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Is Your Goal Really Weight Loss?
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by:
Nathan Latvaitis
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Are
you ashamed of your weight? Do you have a goal weight that you want to
reach through weight loss? I’d say so, it’s been pushed into our brains
many times over and over again that “weight loss” is what we want to
accomplish. There are weight loss guides, weight loss supplements, and
many other things that push “weight loss”. Many people even set their
goals to be at a certain weight. Additionally, the medical community
has developed an “ideal weight” chart, which can further add to the
confusion about weight loss.
Now, let me ask you a question. Is your goal really weight loss? Unless
you are trying to make a weight class for wrestling or some other sport
with weight classes, you may think that your goal is weight loss, but
it really isn’t. You are trying to lose that flubbery stuff attached to
your body called FAT. Correct?
So then, why do we measure our progress by how much we weigh? Why do we
step on the bathroom scale and hope that those numbers will be lower
than before? You see, our weight is affected by more than just how much
fat is on our body. Some other factors include water, muscle, glycogen,
and obviously if we have eaten anything earlier or used the bathroom
lately.
Our water weight fluctuates constantly. For instance, when we exhale
water vapor comes out. When we sweat, we are sweating out water. There
are also many more factors that can affect the amount of water in our
body. Water is what usually causes those random gains or losses of a
pound or two in weight that can make you happy or sad. It is almost
physiologically impossible to lose a pound of fat in one day.
One reason the low-carb or no-carb (also called ketogenic) diets are so
attractive is because of the large initial loss of weight. However,
this weight is not necessarily fat. When carbohydrates are restricted
the body has a backup store of them located in the liver and muscles in
the form of something called glycogen. The human body can store
approximately 400 grams of glycogen. In larger individuals this number
can increase. In addition to this, for each gram of glycogen stored in
the human body, 3 grams of water are also stored. If you figure it out,
this would equate to about 1600 grams (3.5 pounds) of glycogen and
water.
When you stop or limit your consumption of carbohydrates, your body
starts using its glycogen stores. After a couple of days that 1600
grams (3.5 pounds) of glycogen and water are gone. Also, as an
adaptation to the restriction of carbohydrates, your body produces
these things called ketones. Ketones also appear to have a diuretic
effect, which would mean an even greater loss of water.
In addition to water, if you have been working out lately to speed
along your “weight loss” (you mean fat loss, right?) progress you
probably have gained some muscle doing so. This gain in muscle can also
affect the numbers you see on the scale. Muscle is also more dense than
fat.
You may be wondering how you are going to measure your progress now
that the scale doesn’t mean as much as it used to. Well, there are
several methods to measure your body fat percentage. None of these
methods are 100% accurate, but they will be much more useful than the
use of a scale.
One of the simplest ways is to use a caliper. You can usually find
these at your local sporting goods/fitness shop. If you can’t find them
locally, you can order them off the internet. Calipers measure the
thickness of a skin fold on your triceps. Then there are directions
that come with the caliper that show you how to use the number you get
to derive your body fat %.
If you don’t want to go out and buy some calipers, there is a body fat
% calculator on my website. The calculator uses the circumference of
several parts of your body and then plugs them into a formula developed
by the U.S. Navy to derive an approximation of your body fat %.
You can find this calculator here:
http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/calculators/bodyfat.html
There are also much more accurate ways to measure your body fat % like
buoyancy testing or the use of special lasers.
If you insist on knowing your progress by weight loss and want to use a
scale, try to weigh yourself at the same time everyday. Probably the
best time would be right when you wake up in the morning and before you
do anything.
So, your new goal should be to shoot for fat loss and not weight loss.
Don’t necessarily trust the scale all the time as it can be deceiving -
your weight is affected by more than just how much fat you have gained
or lost. In addition, it is almost physiologically impossible to gain
or lose a pound of fat in one day.
About the Author
Nathan Latvaitis runs a website at
http://www.weight-loss-resources.com where you can find even more
fitness/weight loss articles, product reviews, book reviews,
calculators, a message board, and more.
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