Don't look at the scale all the time

Weight loss is one of the hottest topics ever. Everyone looks at the scale with an eye if they are trying to lose weight, but they don't take into account that there is a difference between losing weight and losing fat. After all, we all want to only lose fat in our diets and have muscle left or have gained muscle within reason.

Weight loss vs fat loss - what is the difference

Losing weight means reducing our body weight at all costs and we are not talking about a firm body full of muscles. We simply want to reduce our weight, which includes the sum of the weight of bones, muscles, fat, organs.

Losing fat means that we only want to reduce our body fat %, maintain or gain muscle and thus weight is an irrelevant data for us and does not show the result. A healthy goal in early obesity is to reduce fat by 10%.

Why the weight reading is unreliable

Your body weight can fluctuate daily because it is affected by your stomach, bowel, bladder, water loss or retention, muscle loss or gain, fat loss or gain, you just can't have a clue what is going on :)
Moreover, two people of similar height can weigh the same but look completely different ;) This can be seen in the attached picture, which also shows why the standard BMI is wrong. Both guys in the top picture have the same BMI, but one is clearly healthier and his body fat is lower.

Your clothes, mirror and photos don't lie. Body measurements certainly don't either, but the weight reading can become your worst enemy and kill your motivation !!!

Carbohydrates and water. Carbohydrates are weighed for water, so if you eat less carbohydrates, you will lose water and the scale will show that you are losing weight. This is why you lose so much weight from the beginning of e.g. a ketogenic diet.
If you also gain muscle (which should be the goal) while trying to reduce your fat percentage, the scale will still show the same reading, but at the same time your body will change beautifully when you look in the mirror. Just take a tape measure and you'll know right away if you're losing weight at the waist, which is the relevant figure ;)

How to preserve your muscles

See the picture above, 5kg of muscle takes up less space than 5kg of fat. This means you will look leaner at the same body weight if you build muscle as well. The key to losing fat, not muscle, is to be stronger. Strength training builds muscle and prevents muscle loss. So don't make the biggest mistake of recommending to cut down on weights and add on reps, but instead try to strength train in the 5-12 rep range.
A healthy diet is the basis for success. Try to eat enough protein and less carbohydrates or fats. It is possible to lose weight beautifully with enough of all the macro nutrients and there is no need for extreme approaches of various diets or nonsensical concoctions that tempt you to do something extra revolutionary, but yet the same thing has worked for centuries, namely calorie deficit! You can also help yourself with light cardio when trying to burn fat, but without strength training cardio can cause muscle loss. Avoid this.

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