5 Reasons Why You Can’t Lose Fat (Blog)

[gantengx]

Yeah, i'm pretty sure that calorie deficit = weight loss. The import part that we're emphisizing is that you can choose what type of weight to lose - fat or muscle - based on diet and exercise.

Are you trying to lose fat only? Or stay at the same weight and lose fat? Or get larger and lose fat? I recently gained 3-4 pounds while losing approx a pound of fat. My girlfriend has recently lost many pounds of fat while staying the same weight.

thanks for the reply. for me i would like to gain just a bit more probably 2-4kg and lose fat at the same time. so i guess i'll just bulk up for like 6kg and then stop drinking milk as much

[nburge]

thanks for the reply. for me i would like to gain just a bit more probably 2-4kg and lose fat at the same time. so i guess i'll just bulk up for like 6kg and then stop drinking milk as much

depends on your initial bodyfat %ages - if you're about 10-12% fat then this is a good approach, if you are carrying 20+% then you should probably lose the fat first.

[Bman1]

Gantengx - With regard to your original question, the simple answer is that a calorie defecit means both a weight loss and a fat loss. The proportion of the total weight loss that is fat as opposed to lean body mass will depend on whether or not you do some type of resistance training (e.g., lift weights). If you lift regularly and eat a good diet, all or nearly all of your weight loss will be fat*.

Now regarding your goal to gain some weight (2-4Kg) in the form of muscle and lose fat, this is generally pretty hard to do at the same time. If you are entirely new to lifting and have a fair bit of excess body fat, you can gain some limited amount of muscle while losing body fat in a calorie defecit. however, this will be in conjunction with an overall weight loss, not a weight gain. If you overall goal is to gain lean body mass so that your weight ends up 2-4 kg heavier, you would be better off eating more and lifting as heavy as you can to gain the muscle first (along with this you will gain some more body fat), then once your weight is a few Kg over your target weight, go into a calorie defecit to lose the fat.

*A study looked at three groups of overweight women. All were placed on a calorie restricted diet. One group did no exercise, one group did cardio only, and one group did cardio and resistance training. All three groups lost weight. However, the diet only and the diet plus cardio group lost about 75% fat and 20-25% lbm, while the group that also did resistance training lost 98% fat and only about 2% lean body mass. Unfortunately, I don't have the link.

[MazdaMatt]

same study that i read.

Eat barely more than maintenance, very heavy on protein, very light on bad fats and high GI carbs (sugar/starch) and lift f'ing heavy. You'll gain muscle and lose fat.

[Mehdi]

@Engineer
There's some good stuff and bad stuff in good calories bad calories. The good stuff is that I agree you need to lower carb intake. The bad stuff is that it kinda ignores that calorie intake is the real key to losing fat. Eat less calories/burn more calories => you lose fat/weight. Eat more calories/burn less calories => you gain fat/weight. There are people who have fast/slower metabolism, but even for them the rules apply.

What could happen (wild guessing here, I don't know her case) is that her metabolism is messed up. You could fix that by eating at maintenance for a while. What could be going on is that 20% below maintenance is not enough (you're never really going to know how many calories you need for maintenance, only trial & error works) to lose fat, so you should try 25%. If you see fat loss: keep eating that much, if not, go to 30%. Slow decreases, you don't want starvation.

I still support the going low carb since it does make losing fat easier for tons of reasons I won't get into here, but you have to keep caloric intake in mind.

@nburge
That's the research I had in mind. I've seen different opinions on the study, and haven't really came to a conclusion. Honestly I don't really care what the caveman ate. The point is that you should eating processed stuff. 100% whole wheat pasta is processed but still fine in my book.

Great questions btw.

[Mehdi]

According to http://stronglifts.com/5-reasons-why-you-struggle-to-lose-fat/ Mehdi said that to lose fat you have to burn calories (ie. calorie deficit). I'm just curious though, isn't it calorie deficit means weight loss and not fat loss? Correct me if I'm wrong.

Cheers

Weight loss can be
* muscle loss
* fat loss
* water loss

If you cut calories by 20% max, do heavy strength training ala stronglifts 5x5 and moderate cardio, you should be losing fat not muscle.
* excess caloric deficit without strength training => can cause muscle loss
* excess cardio without strength training => can cause muscle loss

There can be water loss too of dropping carb intake when following 8 nutrition rules. There could also be no weight loss while there is fat loss (beginner building muscle while losing fat, common. Even weight gain while there is fat loss happens).

so if a skinny+fat person who does strength training have a calorie deficit diet, will that person lose weight or lose fat?

He should lose fat if caloric deficit is max 20% and there is strength training. Weight loss is possible so is weight gain or no weight change (depends on muscle gains/water loss, check above).

I have read that a sedate person on a calorie deficit will lose 25% muscle and 75% fat. I can only imagine that exercise reduces the muscle loss because your body still needs it.

There should be no muscle loss. Context is beginners here obviously. Also going from 30% body fat to 10% body fat is obviously a different game than contest shape bodybuilding which is not the scope of this site (meaning a simpler game).

[Mehdi]

Merged the other thread with this one.

[engineer]

@ Mehdi
I'm glad to hear you advocating a lower carb (hopefully non-lowfat) diet, and I'm wondering what you consider low (should grams be counted)? It sounds like you might be saving your recommendations for an upcoming update to your nutrition recommendations though...

I agree that a long term reduction in the body's fuel must equate to reductions in other places (fat stores, body heat, strength for daily movement, maybe brain function). But GCBC makes a convincing argument that the composition of your diet affects how your body will choose to distribute the fuel it does receive in the long term. Shockingly, in at least some of the population, even in a "deficit" of fuel the body will choose to/be forced to store away excess glucose/carbs as fat to the equal and opposite detriment of other bodily functions. GCBC does address this, I think the conclusion is just different than yours. It seems to me that caloric deficit is a factor, but because at least carbs is another, reduction in calories in does not equal (necessitate) loss in fat stores. Certainly the extent to which this happens in an individual might vary (metabolism?), but the evidence in the book for fat gains from high carbs needs a explanation if its all about calories.

I guess all I'm trying to get across is that I don't think it's valid to say (for fat loss only, not talking about overall health), "here's how many calories you can have for the day, have whatever you want". My wife lost fat using that method (Weight Watchers) after the birth of our first two children, but suddenly it doesn't work at all after the birth of our third (and corresponding loss of gallbladder right after delivery) over three years ago.

[JohnnyAce]

Good to hear on here that a reduction in calories leads to a reduction in body fat & weight I always had this place down as anti carb

I've lost weight loads of times in the past, a 6 stone loss stage & a couple of 3 stoners, each time I counted caloires & worked at the weights (HIT - Ellington Darden style). Each time I significantly reduced my body fat % & kept my lean mass at around the same level. I didn't reduce carbs or fats, just caloiries at a 25% Protein, 50% Carb, 25% Fat split

Some guy asked on here the other week wether it was ok to have porridge for breakfast during weight (fat) loss because he was worried it would be too carb heavy, I said it fine as it's overal calories that affect weight loss & it is, I ate porridge for breakfast every morning of my weight loss days

I also got fat eating porridge for breakfast beacuse I cut corners with my diet & ate junk, meaning I ate too many caloires overall leading to weight gain

It's calories & the quality of the calories that you're eating

[Mehdi]

@Engineer
No don't recommend low fat. Carbs aren't essential (well you need them for sports, but that's it) but fats are. And you need to get your calories from somewhere (can't do it on protein solely). Yeah there's something on grams and stuff coming up. But 8 nutrition rules still apply.

I agree that you can't focus on calories only. Hence the thinking of having everyone start with the 8 nutrition rules: you've got to focus on food choice. And by doing so you are reducing carbs. But: people can still overeat on healthy foods. And then they don't lose fat. So you've got to check calories too. 1) follow 8 nutrition rules 2) count calories if you see fat loss slow down/stop - while still applying 8 nutrition rules.

The fat gains from high carbs is because when you reduce carbs, body uses more fat for energy. Reduce fat, body uses more carbs for energy. 8 nutrition rules: lower carb intake, moderate fat intake. BUT: you still need to check total calorie intake.

The logic in good calories/bad calories is a bit failed. I gave an example on what could happen with your wife. You might deduct from that it's about carbs only, but it's not. Caloric deficit still matters most. Whether your metabolic rate is messed up or not, it's still calories that matter.

[Mehdi]

Good to hear on here that a reduction in calories leads to a reduction in body fat & weight I always had this place down as anti carb

I've lost weight loads of times in the past, a 6 stone loss stage & a couple of 3 stoners, each time I counted caloires & worked at the weights (HIT - Ellington Darden style). Each time I significantly reduced my body fat % & kept my lean mass at around the same level. I didn't reduce carbs or fats, just caloiries at a 25% Protein, 50% Carb, 25% Fat split

Some guy asked on here the other week wether it was ok to have porridge for breakfast during weight (fat) loss because he was worried it would be too carb heavy, I said it fine as it's overal calories that affect weight loss & it is, I ate porridge for breakfast every morning of my weight loss days

I also got fat eating porridge for breakfast beacuse I cut corners with my diet & ate junk, meaning I ate too many caloires overall leading to weight gain

It's calories & the quality of the calories that you're eating

Yes & no. Each macro has different effects on body
* proteins blunt hunger most, have highest thermic effect
* fat keep you full longer, increase fat loss
* carbs can cause hunger

So caloreis are important, but not looking at macro's is playing half the field. By choosing right nutrients you're going to make it easier (think hunger control for example).

[nburge]

Medhi - it does also depend on the context. Some people can lose weight on a higher carb, lower fat diet. I think the protein comment is important - it keeps you sated and spares muscle protein - so you should always look to keep protein levels high. Some people will be more suited to consuming a diet with most other calories coming from carbs, others where fat plays a bigger role. Really fat people will probably lose weight on any programme that reduces calorie intake.

Some fats are essential, this doesn't give people carte blanche to eat fatty food all day long. Total calories still matter.

I dislike GCBC because it's an excuse book. All dieters not losing weight want an excuse. I'm not losing weight because X (where X is unsubstantiated by any scientific backing). No one likes the message that you have to enforce some discipline over your eating habits and exercise a bit more (although crucial to note that eating habits are far more important from a fat loss standpoint).

[Mehdi]

@nburge
Context idd, some people are more sensitive to carbs than others. BUT even for those the calories matters.

[jakemcmillan]

Here's some extra stuff from Mark's Daily Apple on why you can't lose fat.

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/17-reaso ... ng-weight/