HOW TO LOSE FAT & STAY ON TRACK, WITHOUT THE SCALES!
When you’re working towards fat loss, you want to be able to look at the scales and be pleased with what you see each time.
You go in with an expectation of, even though you had the odd snack it surely can’t change that much.
But in that moment when the scales show a number that takes you a few seconds to digest, has it accurately managed to tell you whether you’ve lost body fat or not?
The amount of body fat you carry at any given moment in time only equates to a certain percent of your overall body weight. Factors such as muscle mass and water retention can massively impact the number you see on the scale.
By the end of this article, I hope to be able to leave you with a good knowledge of how the scales should be used, when it comes to tracking your fat loss journey.
1. What is fat loss?
The vital thing to note is that there is no ‘if I do this one thing perfectly, then fat loss will happen’. There are many factors that will affect both the ability for fat loss to occur and the rate at which it happens. Such factors include nutrition, sleep, recovery, water intake, activity, and stress levels.
A certain level of body fat is needed as humans, for the role it plays in regulating body temperature and protecting the internal organs & joints. Too little or too much body fat can lead to longer-term health issues, if not managed effectively.
For every bit of food and drink you consume, they will all contain a certain amount of calories (the unit used to calculate the amount of energy a food has). By totalling the amount of energy in the food and drink consumed over a day, you will get your total energy intake for that day.
This intake of energy is then burnt as fuel for exercise, daily activity, and other bodily functions. This process of burning calories can be measured and is often referred to as energy output. If your energy output is consistently greater than your energy intake, (meaning you are burning more calories than you’re consuming) it is likely that fat loss will occur.
The common mistake at this point of the journey is depending solely on the scale to tell you how much body fat you have lost. To know the best methods of tracking your goal, it must be very clear what your goal is. Often people place weight loss and fat loss under the same hat, which tends to cause more confusion when it comes to measuring progress.
Weight loss is mainly driven by a focus on dropping the overall amount of total body weight a person carries. Whereas fat loss focuses on decreasing the amount of body fat, with the goal of building a leaner physique.
In most cases of fat loss, there will be a reduction in overall body weight as a by-product of the fat loss, however this is not the primary focus. There is no right or wrong out of the two just a choice of which will be more beneficial for you.
2. Why scales can’t be used solely for fat loss
There are a number of reasons as to why the scale weight will fluctuate from day-to-day. Rather than bore you with all the different reasons, I will stick to 2 of the more common ones; muscle mass and water retention.
Muscle mass is the amount of muscle tissue found within the body. If your following a progressive weight training programme, over time this could lead to an increase in the amount of muscle mass within your body.
For fat loss this is great, as an increase in muscle mass has been shown to improve the rate at which your body can burn energy (calories), providing a better foundation for fat loss to occur. However, despite no changes in body fat, this growth in muscle mass will show as an increase in total body weight on the scales.
Does that mean you’ve put on weight and need to sabotage your efforts so far?
Water retention occurs when there is a build-up of excess fluids within the body. This could be caused by a number of reasons such as; inactivity, changes to your diet, underlying health issues or hormonal changes that occur during a menstrual cycle.
Because of this, on any given day the scale could be either slightly higher or lower than normal. In most cases, if managed properly the water retention will subside and your weight will return, but this goes to further explain why the scales will not always be reliable for tracking fat loss.
3. How to track fat loss?
In order to get the truest picture of your fat loss journey, you must keep track of other factors alongside scale weight. Think of it in terms of calculating your profit margins. You must first be able to track all of your sales and expenses, to get the true picture of your net profit.
There are a few different ways to track this, with some methods being slightly more accurate than others. However, for anyone starting out here are the 3 basics I would suggest using, to get a truer picture of what your journey looks like.
Body measurements (I’d suggest taking weekly measurements of your neck, chest, upper arm, belly button/stomach, hips, thighs, and calf.
Progress pictures
Daily/weekly calorie intake & output
Ensure that you take the measurements and progress pictures as close as possible to the same time and day of each week. The more accurate you are with reporting your metrics, the more confident you can be with the results.
The last point to mention that often leaves people feeling deflated is their expectations. So to help you set the card straight, fat loss is not linear. This means after a period of time you will not see direct progress every week.
This doesn’t mean you are doing anything wrong and need to jump ship. In order to get rid of the stubborn layers of fat, you must stick with the calorie deficit over a prolonged period of time. What that might be for each individual will be different. However, it would be worth investing in a coach at this point, to help keep you accountable and focused.
