fast as possible, and I will do anything it takes. I can be hard core man." The trainer says, "Are you sure your goal is weight loss?" The dude gives him a puzzled look and answers yes. "I'm willing to do anything--I don't care what it takes, I need to get rid of 30 pounds." The trainer shrugs and says ok, then pulls out a hacksaw and grabs his client's thigh. "What are you doing!?!?" The trainer replies, "You wanted to lose 30 pounds, as fast as possible, and seem to be willing to do anything, no matter how hardcore. Easiest way for me to do that is to saw off your leg."

Punchline after the jump.

The moral of this silly story is this: losing weight and losing fat are 2 different things. While they often go together, they don't always, and I hope we all agree that losing fat is much more important than losing weight for both health and asthetic reasons.

Now, usually when we think of exercising for weight loss, we think of doing hours of cardio. This is a misconception. One of the main contributers to fat loss is increasing muscle mass, which comes from activities like weight lifting, pushups, and pullups. A cubic centimeter of muscle weighs more than a cubic centimeter of fat, and this fact throws people for a loop.

Let me illustrate my point by talking about the results of my clinic from last year. Almost every man and woman who came through my clinic, at the end of the 10 week program, was at the same weight as when they had come in. Some had even put on weight. Not losing weight discouraged them. Fortunately, I measured their body fat as well, which did significantly decrease for everyone. Then when we did the strength tests, and everybody performed better, they were confirmed that while their weight hadn't changed, they had converted a significant part of their mass from life-draining fat to life-supporting muscle.

So next time you write down your fitness goals, make sure you write "lose fat" and don't worry so much about the scales.

P.S.--it takes a minimum of 8 weeks to start seeing real changes in body composition. During the first 2 months of a program, expect to see results like my patients, where your weight stays the same despite favorable changes in body composition. If you continue after that, and incorporate some good diet changes, you will hopefully start seeing the total weight loss you may have wanted as even more excess fat drops off.