Is your goal to lose fat or to lose weight?.... Is there even a difference?
Yes! Have you ever met someone who complains about how much muscle mass they have? Of course not! We do not commonly hear "Man, I need to lose 20 pounds of muscle so my doctor will be happy." or "Once I lose all of this muscle, I'll be able to look great for my class reunion."
If someone tells me they want to lose weight, what they are really telling me is they want to lose from their total body weight. Meaning the weight you see on the scale. The weight on a scale includes everything: essential and non-essential body fat, muscle, bones, skin, hair, nails, organs, water, blood, etc. If you just go on any diet not specified to your needs, most likely you will lose weight, but it will come from everything listed above.
Weight loss is the overall drop in weight due to any body component, including fat, muscle, water, and more. While fat loss, as the name implies, refers to losing only excess fat from the body.
Fat, muscle, and water can play a role in weight loss. However, it can also occur due to other factors, such as bone mineral or glycogen stores. Glycogen stores may be particularly relevant for people following low-carb diets. Sometimes, people use the terms weight loss and fat loss interchangeably. However, they have different effects on the body and health.
If you want to specifically lose body fat then you are focusing on losing the visceral body, or that extra fat on your stomach, back, hips and thighs. This requires a specific plan both for your daily activity, training and your diet. When you want to lose body fat you will be in a slight to moderate calorie deficit and by nature your body will want to use up unneeded muscle first.
Your body is thinking “Wait there is less food (or energy coming in), I need to save my body fat as energy!” UNLESS you have the right training telling your body that it needs these muscle to survive and it needs to use the protein and carbs you are eating to repair the muscle, so instead burn the body fat!
No matter what, while losing weight or body fat you are going to lose weight from all over your body, but we can control it a bit in our favor. By focusing on resistance training, you can prevent muscle loss while in a caloric deficit. However, that muscle requires more energy than fat requires, even at rest. Being in too large of a caloric deficit will result in weight loss, not necessarily fat loss. If the body's energy needs are not being met, it will ditch the muscle first (weight loss) and hold on to the fat actually increasing your body fat percentage despite losing weight. However, if you are building muscle while losing fat, you may not see the scale change at all--so frustrating!
This is one of the reasons I recommend utilizing body composition measurements like the BodPod to track your progress. When you don't see total weight loss happening, it won't even bother you if you see you are losing fat and gaining muscle!
Sometimes when people lose weight, they decrease their muscle and fluid density as well as fat levels. This could result in a reduction in lean body mass and adverse health implications.
According to a 2018 review, the negative health implications of a loss of lean body mass are:
lowered metabolism
fatigue
declines in neuromuscular function
potential effects on emotion and psychological states
increased risk of injury
Moreover, the authors note that the metabolic decline that occurs following a loss of lean body mass can regain fat mass and cause unfavorable changes in body composition.
Sustainably losing fat mass while maintaining lean body mass is even more important than overall weight loss. Popular diets such as low carbohydrate, ketogenic, and high-fiber diets can result in weight loss — as well as a reduction in lean body mass. However, a high-protein diet, according to the same 2018 review, resulted in more fat loss and less lean mass loss.
I have found this to be true when I see clients in my office using the BodPod. Regardless of which dietary direction they choose, prioritizing protein results in maintenance or improvement of lean mass while losing body fat.
Being smart about your training plan and nutrition choices are crucial for fat loss! If you have a fat loss goal and need help staying on track or need a plan to make sure you don’t lose your progress take a look at my training plans, many of which include both nutrition and workouts, to carry you through the next 4 weeks and beyond!
All content of this blog is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this blog.
Kelly Sherman, MS, NC, CGP, CPT, is a licensed nutritionist specializing in empowering women to reclaim their health by cutting through misinformation and ditching the diet culture. She has a master’s degree in nutrition and is degreed in exercise science as well as a certified personal trainer. With over 20 years of experience in the field, she combines the best of both nutrition and exercise sciences to best help her clients reach their potential. To nourish is to flourish!
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