Is Your Goal Really Weight Loss?

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-resource s.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.

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.

---

How to Get Started on Permanent Weight Loss Program

Why We Start Diets on MondayThe biggest problem with any... Read More

Breakfast -How Not To Start The Day Part II

The Order of Energy UtilizationBack to our table of stored... Read More

Healthy Recipes for Low Carb Success

Using healthy low carb recipes are an important part of... Read More

Weigh Loss and your Self Image ? Are You Worthy to Feel Better?

Maybe you losing weight comes down to the simple question,... Read More

Lose Fat and Retain Muscle By Getting In Touch With Hunger

"Unless that apple tastes like the best apple you've ever... Read More

Healthy and Fast Weight Loss: Ephedra - Why the FDA Couldnt Keep Their Ban On It?

Why was the FDA trying to hide the facts about... Read More

Bye-Bye Bread

I don't know about you, but I absolutely love bread... Read More

Finding the RIGHT Diet Pill

Hundreds of products on the market today claim to be... Read More

The Importance and Confusion of Fat in Your Diet

Fats are always looked at as a negative in a... Read More

The Public Stoning of Gastric Bypass Patients: When Things Get Ugly

Recently a woman went public in her online diet community... Read More

Weight Loss Surgery: What are the options?

To understand how surgical procedures aid the grossly overweight person... Read More

Four Steps to Hunger Control

Axiom Number Two: Hunger ControlTrying to lose weight without understanding... Read More

Weight Loss Problems ? Or is it a Self Image Problem?

Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More

Are You Overweight Because Youre Not Sleeping Enough?

If you're like me, you probably wish that there was... Read More

The Cost of Gastric Bypass Surgery

The cost of gastric bypass surgery and other bariatric surgical... Read More

Do You Need To Cut Down 100 Calories A Day? But Dont Know What 100 Calories Is?

The difference between weight loss, and steady or weight gain,... Read More

Fast Weight Loss for Special Occasions

Losing weight quickly is not advisable as most of the... Read More

Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss Lesson #3

Whew! So how did you do on that last lesson?... Read More

Gastric Bypass Patients Resent Normal Eaters

In the early weeks after having weight loss surgery almost... Read More

Turn Off the Fat Genes - A Book Review

Once in a while a good title comes along and... Read More

Effects of Exercise on the Relationship Between Low Self-Esteem and Obesity in Children (May 2000)

IntroductionObesity is the most common health problem facing children today.... Read More

The Most Effective Fat Burning And Muscle Building Workout That Takes Just 13 Minutes

Most people who want to burn off some excess pounds... Read More

How to Lose Weight While Gardening

Have you ever dreaded the idea of pulling weeds, planting... Read More

Four Big Weight Loss No-Nos

I've worked with hundreds of people who were interested in... Read More

Weight Loss Problems? Are You on the Path of Delusion, Depression, and Destruction?

Are you weighted down with delusion, depression and on the... Read More

Spritz On Some Flavor!

Now that everything from a tan to pantyhose comes in... Read More

Cause and Solution to Obesity

ObesityToday, 64.5 percent of adult Americans (about 127 million) are... Read More

Dieting Mistakes - 5 Easy Tips to Avoid Disaster

Looking to avoid the dieting mistakes many of our weight... Read More

How To Select A Weight Loss Program

Choosing a weight loss program may be a daunting task.... Read More

Magnetic Weight Loss -- Does It Work?

Magnetic weight loss is the newest fad diet supplement to... Read More

Cleansing the Body for a Detox Weight Loss!

Cleansing: How to Kickstart your Alkaline LifestyleDue to the highly... Read More

The Best Carbs For Low Carbers

With the popularity of low carb diets such as Atkins,... Read More

Are You a Binge Eater?

Ever wonder if you have a serious problem with binge... Read More