When it comes to weight loss, and fat loss there’s a lot of confusion about what the difference is between fat loss and weight loss. Some people believe that they are one and the same thing, while others think that you can only lose weight by dieting and exercising. So which is it? What’s the real difference between fat loss and weight loss?
And which one should you be aiming for? In this blog post, we’re going to take a look at the differences between fat loss and weight loss, and help you decide which one is right for you.
What’s The Difference Between Fat Loss And Weight Loss?
The first thing that you need to know is that fat loss and weight loss are not the same thing. They are related, but they are not exactly the same thing. To understand why, we need to take a look at what each of them actually is before narrowing down their differences.
So, what is weight loss? As you might have guessed from the name, weight loss is losing weight. If someone tells you that they’re on a ‘weight-loss diet’ it means that they are using a particular diet and exercise plan to help them lose weight. What this actually means is that they are using that plan to burn off more calories than they are taking in, which will help them lose weight.
This is an important distinction because there’s a big difference between burning fat and losing weight.
What Is Fat Loss? So what exactly is fat loss? Well, let’s start with the basics so you can understand it better. Fat loss is the process of losing fat from your body. Now that might seem like a pretty obvious answer but there’s actually quite a big difference between this and weight loss.
What you need to remember is that most people who want to lose weight usually only care about reducing the numbers on the scales – they don’t really care about losing fat, they just want to lose weight in general.
What this means in practice is that although they might be in a calorie deficit and burning off more calories than they take in every day, the main change will usually come from them losing water-weight which can make it look like your body shape has changed when it hasn’t.
5 Major Differences Between Fat Loss And Weight Loss
Let’s take a look at the 5 major differences between fat loss and weight loss. Remember, just because you want to lose weight doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re wanting to lose fat – so keep this list in mind if you don’t want to be mistaken about what exactly you want to achieve:
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More Important For Long-Term Results
When you’re trying to lose weight, it’s more about coming out of the calorie deficit at the end of your diet or ‘cut’ with roughly the same body fat percentage that you started with.
It doesn’t matter if your weight goes down while you do this – as long as it’s fat, not muscle. With fat loss, however, you’re aiming to lose weight AND body-fat – which means that you need to be focusing on burning off more calories than you take in every single day until you hit your weight loss goals.
Remember that this is a process and it can take some time, but if you want to see long-term changes in your body composition then this is the most effective way for you to do it.
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Different Body Fat Range
The next major difference is that the number on the scales will be different depending on how much fat vs muscle you’re carrying.
If you carry more muscle, for instance, you’ll weigh more than someone who has the same amount of body fat as you because muscle is much denser and takes up less space than fat.
This means that for someone with a lot of muscle to lose their weight might go down but their body-fat percentage would stay exactly the same – so they would still be in the body fat percentage range that they were when they started.
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More Important For Someone Who Wants To Get Skinny vs ‘Hulk’ Muscles
People who want to get really lean and skinny for a competition or photoshoot, need to be much more precise with their measurements than someone who wants to be strong and big.
This is because it’s easier to build muscle than it is to lose fat, and if someone who wants to get really lean doesn’t drop their body-fat down to single digits, they run the risk of not looking like a smaller version of their current self when they reach their goal weight – they might end up looking like a smaller version of their current self, plus some muscle.
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Less Important For Someone Who Wants To Build Muscle Or Get Stronger
If someone is more interested in building muscle and getting stronger then they can afford to put on a bit more body-fat as long as they’re still lifting heavy and not taking steroids or supplements.
There’s more of a margin for error when you want to get stronger and/or bigger, because the body can change shape without looking too different or really losing muscle tone.
This means that someone with this goal will probably be less stressed about having to get below 10% body fat and might not need to drop down as low as someone who wants to be really lean.
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Not The Same Thing As Eating Healthy Or Clean
Last but not least, it’s important for us all to remember that fat loss and weight loss are two different things – even though they sound the same.
When you’re trying to lose weight but your goal is actually fat loss, it doesn’t always mean that you’re going to eat healthy or clean foods – this is because the most effective way to burn fat is through a calorie deficit, not necessarily a calorie surplus.
Someone who wants to lose weight might end up eating less junk food and more whole foods but they might still be consuming too many calories – meaning that they’ll still look better and their stomach will be smaller but it won’t actually mean that they lost any body fat.
This is because if you eat less food, your body eats into muscle for energy rather than just using up all the fat stores in the body – so even though someone who wants to lose weight might not change what they eat, they will still lose weight because of the calorie deficit.
Final Thoughts
So although people who want to lose weight and people who want to get lean might approach their diets differently, the end result for both would be that they look better and weigh less. The difference is that someone who wants to lose weight probably wouldn’t need to get anywhere near as lean as someone who wants to get really toned up, because their goal is to look different rather than just to get leaner.
No matter what it is essential to follow a healthy lifestyle. It is essential to invest your time in healthy workout activities. Similarly it is important to track your efforts regularly.
