'Weight' Loss

Today I shall be addressing a few things related to this topic, why is it called ‘weight’ loss( a possibility), spot reduction, does it exist or no? Why do we tend to lose fat in a few specific places first, why is this not a rocket science, what to do for it, and the most important question, why are people not able to efficiently lose fat, or in general terms, ‘weight’.

What I shall not be commenting on is unable to lose weight due to medical issues, like hypothyroidism or PCOD, and other issues.

So, why is it called ‘weight’ loss, why not fat loss? When we talk about ‘weight loss’, we mean fat loss, but why do we say this? Why not just say fat loss? I’m currently only addressing the issues in India, as I want to focus on my country first. First of all, why is calling it weight loss wrong? Weight loss means losing weight from your body from any one or more type of body tissues in the body, it might be bone, tendon, muscle, fat or organ tissue.

In the fitness industry, and in the general populous , fat is a major issue, so we need fat loss, as most of the people already are muscle deficient and weak in the bones, we need to gain weight in the form of muscle and bones and need to lose fat. Then why in the world do we call it ‘weight’ loss?

One probability might be, tradition.

Two major sports, bodybuilding and combat sports, have weight categories.

When athletes compete in combat sports, one of the major strategies is that, just before the weigh-ins, they would shed some extra water weight from their bodies, so that they could get in a lower weight category to increase their chances of winning, but here they not only lose water weight but some fat also. They call it cutting down on the weight.

For bodybuilders, during off season, they gain muscle but also some fat along with it, maybe minimal, maybe maximal, but nevertheless, they gain some fat, they call it their gaining period, during which they gain weight. Now in the on season, they want to lose as much as fat as possible, some might even go as low as 1 percent body fat, but along with it, they tend to lose some muscle. 

Nowadays technology has advanced lot, so muscle mass loss has been minimized, particularly for this sport, using some strategies, and no, not just steroids, I mean actual technology, scientifically designed diets by nutritionists(not dieticians) among other things.

Their counterparts from earlier times used to call it cutting down on the weight and weight loss. Still, these athletes call it weight loss.

Everyone knows that bodybuilding started the fitness trend among people, so although we want to lose fat, we call it ‘weight’ loss.

Coming to the second topic of today, spot reduction. Spot reduction, simply means losing fat from a certain area of the body, mostly, for people it is the abdomen(belly fat), or the double chin.

Newsflash, guys! No such thing as spot reduction exists, although, the body does follow a certain pattern, or rather a cycle of losing flab.

 Generally, in men, fat is gained first one the belly, then the legs and the arms later on.

For women, it is the legs first, the belly after and the arms at the end.

Fat loss has the exact opposite pattern. But it doesn’t mean that the body will lose all the fat on the arms first then the legs, no. As I said before, it’s a cycle. Some weight will be lost from the arms first, then the legs and the arms later, then it repeats.

So, at the end spot reduction is not possible, so stop doing those crunches for reducing fat from the belly and those chin exercises for the double chin.

No such thing as spot reduction exists, period! Sorry to shatter your myth like a pane of glass.

*silent glass breaking*

Why is fat loss not a rocket science?

You just need one basic logic to lose weight in the long run, you need to lose fat, you need to be in a caloric deficit phase, through and through. And stop asking your trainer to lose the weight you’ve gained in your lifetime within a few months, that’s just stupid!

Fat loss takes time, 1 pound of fat=3500 calories.

An average person eats 2000 calories daily, you at least need 1500 calories daily to lose weight in the right way(excluding physical activity to a certain limit), without being admitted in a hospital. So per day, you’ll lose 500 calories, in 7 days, eating right, you’ll lose 3500 calories, so in a week, that comes to 1 pound. 1 pound of fat loss in 1 week, and that is just assuming, you’ve lost zero water weight and zero muscle mass. So assuming you need to lose 40 pounds, how much does that come to?

40 weeks! That is approximately, 9-10 months! But, we didn’t factor in the water weight and muscle mass lost in the process, it would at least extend that process by 6 months. That makes it, 15-16 months, assuming you are eating right, training right and resting right. Now do you get why I was calling it stupid to think about that rapid weight loss!

Now some people might be saying that, no, you are wrong, I lost all my weight in 3 months.

First of all, if you did that without cheating, i.e. taking fat burners and other diuretics, that is not what I’m addressing here and secondly, if you didn’t take them and still lost your weight, then you’d better get your bone-density checked, or maybe check that lose skin you have, because of all the cardio you did! I’ll address these issues in an article later on.

Now why do people give up, there are quite a few reasons, the first one being, peer pressure, I know this one because it happened to me a lot, people just don’t want to see you getting fitter than them, because once you start the process, you want to go all the way, and they just make fun of you because of their lazy asses stuck in their couches because of some procrastinated excuse they make up all the time. Just do it man, as, when you do, they’ll stop making fun of you and start following you, positive reinforcement, duh.

Second one being, changing your unhealthy habits, this is the hardest of all, you crave all that fried food, all those desserts and all that fatty food, that burger, those noodles, that chaat, that beer, that cigarette, I get it man, but to get a better version of yourself, you are going to have to suck it up and focus on your goals.

Last one is unrealistic deadlines you dream up for meeting your fat loss requirements because of one marriage or maybe you want to impress that guy or girl, by showing your physique or figure. These people, please read the rocket science part above.

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Kshitij Vashisth

Owner, Fitविज्ञान