Three Tips to Ensure You’re Losing Body Fat and Not Muscle

How to lose belly fat or How to lose fat fast are two very popular Google searches. It seems to be the one goal most people are constantly chasing.

Why are we constantly chasing it rather than achieving it and keeping the results?

It’s because the focus is on weight loss NOT fat loss.

focus on fat loss not weight loss

Keeping muscle on the body is the key you’re looking for when it comes to changing body composition.

You say you want to lose weight- but what you really mean is you want to lose body fat.

People that are lean, healthy, and fit don’t just have a low weight. Actually- it’s often heavier than you would think! What they have is low body fat and a good amount of muscle on their frame.

If you’re thinking- I don’t want to “bulk up” you need to remember- muscle is lean, fat is bulky!

On your fat loss journey, here’s how to ensure you’re losing body fat and not muscle.

Prioritize Protein. (1)

All diet-related research shows benefits to prioritizing protein when it comes to weight loss. Not only does it preserve muscle while you are in a calorie deficit (ensuring the weight you’re dropping is fat- not muscle) but it also has other health-related benefits.

• keeps you more satiated (which helps you stick with it!)
• curbs cravings (also helps you stick with it…)
• aids in decreasing LDL cholesterol
• folate and vitamin B6 increase
• helps regulate hormones
• aids in better sleep
• aids in muscle recovery (so you’re not so sore all the time)

One major reason diets fail is because they are focused on weight loss, not health. If you prioritize protein during your weight loss journey, you will reap health benefits along with fat loss. The best of both worlds!

You don’t need to be pounding protein shakes all day. That is not what “prioritize protein” means. Protein shakes are a fast, efficient way to increase total protein intake. But there are other ways to do it with whole foods.

1. Have a palm size protein source at 3 main meals each day. Your palm size is relative to your body, so it’s a good way for protein to be based on you!
2. Make one snack each day focused on protein. These buffalo chicken meatballs give 4 grams of protein per meatball!
3. When you think you may be hungry- but it also may just be boredom- keep yourself in check by trying small protein snacks first. If you’re actually hungry, it will help fill you up. If you’re not hungry, it won’t sound good! Some good options: deli meat, light string cheese or turkey pepperoni.

By prioritizing protein in your daily diet, you will be protecting the muscle that you have, so when you do lose weight, it is body fat you are dropping. When you drop that layer of fat covering muscle, you end up with that lean, toned look rather than a “skinny fat” look. It also naturally boosts your metabolism so that you don’t have to diet forever. You can get to a place where you’re eating a healthy amount without worrying about weight gain. Protein is the secret to a healthy, enjoyable relationship with food!

Incorporate Strength Training, Not Just Cardio. (2)

When it comes to losing body fat quickly, too many people skip over strength training and go straight to cardio.

The problem is- too much cardio can work against your goals. It burns calories for the time that you’re doing it, but it can also significantly increase appetite, making it hard to stick to a caloric deficit.

High-intensity cardio like running or HITT class cause the body to attack muscle FIRST, not body fat like we want it to. When you lose muscle, the amount of calories you burn at rest decreases. The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn while just sitting on the couch! That means you can eat more and still be lean. Which is what we want, right? We want to work less for more benefits. Strength training is the way to do that.

There are lots of people that blame “weights” on getting bulky- when the problem is their diet. Women that join CrossFit often see weight gain at first. This is because the intense cardio drives up their appetite, causing them to eat more. The bulkiness comes from the extra food they didn’t have before.

Strength training doesn’t always seem “as hard” because there is resting involved. But combined with a good diet, you will see major changes in body composition. This is because you’re protecting the muscle you have. Fat is the only thing left in the body to burn at that point.

Not only is strength training the secret to actually losing body fat- but it increases overall health as well.

Strength training can

• Decrease blood pressure
• Decrease LDL cholesterol
• Increase bone density
• Manage type 2 diabetes
• Increase functional independence
• Increase cognitive abilities
• Increase self-esteem
• Reverse aging factors
• Reduce low back pain
• Regulate hormones

All of these benefits are too good to pass up. If you’re new to strength training, get a trainer to show you the ropes. You’ll be much more comfortable heading to the gym by yourself and will increase the chances that you stick with it.

Focus on Inches, not the Scale.

The scale is something that is given way too much worth in this society. This may be cliche, but the scale really is just a number.

It does not give you any details like how much water your body is holding, muscle weight vs fat weight, or how much of the weight comes from bones and organs.

Think of it this way, “would I rather have my dream body or my dream weight?”

Your weight is not written across your forehead. No one can tell if you’re up three pounds or down three pounds one morning — yet we often let that number derail our day if it’s not what we want it to be.

A focus on the scale can drastically derail your progress because it has the ability to mentally throw you off.

If, instead, you focus on losing inches- you will be changing what actually matters. Two different bodies that are both 200 pounds can look vastly different if one is mostly body fat and one is mostly muscle.

A person that prioritizes protein and strength training can maintain a high weight, but look extremely fit and lean. Because muscle is lean, fat is bulky!

Someone that just focuses on calories and does cardio will have a higher body fat percentage, even if they are at a lower weight. That body fat will show, and a weight drop won’t help it. Dropping inches is what the person really needs in order to get the look they’re going for.

It’s very similar to a sponge. You can set a dry sponge on the scale and it’ll be much lighter than a very wet sponge, due to the water volume. But the sponge looks the exact same.

However, if you cut a piece off of that sponge, you’re changing its composition. It’ll still be heavier than a dry sponge- but it’ll be smaller.

So, do yourself a favor, and the next time you set a goal to “lose weight”-

1. Prioritize protein
2. Strength train 3x a week
3. Take weekly measurements rather than daily weigh-ins

—

Hey, I’m Meag- a health and wellness copywriter!

I have a love for writing, small businesses, and hard work.

What can a copywriter help you with?

Freeing up your mental space (the content creation, the words that convert!) so you can get back to what you love to do — working with your clients!!

Shoot me a message to get info on how I can help you grow your health and wellness company.

—

1. Manny Noakes, Jennifer B Keogh, Paul R Foster, Peter M Clifton, Effect of an energy-restricted, high-protein, low-fat diet relative to a conventional high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet on weight loss, body composition, nutritional status, and markers of cardiovascular health in obese women, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 81, Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 1298–1306,
2. Westcott, Wayne L. PhD. Resistance Training is Medicine: Effects of Strength Training on Health. Current Sports Medicine Reports 11(4):p 209–216, July/August 2012. | DOI: 10.1249/JSR.0b013e31825dabb8