Why Losing Weight Isn't Important For Getting Fit
Doesn’t it seem like every person you know wants to lose weight? We seem to believe we just need to drop a few (or quite a few) more pounds have achieved our fitness at last. But if we focus on our weight, we’re fooling ourselves. Your weight isn’t a good measure of how fit you are, and reducing you weight won’t necessarily make you fitter.
Why Losing Weight Isn’t the Key
Even health care professionals like doctors and nutritionists unintentionally mislead us by using the wrong words. They talk about losing weigh when they should be talking about getting fit and reducing your body fat. An example illustrates this nicely.
You and your identical twin go to the doctor for a physical. The doctor tells you that you both need to lose 20 pounds. Your conformist twin immediately joins a quick weight loss diet program to lose the 20 pounds.
You decide to try something different. You get your hands on a quality fitness program, which leads you to start eating healthier without going on any extreme diet. You also get serious about working out according to the guidelines in the program. You shoot for fat loss and improved fitness instead of maximum weight loss.
Six months later, you and your twin go back to the doctor for a follow up visit. Your twin has lost the 20 pounds the doctor wanted them to, but you’ve only lost a few pounds. Despite their success at doing what they were told to, the doctor tells your twin that they need to lose another 10 pounds. In the next breath the doctor tells you that you’re in great shape and don’t need to lose any more weight. Do you understand what happened here?
Fat Loss, Not Weight Loss, Is What Matters
The doctor gives you and your twin different instructions now because the numbers on the scale aren’t the most important thing. Your twin has been on an extreme weight loss diet for six months. They’ve lost a good bit of body fat. But they’ve also lost a good amount of muscle, along with a lot of water weight. Their body fat percentage (the ratio of fat to lean tissue in their body) is almost unchanged. And look at them. They look skinnier than they used to, but they’re not toned. They’re also low on energy and generally don’t look so good.
You’re a completely different story. Sure, you didn’t lose the amount of weight the doctor told you to. But all the exercise and good eating you’ve been doing has given you more muscle and left you in much better condition. And even though the number on the scale hasn’t changed much, you can somehow fit into those old jeans that were too tight just a few months ago. And you don’t look flabby anymore.
The number on the scale doesn’t show it, but you’ve added muscle and lost fat, greatly reducing your body fat percentage. You’re also feeling great, with lots of energy. You’re clearly in better shape than you were six months ago, regardless of what the scale says.
Get The Difference Right
It should now be clear why just focusing on losing weight is a bad idea. This focus is a huge part of the reason why so many people fail to get into good shape. If everyone were to concentrate on getting fit and losing fat, instead of watching some number on their bathroom scale, we would all be a lot better off. But at least you know what you need to do. Do some research and find a quality fitness program and follow the instructions. The program will cause you to start eating better and exercising properly. Soon you’ll start burning off your excess body fat and getting fitter by the day.
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Tags: body fat percentage, fat loss, get fit at last, Weight Loss
