The Importance of Losing Body Fat
Every single day people are losing weight and gaining weight. Some people lose 40lbs in 6 months only to then gain back their lost weight plus some more after they finish their strict cut. No one really talks about what percent of body fat or how many pounds of body fat they actually lose.
Why Losing Body Fat Is so Important
In a world where you had to choose between losing weight or losing body, losing body fat would be the best option to choose.
Here are some reasons why:
Less body fat determines overall shape
Losing body fat focuses on body composition
Losing body fat is sustainable
Less Body Fat Determines Overall Shape
If you had to look at a male who was 150lbs on a lower end of body fat percent (lets say 12%) and another male who was 150lbs on a higher end of body fat percent (lets say 28%). Those two people will look completely different in their appearance and frame. Especially if the body fat is accumulated in one area like the abdominals — a common spot to hold a lot of body fat. Male A with less body fat will have a healthier appearance than Male B with a higher body fat percentage EVEN THOUGH they are the SAME weight. This is what stumps a lot of people who do lose a lot weight and sometimes wonder why they don’t fully look like how they should.
By having more body fat and less weight the person can look really awkward in their frame versus if they had more weight with less body fat on their body. Two completely different appearances with the only factor being less body fat — which implies more lean mass (muscle) onto their overall frame.
By the way, there is a healthy amount of body fat a male and a woman should have. Without being at a proper body fat level your functions as a human being goes down a lot. I can talk about this another post, but a brief take on it would be (this applies to both males and females):
Less sex drive/libido — hard to get an erection or get in the mood
All this work to just not want to have sex anymore does not sound healthy
Very LOW energy
Hungry A LOT to maintain an unhealthy level of bodyfat
Hormones are not great
Staying lean year round can develop into obsession or less quality of life due to strict dietary restrictions.
Again, there are more reasons, but that can wait for another post. Generally speaking, a healthy body fat for a male would be anywhere between 9/10% - ~18% body fat. These numbers can be higher or lower depending on genetics, lifestyle, and how sustainable/functional the person is at their body fat percentage. For females, 20-30% is an amazing range to be at while still maintaining your monthly cycles and hormones to not be out of whack — not mention, you will look really healthy in this range.
Losing Body Fat Focuses On Body Composition
By having more lean mass than body fat you automatically lower your body fat without even losing weight. For example, if Person A is 100lbs of weight with 80lbs of muscle and 20lbs of fat they are at 20% body fat. If the same person goes on to weight training the proper way with decent nutrition intake they gain 10lbs more muscle onto their total frame — so 10lbs of muscle spread throughout their body. That person is now 110lbs of total weight, 90lbs of muscle and still 20lbs of fat. This now means their new body fat percent is roughly 18.1% body fat and all they did was increase their lean mass and maintain their body fat. This results in a healthier appearance, as they can maintain the lean mass they've built without the constant concern over gaining or losing weight
Losing muscle mass is a lot harder than losing weight over the long term. You can lose 20lbs in a month by starving and extreme dieting, but now your metabolism has adapted to not eating and slows down your food digestion. So when you try to lose another 20lbs your body will be very resistant to losing more weight since it adapted to starving so it wouldn’t die. Even though we live in contemporary America, our bodies are still human and has the main job of keeping us alive in whatever environments we put it through.
To lose lean mass, you need to detrain by stopping your workouts for several weeks or months. To lose weight alone, you must maintain a consistent caloric deficit, which can eventually lead to a plateau, necessitating a restoration of calories. For muscles to grow you have to consistently have enough nutrients, appropriate progressive overload, and allow time for recovery. For gaining weight all you have to do is go out for the weekend and step on the scale to see 5lbs added.
No shame! I am just being honest here and that is all we can do. As you can see, there is big advantage to focusing on body composition versus just weight.
Losing Body Fat Is Sustainable
Out of all the reasons to focus on losing body fat this would by far be the best reason if you had to just choose one. As mentioned before, many people lose weight and gain weight every day. Do a lot of work to lose the weight to only then succumb to the joys and events in our lives that may have us indulge more than we typically do on a normal day. Again, that is okay, enjoying your life should be fun and sustainable as well as your health, fitness, and wellness journey.
Losing body fat as the goal will make you train differently as well as plan out your cut/program to lose weight/body fat. You will understand that you can only lose body fat for so long before you need to stabilize your calories to maintain your metabolism from dropping too low. Then, you can focus building more muscle and trimming off the fat again. Naturally, as you lose some weight you lose some of your body fat, but you also may naturally gain some weight and have less body fat — depending where you are in your fitness journey.
More importantly, this forces you to focus on building muscle, increasing a faster metabolism, being active, having a nutritious diet, and getting amazing sleep to properly build muscle and lose fat. Without eating properly you will neither build muscle (so less shape, slower metabolism, not as “tight” muscles) nor lose weight/body fat. When you are taxing your body with all these physical demands and not giving it proper compensation or fuel it will have a lot of cortisol (stress hormone) running through your body. This will make it very hard for any beginner or seasoned pro to change their body composition.
Ending Thoughts
In the end, losing body fat as the focus will make you look better, feel better AND lose the weight you desire. Moreso, achieving the healthy shape you are looking for despite what the number on the scale may tell you. Once more, that is okay, body composition does not care what the scale says it only shows you what your body is made of.
At Optimal Beyond Functional, we do body fat assessments in-person with highly-precise skin-calipers and use those measurements to determine what body fat range you are in. With that information, we are allowed to develop a tailored plan for your goals and overall health. Please come visit or talk to us about your health goals! See you in the next post!
Derreck - B.Sc. in Kinesiology | Corrective Exercise Specialist - TBMM-CES | CPT