What Does It Really Mean to Lose Weight?
As a personal trainer, I don't hear anything more often as a goal than " I want to lose weight." The funny part is, every time I ask them why they want to lose weight, they don't have a good, specific answer. It's always well I'm getting a beer belly, or my doctor said so, or I don't really know I just think I should. When you think you need to lose weight, you need to ask yourself why or how much. Go deeper. Give yourself an actual goal to pursue. The problem I have with "lose weight" as a goal is that it isn't specific enough and can actually have a negative impact on your health. If someone is overweight and they lose 20 pounds, they might think that is awesome news, but what if they lose 20 pounds of muscle? Is that really a good thing? On the flip side, if someone starts lifting weights and they don't lose any weight for the first 2 months, is that a bad thing? I'd like to look deeper into the lose weight and lose fat ideas.Learn the Important of the Body Fat Percentage
As I touched on above, losing weight isn't always a good thing, so how do you know if your weight loss is good or bad? The answer is body fat percentage. To work off the example from above, say our overweight individual weighed 280 pounds and after 2 months, now weighs 260 pounds. At first glance, they might think things are great because they lost weight. Let's look deeper to really understand why body fat percentage is more important than overall weight. Let's say our example did an orientation on their first day and found their body fat percentage was 35%. They opted out of training and 2 months later, after trying to work their own program, they found that they lost 20 pounds. They set up another assessment with the trainer and found that their body fat percentage had decreased to 34%. This means that our example lost ONLY 2.8 lbs of fat, the rest muscle. Is this really a good thing? As a personal trainer, I know that I could get healthier results than this, but many people don't understand the importance of body fat percentage, so they see a drop on the scale and think, "Hell yes! That's how you lose weight!" By understanding body fat percentage, you're able to see how "healthy" your weight loss really is.
Easy Ways to Measure Weight Loss
If you don't have a way to accurately calculate your body fat percentage, there are several other ways to determine how healthy your weight loss is. The simplest way is to look in the mirror. If your goal is to lose your belly or lose weight around your hips, and you look the same, than you're not getting closer to your goal. This is why you need to set specific goals for yourself. Another method is to use pant sizes. If you exercise for months and your pant size is going up, than it doesn't matter what the scale says, you're likely gaining weight around problem areas. The last method is to use measurements. Measure your arms, legs, waist, chest etc. Using simple methods like these to track your progress will ensure that you continue to go in the right direction. If you notice that you are NOT going in the right direction, then you need to change your exercise plan. You can't continue to do what isn't working and expect different results. Consider trying another approach. High Intensity Interval Training is one of the best ways to lose weight, especially fat, while maintaining muscle mass.
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