It seems that just about everyone has tried to lose weight at some point in time.  In fact, nearly half of American adults surveyed in the past few years have reported that they are trying to lose weight.  Chances are therefore pretty high that weight loss has been a goal of yours in recent years.  With so many people trying to lose weight, a very important question many people don’t always consider, however, is what kind of weight am I losing?

Weight loss can come from body fat (which is the goal), muscle, water, and even bone mass.

It can become all too easy in the pursuit of weight loss to become overly fixated on the bathroom scale.  Monitoring just the pounds on a scale, however, only measures the total amount of weight lost, without giving information about the kind of weight that has been lost.

So let’s just stop and consider for a moment why our scale weight matters so much to us.  If our real goal is to look toned and fit, our scales won’t tell us if our clothes fit better or we look better, stronger, or more defined.  Sure, tracking your weight can be an important piece of information and a tool to help you monitor your progress, but it’s far too easy to become obsessed with the number.  If you’re improving your metabolism, eating right with adequate amounts of protein, and embarking on an exercise program, you’ll likely begin to lose body fat while gaining muscle and bone density.  A definite win!

A more valuable way than relying simply on the number on the scale to measure progress is to monitor changes made in body composition.  Body Composition is a measurement of a person’s fat and fat-free (muscle, bone, and water) mass.  

Focusing on body composition is ideal because our goal isn’t simply achieving a lower number on the scale.  We want to add lean muscle mass and decrease body fat, helping us achieve the defined, fit look we desire.

You may have heard the saying that “muscle weighs more than fat.”  This saying doesn’t quite get it right. A pound of muscle and a pound of fat technically do weigh the same amount (one pound).

But two things that weigh the same amount can be very different in size. A pound of feathers sure takes up a lot more space than a one-pound dumbbell! This is true for body fat and muscle as well. One pound of muscle is much harder and denser than a pound of body fat. Although they weigh the same,  their shape and size are totally different.

Consider how this might apply to you. If you gain 5 pounds of muscle but drop five pounds of body fat, your scale weight will be exactly the same. However, the way your clothes fit and what you see in the mirror will be totally different. 

I suggest when beginning a nutrition or fitness program to do an initial weigh in, then maybe again in a week, and then hide your scale for a month (at least!).  Track photos, track performance and energy, track how your clothes fit.  Monitoring your progress this way will give you a better sense of real progress than the scale. 

If your main goal is fat loss, give these two strategies to monitor progress a try:

• Measure your Waist-to-Hip Ratio                                

Measuring your waist-to-hip ratio is a simple and effective way to track inches lost as well as provide an indication of improved metabolic health.  The higher the ratio, the more at risk one is for various diseases.  All you need to do is measure your waist at the narrowest portion using a tape measure.  Then measure your hips at the widest portion and divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement.  The goal is to see the ratio go down over time.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a healthy WHR is:

• 0.9 or less in men
• 0.85 or less for women

In both men and women, a WHR of 1.0 or higher increases the risk for heart disease and other conditions that are linked to being overweight.

Waist-to-hip ratio chart

Waist-to-hip-ratio is a quick and easy way to check how much weight you carry around your middle. Remember, however, It’s just one of several measures — along with BMI — that evaluates your weight and health.

• Give the “Tight Pants Test” a Try.                                Simply find a pair of pants that are snug, but that you can still get on.  Notice how they fit.  Can you zip them?  Are they uncomfortable?  Can you sit down in them?  Maybe even take a picture of yourself in them for future comparison.

Rather than fixating your attention on your scale weight for confirmation that you are making progress in reaching your fitness goals, focus on the way you look, feel, and perform.

Why Resistance Training is So Important

Now that we understand the difference between losing weight on the scale versus losing body fat and gaining lean muscle (i.e., changing your body composition), a very important piece of this equation is resistance training! 

As you work to achieve your fittest body, you may be tempted to focus simply on cardio. After all, cardio burns lots of calories, and that’s the big goal, right?  Not necessarily.

Weight training may not always burn as many calories as cardio, but, weight training is far more effective than cardio at building muscle, and therefore is ideal - and necessary! - for improving body composition.

Weight training can help raise your resting metabolic rate (i.e., the number of calories you burn when you’re at rest—including when you’re asleep!).  Therefore, weight training can burn calories for many hours after a session - far more than cardio workouts can.

If you focus simply on cutting calories as a means for weight loss but don't participate in some kind of resistance training program, you may lose body fat, but you may not achieve the defined, toned look you’re hoping for. Effective body recomposition requires both proper caloric intake and building muscle through resistance training.

So hide the scale for a while, focus on proper nutrition and resistance training, and monitor your progress based on how you look and feel.  You are more than the number on a scale!!