Weight Loss Vs. Fat Loss

You commonly find people talking about weight loss, but not quite as much about fat loss. Which one is more important, and what is the real difference? Also, what techniques do you want to employ to satisfy the demands of your goal?

Let's first talk about weight loss. If you want to make the numbers of the scale go down drastically, this is what you are looking for. Weight loss focuses on losing weight and lowering numbers, while not being quite as focused as where the weight comes off of.

For this you want to focus primarily on cardio and calorie restriction diets. Low fat, high protein, and medium to high carbs (good carbs only of course, so no white breads, only browns). As all diets, you will want to keep sugar in check, and be very vigilant with exercise. While resistance training will help, you will want to focus on higher reps and lower weights. Lifting heavy weights will build muscle, therefore more weight. Leading into the bad part of weight loss.

As I mentioned, weight loss is key for numbers and not where the weight comes off of. While you will be losing a good amount of fat, you will probably also lose muscle in the process. You need to have a completely different diet and exercise routine for muscle retention, and while you may build some toning from the high amounts of cardio, just expect the weight to come off from both types of tissue.

Fat loss specifically targets the fat, while building muscle to its highest degree. You will focus on resistance training with medium to low reps but high weights, with some cardio (some trainers say cardio is not needed for this, as weight training makes your heart pump and thereby supplies cardio. However, I have found that my body functions best with the combination of both).

Now you will not be losing weight as quickly, so don't expect to be losing 5 pounds a week, but closer to 1 or 2. However, the weight lost will be all fat, and you can expect toning to definitely increase. Not only that, but there is a chance from the intense lifting that you may gain weight. If you follow a muscle retention diet and exercise regularly though, then all the weight gained is muscle weight and not from fat.

Your diet here will focus primarily on fat and protein (more protein), and a low amount of carbs (again, only good ones). The fat you will want to ingest is of course good as well, so mostly unsaturated with low amounts of saturated (and of course, no trans fats). The additional fat will put your body into a ketosis mode, meaning that it will use fat for fuel and thereby burn body fat instead of carbs for your main source of energy. However, your body does require a small amount of carbs, so make sure to eat them as well (a healthy amount, they it may seem low, is around 50 grams a day.)

It all matters on your goals and what you want to do. If you want to lose weight and fit into clothes better, then start running as much as possible and restrict that fat. If you want to gain muscle and lose specifically fat, you have to hit the weights and eat mostly meat and proteins. Good luck, and be the healthiest you can be.