Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: What's the Difference & Why Does it Matter?
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Is it your goal to lose weight? If yes, let me ask you this…Is it weight you want to lose or is it actually fat you want to lose? Because these are two very different things and also require you to do very different things.
In this episode of Embrace Your Real I explain the difference between weight loss and fat loss, how one changes your body composition and how one does not, and what you need to do in order to lose what you are actually wanting to lose.
I hope after listening you will have a new perspective on weight loss and realize it’s time to re-evaluate your weight-loss tactics.
If you loved this episode, I know you’ll also love…
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey, hey, beautiful human. Can I steal five minutes of your time? I have something super important to share with you, but I promise I'll be really quick. You're listening to my weekly bonus episode of Embrace your Real with me, Julie Ledbetter. I'm about to give you a quick tip for building your confidence, honoring your body and unconditionally loving your authentic self. Stay tuned if you're ready to embrace your real. Let's get it, let's go.
Hello and welcome back to the Embrace Your Real podcast. I am so grateful that you are here. Welcome to this week's bonus episode. I'm going to dive right in.
Now, I hear all of the time people saying that they want to lose weight, and typically what I ask them is, is it the weight they are wanting to lose or is it the fat that they are wanting to lose? Because those are two very, very different things and they also require you to do two very, very different things. So I'm going to share with that.
But before I dive in, I wanted to quickly share this sweet review from [CocoRose2020 00:00:01:11]. She says, "Life changing. I often feel like Julie's talking directly to me because her message is so relatable. I started listening to the podcast and I love it, and then I joined the Macro Counting Made Simple online community, which is also incredible. I am so thankful I found this podcast and it continues to impact my life in so many positive ways. Thank you for being vulnerable with your own story to help others." Thank you so much for the review.
If you haven't already rated and reviewed the podcast, it would mean the absolute world to me. All you got to do is press pause, scroll all the way down, if you're listening on Apple podcasts, rate and review. It takes less than 60 seconds. If you do, please screenshot it, send it to me in a DM. I love connecting with you guys and I will personally respond back to you.
Okay, so what is the difference between weight loss and fat loss? Weight loss is losing any kind of weight, whether it be from fat, muscle or water. Which I want to dive into water weight for a minute, because weight loss doesn't mean your body composition is going to change or that your body is going to get super toned. Fat loss is just that, you lose fat. When you only lose fat and not muscle, your body composition will change. So that's why I think more often than not, when people say they want to lose weight, what they actually mean is they want to lose fat. And so what happens when you only focus on weight loss? If you only focus on weight loss, you will, without a doubt, lose muscle. Unfortunately, the less muscle that you have, the slower your metabolism will be and less effective that it will be at losing fat, which is actually what you want to be losing in the first place. And so you want muscle because muscle requires more energy, which leads to burning more calories and more fat. You following me?
So typically working to lose weight looks like doing endless amounts of cardio, eating as little as possible, people think they constantly need to be cutting carbs. You have to understand that endless hours of cardio will not only burn fat, but it will burn just as much muscle, if not more. So, if you aren't shaping or toning your body whatsoever... So really you aren't shaping or toning your body whatsoever. Eating as little as possible isn't going to give your muscles the nourishment that they need to build and grow, let alone maintain.
You have to understand that cutting your carbs out of your daily intake, sure, it will help you lose water weight, but not weight from fat. So if you ever go on some sort of diet to lose five pounds, 10 pounds, 20 pounds, whatever amount of pounds and you do so in a few weeks, please, please keep in mind that that is likely only water weight that you are losing, not fat. So the second that you get off of that diet and start eating more carbs, or start implementing more food or start not doing as much cardio, you'll likely gain all of the water weight back plus more.
On the flip side, what happens when we focus on fat loss? You build more lean muscle, which replaces the fat on your body. This of course makes you appear leaner and it revs your metabolism, which then leads to more fat loss. Now, the most effective way to do this is through resistance training, compound exercises, a few hit sessions per week, nourishing your body with the right amount of food, A.K.A enough food, staying hydrated and giving yourself proper recovery between workouts. One thing that makes it really difficult for many women to focus on fat loss versus weight loss is when you focus on fat loss, you may not lose any weight at all. You might actually increase your weight if you are weighing yourself. Please, you have to remember that muscle weighs more than fat. So many of us are obsessed with the number on the scale and we think that we need to make that number lower in order to look better. But in reality, when you're gaining lean muscle, it doesn't matter if you weigh the same, you weigh more, regardless you are going to shape your body and your body composition will appear much leaner than what it would be if you just focus on weight loss.
I have shared so many transformation photos from 2012, 2013, even 2014 to now, and how I'm a good 20 to 30 pounds heavier, but yet my body looks leaner because I have built muscle and I have changed entirely my body composition. In a lot of my, I don't even want to say before pictures, but in 2012, 2013 photos, I was skinny fat is what you'd like to call it, so I was very, very lean. In some of the photos, I'm very, very lean. In other photos, I had gained some weight and I was skinny fat. And when you compare that to my photos now, it's amazing the body compositional change that I've had simply because as I have lost fat and I've changed my body composition. So just remember that.
I know for many, myself included, when switching from focusing on weight loss to focusing on fat loss, people find it extremely hard to eat more food. For example, going from 1000 calories to 2000 calories through reverse dieting, you don't want to make that drastic of a change too fast. It's really hard for women to wrap their head around eating that much food and don't believe that it's going to help them build the body that you want.
People also find it very difficult going from endless amount of cardio sessions, everyday, 30, 45-minute cardio sessions to resistance training a few times a week. It's really difficult for women to wrap their head around the idea that more isn't always better when it comes to working out. And if this is you, I have been there. Trust me, if you've listened to any of my stories, I was that girl that was like, "You're crazy that you're eating that much. I'm going to get fat if I have protein. I'm going to get fat and I'm going to be super bulky if I resistance train more than three times per week, or even lift a single dumbbell." When I first started, I was scared of even lifting a dumbbell. You have to remember that you've got to trust the process and you will lose fat and you will see a transformation that you're searching for when you're focusing on the right things. It's shifting that focus from just trying to burn, burn, burn, burn, burn, to build, build that muscle, build your metabolic capacity. It's that simple mindset switch that I promise you will help you so much longterm.
Now, this is why I'm a huge advocate for not caring about what your weight is because it shouldn't be weight loss that you're striving for in the first place. It should be fat loss. The scale has absolutely no way of telling you how much fat you've lost or how much muscle you've gained. When we just focus on weight loss and our weight increases, we automatically assume that our weight is from fat, but again, the scale doesn't know the difference between fat and muscle. So the information that the scale gives us doesn't really mean anything in regards to how our body composition is transforming. It typically is this silly number on the scale that doesn't know the whole story that's leading us to have an unhealthy relationship with our body that leads us to take unhealthy measures to lower that number. All right, you got that? It's typically that silly number on the scale that doesn't know the whole story that leads us to have unhealthy relationships with our body and leads us to take unhealthy measures to lower that number.
So I challenge you to break free from the weight loss mindset, break free from the weight loss mindset and get into a fat loss body compositional change mindset. This is why I'm a huge advocate for taking progress photos, even if you don't want to when you first start. I wish I would have taken legit progress photos the first two years that I started my journey, but I kept telling myself, "I'm not going to take a progress photo until I get to X weight." I was telling myself this lie and I was just constantly putting it off, and I just wish I would have had those progress photos.
So I'm telling you, do not be like me. Do not follow suit with what I did because I wish I would have had those progress photos. Go by progress photos, go by how you're feeling, go by your energy levels, go by how your clothes are fitting, go by measurements. There's so many other forms of measuring your progress and monitoring your progress, so don't go by the scale. It's a silly little number of your numerical reflection of your relationship to gravity. Do not go from it. This is why in my Movement with Julie app, my weekly workouts and my Macro Counting Made Simple online Academy, I am teaching you proper ways of burning fat, of changing your body composition.
So if you're not sure where to start when it comes to burning fat instead of burning muscle and just trying to lose weight, I've got you. I'll link both of those in the show notes to check it out.
If you loved this episode, I know you'll love episode 17, Why Lean Doesn't Equal Healthy. Especially give this one a listen if your current goal is to lose weight. I need you to hear the foundational things that I talk about in episode 17, so be sure to tune in there. If you loved this episode, post it up on your story, tag me. I love seeing your faces, knowing where you're tuning in from. Tag your location so that I know exactly where you're tuning in from on this episode. I love you so much and I will talk to you guys in the next episode.
All right, sister, that's all I got for you today, but I have two things that I need you to do. First thing, if you are not already following on the 'gram, be sure to do so, juliealedbetter, yes, it's with an A in the middle, for that daily post-workout real talk, healthy tips and tricks, and honest accountability to keep your mind and heart in check. The second thing, be sure to subscribe to Apple podcasts to never miss an episode. Thank you so much for joining me. It means the absolute world.
I'm going to leave you with one last thought, the most beautiful women that I have met in my life are the ones who are completely confident and secure in being authentically themselves. Remember that beauty goes so much deeper than the surface, so go out there and embrace your real because you're worth it.