The term weight loss makes people automatically think about fat loss. People commonly use these terms interchangeably. When hearing “fat loss”, usually people refer to the weight loss process. But, these two terms aren’t the same at all. Losing weight is a different process than burning fat. When losing weight, the number of the scale goes automatically down. But, burning fat is the process when our body uses all fat stores for energy use that may not result in weight loss.
You see, weight loss is the combination of muscle mass loss, fat loss and also, water loss. You might even have excess amounts of fat in your body despite the fact your overall body weight might be ideal. Excess fat means an increased risk of many life-threating diseases, no matter your weight.
Now, after reading the differences between these two terms, we hope you can better understand and know which one you should aim for.
What should your goal be?
Since the difference between losing fat and losing weight is big, the best thing everyone should know is which one of them is the best and healthiest method and how can it be achieved. Experts recommend that your goal should always be to lose fat, not weight. You see, losing weight means you get to lose many important parts of your organism that shouldn’t be lost for any reason. When losing weight, along with the lost fat, you also get to lose muscles, necessary fluids, organ size, etc. The majority of your “weight loss” should be fat loss if you want to continue to stay healthy and in shape.
How to burn fat?
If you stick to this philosophy and want to start losing all of the excess fat in your body, there are some things your can do differently in order to minimize your muscle and water loss and maximize your fat loss.
The first thing you can do is to edit and reorganize your everyday diet. Try to eliminate as much as you can fat-based foods, especially the ones that contain saturated fats (bad fat). Fast foods and pastries are the main type of foods that contain this type of fat. Without reorganizing your diet, nothing else really matters.
Then, you can add a larger variety of moderate to HIIT type of exercises. They are well-known for their fat-burning effects. Try to add into your workout routine some resistance training that will help you keep your muscle mass in place.
How to understand you’re losing water and muscles?
Keep in mind that during you first period of training, most of what you lose is water. Water is the factor that changes most quickly and it can be very tricky. When you cut your food intake in a drastic way, and most importantly, don’t train to build muscle mass, all your already-built-muscles can be lost. You see, if you really want to keep your muscles and be as fit and toned as you can, being on a diet is the worst thing to do. Muscles and not only, need proteins, good fats and carbs in order to properly function and build themselves.
Cutting bad fats and unhealthy snacks, adding HIIT training into your workout routine are the two most important things you need to do in order to start losing all the extra fat. A combination of strength and aerobic exercise is the right method to follow!
