Lose Fat Easier

Do you think about being overweight all the time? When thinking about your goal for losing, is your goal simply loss of weight? Weight loss. It's been said so often that we can see the phrase in our sleep. That phrase is that we want, weight loss. So many things speak of having weight loss, even the health community has come up with an ideal weight chart, which can promote the confusion about weight loss.

Is your aim really weight loss, or should it be more fittingly characterized as fat loss?
So then, why do we appraise our progress by how much we weigh? Why do we step on the bathroom scale and hope that those figures 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 something before or used the bathroom lately.

Our water weight fluctuates constantly. For example, when we blow out 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 joyful or sad.

One reason the low-carb or no-carb (also called ketogenic) diets are so desirable is because of the great first loss of weight. However, this weight is not necessarily fat. When carbohydrates are restricted the body has a backup hoard 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 bigger persons this figure 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 interrupt 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 hurry 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 figures you see on the scale. Muscle is also more dense than fat.

You may be wondering how you are going to evaluate your progress now that the scale doesn't mean as much as it used to. Well, there are several methods to assess your body fat percentage. None of these methods are 100% accurate, but they will be much more of use than the use of a scale.

If you have been working out to speed your weight loss, you probably have gained some muscle doing so. This gain in muscle also affects weight. Muscle is more dense than fat, so it might appear that you aren�t losing, even though your working hard. Your body will notice though and become leaner and stronger.

So if we ignore the scale, how do we measure our progress toward our goal? One of the simplest ways is to use a caliper. You can usually find these at a sporting goods store. 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. There are also much more accurate ways to measure your body fat percentage, like buoyancy testing.

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. Just remember about the water weight causing the inaccuracies in the scale.

So, your new goal should be fat loss and not weight loss. Don't trust the scale to give an accurate assessment of your fat loss progress, as it can be deceiving. Your weight is affected by more than just how much weight you have gained or lost. When it appears that your scale is telling you that you have gained or lost a pound or two from the previous day, just remember that it is almost impossible to gain or lose a pound of fat in one day.

My name is Clyde Saye and I look forward to writing many more articles that you may find very helpful. I invite you to check out Fat Loss And You|here... Lose The Fat This will get you started! Follow me on
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