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Kyle Hylton
Lose Body Fat NOT Weight - Time To Throw Away Your Scales.
Updated: Apr 22, 2018
If you want to build your dream body then you must focus on reducing body fat and stop worrying about the scales.
During my years as a personal trainer I have often had a question of this nature thrown at me “My training isn’t working as I’m not losing weight, what should I do?” and my response to this every time is you shouldn’t be focusing on your weight but more on reducing your body fat. The reason for this is you can be the same weight in two separate occasions but look completely different depending on what your fat to muscle ratio is at those times. This is known in the fitness world as body recomposition.
“I always tell my clients to use the mirror as the scales and to document their progress with photos as this gives a much better representation of your fitness journey."
Body recomposition is a process where you reduce your body fat while adding muscle mass at the same time. Please see the image below taken from Health.com so you can get a visual understanding of body recomposition.
As you can see from the picture above the female in picture 1 is virtually the same weight as picture 3 however she looks completely different. This is because in picture 1 she had a higher body fat percentage with less muscle mass whereas in picture 3 she has a lower body fat percentage with higher lean muscle tissue.
This is why it imperative that you do not become so weight focused as you can easily be discouraged if you do not see a change in the scales. Just because the number on the scales hasn't changed does not mean that you are not making progress. I always tell my clients to use the mirror as the scales and to document their journey with photos as this gives a much better representation of your progress.
“Your weight is simply a number.”
As I draw this post to a close it’s very important that you understand that the scales do not measure what percentage of your weight is fat versus muscle. Your weight is simply a number so please do not get too hung up on it. You should focus your energy on eating a more balanced diet, training hard and sleeping well as these will always be the foundation to a healthier, fitter and better looking version of you.
Always remember, your fitness journey is a marathon not a sprint. If you need assistance with achieving a more balanced diet or need a structured training plan then please head over to our services page where we would be more than happy to help.