Weight Loss vs Fat Loss

The difference between weight loss and fat loss

Weight loss refers to you as a whole; this includes bones, muscle, fatty tissue, organs, fluids, and waste. When weighing yourself on a scale you are looking at a number reflecting all of the above. However what most clients are looking to achieve is fat loss-reducing their body fat.

The truth is when looking to reduce body fat the principles are quite basic: calories in vs calories out. This statement is controversial (and for good reason) as it is not the sole factor in fat loss, but it's worth mentioning because it has merit. In order to reduce body fat you must be in a caloric deficit. This can happen in four ways:

Reduce daily calorie intake

Eating in a slight caloric deficit of your maintenance calories. Maintenance calories is determined by calculating your resting metabolic rate (RMR)- the total number of calories needed to sustain your body at rest, then multiplying it by an activity factor. This will give you your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). From there the deficit is determined based on your goals.

Increase energy (calorie) output

This would be considered structured exercise. Burning calories through activity such as steady state cardio or HIIT.

Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT)

This would be considered none structured exercise- daily movement. This might look like fidgeting, standing instead of sitting, house work, cooking, gardening, going on a walk, and so on. NEAT is more important when looking at overall health. The more consistently we move, the better.

Add muscle mass

This is one aspect that gets overlooked and is so important. Muscle mass increases your RMR. For example, Even if you ate the same amount of calories every day but you increased the amount of muscle on your frame, you would start to lose fat mass because this puts you naturally into a deficit; this is referred to as body re-composition.

On the flip side

The quality of the food you eat is equally, if not more important than the amount of calories you consume. Food impacts our hormones, tissues, cells, genes; we really are what we eat!

The quality of sleep you get is also vital; sleep impacts critical hormones that directly affect our body’s ability to hold on to or burn fat. Cortisol needs to be lowered in the evening in order to produce melatonin. Melatonin is needed to promote sleep and stimulates the secretion of human growth hormone (HGH). HGH is needed to synthesize proteins which in turn are needed to build, repair, and maintain muscle.

Stress management is also extremely important. This doesn't just mean mental stressors, but physical stressors such as over-training, not eating the right quality or quantity of food, and poor sleep. All of these factors can create a stress response in our body, driving up cortisol and preventing us from thriving and feeling our best.