Why You Should Lose Fat, Not Weight

[Mehdi]

Why You Should Lose Fat, Not Weight


***QUESTION***

Hey, Mehdi. I have a problem I hope you can help me with.

Last time I checked the scale I was 280+ pounds (127kg). I checked
the scale a couple of days ago, I was 245lbs/111kg! I was happy.

Today I checked the scale and I was 265lbs/120kg.

I don't know what this is all about. I don't know why my weight is
fluctuating like this, and I don't know why I haven't seen fat loss
yet. Hope you can help.

-A.


>>>MY COMMENTS:

If you want to see fat loss you need to measure your body fat.
Weighing yourself says little about fat loss, since your
body-weight is the sum of:
* bones & organs
* muscle mass
* body fat
* stomach & bowel content
* water retention

More important: weighing yourself is unreliable since your
body-weight is the sum of several things which can change within a
couple of days or even hours. This can kill your motivation since
you don't know if you're making progress or not. Examples:

* Getting stronger will increase your muscle mass and thus your
body-weight although you'll look better than before.

* Eating less starchy carbs can make you lose 10lbs within a week.
But most of this weight loss is water loss, not fat loss. That's
how diets like Atkins work: by cutting carbs out of your diet
you'll lose weight quickly since carbs bind to water.

* Doing cardio all the time without strength training will cause
weight loss. However you'll lose both muscle and fat, ending up
skinny + fat.

* Weighing yourself on an empty stomach vs. weighing yourself on a
full stomach.

* and much more

Weighing yourself is not only unreliable for fat loss, it's also
irrelevant. Imagine you & me both weigh 220lbs/100kg at 5'8"/1m73.
But I have 25% body fat, while you have 12% body fat. You'll look
better because you have a lower body fat, although we both weigh
the same. Body fat matters more than body-weight.

The only situation where you should weigh yourself is if you want
to gain weight. But even then you should still track your body fat
so you can make the difference between muscle gains & fat gains.

What's the best way to measure your body fat? Not the Tanita Scale:
water retention influences its results since it uses bioelectrical
impedance. Meaning your body fat can fluctuate on a daily basis
depending on what you eat, drink, etc. Best is to use a fat
caliper, they're cheap and accurate enough. Check this one:
http://stronglifts.com/get-fat-caliper/



***QUESTION***

Dear Mehdi,

First of all, I wanna thank you for this website you've created.
It's shown me a whole new perspective in bodybuilding, even though
it doesn't really have a bodybuilding approach.

I've been doing StrongLifts 5x5 for about two and a half weeks.
Since I can handle more than just a bar, I started with 70kg/155lbs
in Squat and Deadlifts and 60kg/132lbs in Bench Press.

Now, my concern is: IN THE LAST MONTH I'VE GAINED 10 FREAKING KG!!
(22lbs) I've never heard of anybody gaining that much BW out of 1
month training. My measures are:
Height: 176cm/5'9"
BW before:93kg/204lbs
BW now: 103kg/226lbs

My diet consists in: 1 chicken breast for breakfast with 4 eggs and
2 cups of milk , 2 bananas and 1 apple. About the same for lunch,
and a little lighter for dinner. Lettuce to accompany them, and
that's it.

My wife's been telling me lately that I look too wide and getting
wider. I'd trained before with other programs, never focusing this
much on Back Squats, and I'm not even close to my first goal:
150kg/330lbs in Back Squats (1.5 BW).

My concern is: is this normal? What's gonna happen then when I've
reached 150kg/330lbs in Squats? Am I gaining weight not out of the
training but out of the diet?

Anyway, an answer would be very helpful.

Thanks,

- G.


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Weight gain is common the first month doing StrongLifts 5x5. It's
from the increase in strength which causes muscle gains, but also
from the change in diet. Best is to stop weighing yourself and
start measuring your body fat using a fat caliper so you know if
you're gaining muscle or fat.

You didn't mention your body fat but since you're 103kg/226lbs at
176cm/5'9", you either have 20% body fat or you're ripped. I think
your body fat is on the higher end. Start by tweaking your diet to
get your body fat down. Some tips:

* More Frequent Meals. Eat every 3 hours instead of breakfast,
lunch & dinner only. Add a post workout meal (which should include
carbs) and add 2 snacks in between.

* Watch out with carbs. 70% of the population is carb intolerant
and will get fat eating too many starchy carbs. Eat protein,
veggies, fruit & healthy fats with all meals. Eat starchy carbs
like rice, pasta & breads post workout only.

* Watch Out with Milk. Milk is great if you want to gain weight,
but it isn't to lose fat. Drink green tea instead at breakfast. If
you can't live without milk, have it post workout only.

Definitely keep getting stronger for now. This will help you gain
even more muscle and lower your body fat. Again: measure body fat
so you have a number to work with.

You can add cardio to speed up the fat loss. Start with 15mins at
moderate intensity on the elliptical trainer, breathing heavier
than at rest but not gasping (60-70% of your max bpm). Add 1 min
each workout until you're doing 45mins. Do the cardio directly post
strength training without eating anything in between.

Don't listen too much to what people tell you about your new look.
At the end of the day it's about what you want: you want to be fat
or you want to be muscular. It is possible to get too bulky, but
best is to get your body fat down first. 10-12% is a good number to
strive for as a man (15-18% for women). Look in the mirror when you
got that and see if YOU like how you look. Before/after pics work
even better.


***QUESTION***

Hi Mehdi,

I have been a big guy all my life. I am 5'10"/1m80 and weigh
284lbs/129kg. I have
been on StrongLifts 5x5 for one week and I am gaining weight not
losing. Should I be concerned?

I feel like I am getting stronger but I don't feel like I am losing
fat. I have been trying to lose weight and build muscle since I
was a kid but to no a vale.

I work 72 hours a week in a pizza shop but I have now not had pizza
or cheese steaks for 3 weeks and I only drink water now. When i
get home at 10:15pm I go for a walk every night. Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday I do weight training. My walks are normally 20-45
minutes.

Is there anything you can recommend for me? I don't have a lot of
cash so I cant buy a lot of foods to be able to eat right. I have
tried numerous diets and even did the unhealthy crash diet. The
regular diets didn't work and the crash diet made me lose 13lbs in
a week and i gained it all back.

Should i continue the strength training or should I diet first?
Will the fat go away with the building of muscle?

Thank you
C.


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Never go by "feeling". You need to track everything so you know
exactly if you're making progress or not.
* Body fat. Measure it every 2 weeks using a fat caliper.
* Strength stats. The stronger you get, the more muscular you'll be.
* Before/After Pics. Every 2 weeks, front/back/side full body shots.
* Body-weight. Weigh yourself every 2 weeks. Make sure you measure
all the rest too, otherwise this number is useless.

Again: weight gain the first month is normal. Track your body fat
so you know if it's muscle gain or fat gain (it's muscle gain,
trust me). Since you're 284lbs at 5'10" and inactive, you probably
carry about 30% body fat. Remember you need to eat healthy to lose
the fat, doing strength training only is playing half the field.

Some tips:

* Get Stronger. Do NOT drop the strength training and diet first.
Muscle loss is common when going on a diet. By doing strength
training, you'll not only prevent muscle loss (so you're really
losing fat, not muscle) but you'll also stick to your diet better
because one activity tends to influence the other.

* Eat Healthy. Pizza is fine post workout. Rest of the day:
proteins, veggies, fruits & healthy fats. Prepare your food in
advance and take it with you to work so you don't have to rely on
junk food at work. If budget is a problem, read this post:
http://stronglifts.com/20-simple-ways-t ... -a-budget/

* Add cardio. Walks are fine. To further speed up the fat loss, add
moderate intensity cardio as explained above. Make sure you're
getting stronger and eating healthy in the meanwhile: cardio
without strength training & healthy nutrition is useless.

Persistence is key. You don't need a magic "diet" but a change in
habits. Go to the gym 3x/week, prepare your own food, take it with
you to work and aim for 2-3% fat loss per month (very do-able).
That's +20% fat loss within a year with a change in lifestyle which
means the fat will be gone forever.


***QUESTION***

I'm 27 years old, 1.73m/5'8" height and my weight is 80kg/ 176lbs.
I' ve been working out since I was 15 years old. I would really
want to lose 3kg/7lbs without losing muscles. The only thing I want
is to lose fat. Which is the best way to do it ?

Thank you very much...

J.J. - Argentina


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Why do you think you'll look better if you lose 3kg/7lbs? Usually
it's because that's what you weighed at one time in your life when
you looked great and you want that back. The thing is: how you look
matters, not how much you weigh. 176lbs muscular at 10% body fat is
different than 176lbs with 20% body fat and no muscle.

Start by measuring your body fat. Weighing yourself says nothing
about fat loss as I explained above. Get a fat caliper and track
your body fat every 2 weeks.

You didn't mention your strength stats, but since you still
struggle to lose fat after all these years I assume something is
wrong with your approach. Get stronger: check StrongLifts 5x5. Your
1st goal: 1.5x body-weight Squat for at least 1 rep with hips going
lower than knees. In your case that's a 120kg Squat.

Eat healthy. Eat every 3 hours. Protein, fruits, veggies & healthy
fats with all meals. Carbs post workout only. Don't count calories,
just eat. Example diet:

Breakfast: whole eggs with veggies, orange, green tea
Snack: cottage cheese with apples
Lunch: chicken, bok choy, tomato, chicory, apple, olive oil
Snack: tuna, salad, tomato, bell pepper, peer, olive oil
Post workout: ground round, rice, mixed veggies, banana
Dinner: chicken, spinach, pineapple, baby carrots
Pre-bed snack: cottage cheese, berries, ground flax seeds, fish oil

(NOTE: if you don't know how to cook tasty foods that will also
make you build muscle while lowering your body fat, then you need
to go here right now:

http://stronglifts.com/get-precision-nutrition/ )

You can add cardio to speed things up, but since you're only 80kg
at 1m73, I doubt you have more than 15% body fat. Just eating
healthy and getting stronger should get you the results you want.


***QUESTION***

Mehdi,

I hope all is well.

I am 6'4" 238lbs/108kg, I have gone down from 255/115kg in about 8
weeks doing cardio alone. I have a big frame, but definitely too
much fat, probably around 20% body fat.

I have been eating exceptionally well, about 95% of my daily intake
is unprocessed foods. I take fish oil and multi vitamin almost
daily. But I haven't been able to eat 6 times a day. I eat about 3
to 4 times a day.

I have recently started doing weights to build muscle in order to
make the fat go away if I get bigger, muscularly.

My question is, is that the right approach?

-Y, New Jersey, USA

P.S. Thanks for the all wonderful tips.


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Since you guessed your body fat, I assume you don't measure it. If
you did, you would have seen that much of your weight loss is also
muscle loss. Cardio does burn fat, but it also burns muscle,
causing the skinny + fat look. Measuring your body fat would show
it hardly changed compared to your weight loss. Strength training
prevents muscle loss so it's a good thing you started to lift
weights.

My tips:

* Get serious about the lifting. Check StrongLifts 5x5 and work at
increasing your Squat to 1.5x bodyweight for at least 1 rep with
hips going lower than knees.

* Eat healthy. You're already eating clean food 95% which is great.
Make sure you don't eat too many starchy carbs. Foods like pasta,
rice, breads: eat those post workout only. Rest of the day:
proteins, fruits, veggies, healthy fats.

* Increase Meal Frequency. Smaller, frequent meals are better
because they decrease your stomach size over time, which means
you'll feel full faster. They also prevent hunger, so you don't end
up with cravings at the candy machine.

Best is to eat every 3 hours, even if you don't feel hungry. Your
body will get used to it over time. And if you ever get hungry,
you'll think "I won't eat now, I have a meal in 1 hour". So:
breakfast, lunch, dinner, post workout, pre-bed and one snack
somewhere in between.

* Cardio. Since you're tall, your current body-weight is fine. Just
work at lowering your body fat. Lots of bigger guys don't want to
lose weight anymore once they've lost the fat.

* Track body fat every 2 weeks using a fat caliper. 2-3% fat loss
per month is do-able. Make sure you shoot pictures too.



***QUESTION***

Mehdi,

Thanks for the Stronglifts ebook.

I am a 42 year old female, 5'7"/1m70, 260lbs/118kg. I have gained
over 100lbs/45kg over the last ten years. I would desperately like
to get back down to the 140lbs/63kg that I was.

Most of my weight is around my mid-section. I would really like to
work out like you suggest, but I don't know where to begin. I go
to a gym, but they are mostly machine based. There are free
weights, but don't I need someone to help me do squats?

How do I do this on my own? I don't really have anyone to help?

Thanks for any advice you can give me,

-J, Ohio, USA


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Once again: you should focus on losing fat instead of losing
weight. You probably carry about 30% body fat, work at lowering
it. 15-18% body fat is a good number to strive for as a woman.

Some tips:
* Focus on small goals. 26% body fat your first goal. Then 22% body
fat. Then the magic 20%. Then 18%. etc. Small goals work better
than big goals. Very easy to lose about 2% fat per month.

* To lose the fat: 1) get stronger 2) eat healthier 3) add cardio.
Cardio is useless without eating healthy & getting stronger. Make
sure you get stronger & eat healthy first. Re-read the tips above,
this stuff works for women just as for men.

* Most people, including me, had no-one to teach them how to Squat.
We learned it ourselves by reading and practicing a lot. Technique
will come if you start light, focus on technique and take things
slowly. So read a lot and practice a lot.

There are several females active in the StrongLifts.com forum,
their training log & progress might inspire you:
* Myscat's training log:
myscat-s-training-log-t8710.html
(she's 42, 5'4", 125lbs, squats 170lbs
* Ewerbos' training log:
lissa-s-training-log-t11148.html
(she's 27, 5'7", 152lbs, squats 160lbs )
* Mae's training log:
mae-s-training-log-t11709.html
* etc


***SUCCESS STORY***

Mehdi,

When I found StrongLifts.com I was tight 38" waist and was pushing
220lbs/100kg with an estimated 25% body fat. I was sick and tired
of being that way and wanted to get thin quick. Using your advice I
started the StrongLifts Dumbbell 5x5. At 35, I wanted to be able to
keep up with my kids and not be an "old and fat" Dad.

Since then I have lost my job, then got a new one. I have 3 small
children whose daycare situation is always changing. Not to mention
getting sick and things of that nature. I have a wife who is a
beautiful skeptic and tight with our money. My schedule does
everything in "its" power to stop me from achieving my goals. I
have 2 herniated discs in my lower back, which I re-injured in May
using poor form on Deadlifts.

From February to March I was keeping track of my nutrition, but not
paying much mind to anything but protein. I was running 3x week and
lifting dumbbells 3x week.
I managed to get a sizable tax refund and convinced my wife to buy
a bench with Squat Rack and 300lb/135kg Olympic Barbell set.

I went full boar on the StrongLifts 5x5 program, but was too lazy
to work on form. I found out that my Squats were not low enough.
Then I hurt my back. I was feeling sorry for myself and making
excuses.

I woke up one day and read all of your posts again and got myself
motivated. I took 1 month and worked on my hip flexibility. In 2
weeks I was reaching parallel and in 3 weeks was Squatting ass to
grass.

My back still didn't like the Back Squats so I switched to Front
Squats and Rack Pulls. Since I began lifting and progressive
loading, I have deloaded 4 times. Mainly due to going back and
working on form and flexibility.

Then I read Tom Venuto's Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle.
(NOTE: for more info about this product, click here:
http://stronglifts.com/burn-fat-feed-muscle/ )

I started to experiment with different calorie goals, macronutrient
ratios and cardio. At this point my stats were:
Age 35
5'7"/1m70
196.6 lbs/89kg
19.5% body Fat

I was squatting 210lbs/95kg before I deloaded to work on my hips.
My last deadlift was 210lbs/95kg, when I hurt myself. This was
August 1st 2008. I set a 90 day goal and made it my desktop on my
laptop so I would see it everyday.

It read: "November 7, 2008 - 14% 185lbs and a quote: The strangest
secret in the world is that you become what you think about - Earl
Nightingale"

I started a 40-40-20 ratio and a zig zag calorie intake regimen.
20% of my maintenance for 3 days and 5% over maintenance for 3
days. I was doing cardio 5-6 days per week and lifting 3x week. I
got serious and watched the fat drop while maintaining LBM. In 1
month I achieved my 3 month goals.
Now:
184.4lbs/83kg
11.5% BF

My body was waiting to get into shape, and when I found the right
formula, it let me - even helped!

I have been so strict about my diet and my results were so obvious,
that I started to research even more. My friends and family started
to ask me questions. I started to post my opinions on the
Stronglifts.com forum to help others who were in my same situation.
It has been amazing.

I have my "feed bag" everywhere I go and I am ALWAYS exercising my
discipline.
When I have to travel I make the arrangements beforehand if I can
and exercise on the cheap in hotel gyms and if there is not one, I
do my own version of HIIT with Push-ups.

My goals are not yet achieved. But I am close. Once I achieve my
fat loss goal, I will then set new strength goals and go for them.

Had it not been for Mehdi and StrongLifts.com, I WOULD NOT be doing
so well. My discipline in nutrition and physical fitness has
factored into every part of my life, and I am a better Human Being
for it.

Thanks - I owe you my life.

- Scottymouth


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Great stuff. Several things here I'd like to emphasize.

* Scottymouth failed first before he "got" it. Failure will often
precede success. Some people give up when they fail, other stick
through. Scottymouth sticked with it, found the solution, and then
made progress fast.

* Weight lifting is the safest sport when looking at the rate of
injury. However if you use bad technique, you drastically increase
the risk of injury. Adding weight too fast, too soon, is common.
Injuries are often the only way to make you understand that this
isn't the right approach. As Napoleon Hill said "Failure is life's
best teacher".

* Scottymouth wrote he lost 8% body fat and 12,2lbs/6kg body fat in
1 month. This is about 3lbs/1.5kg per week. It's a lot, he might
have lost some muscle too (good way to know: strength loss usually
means muscle loss) which is possible since he was doing cardio
5-6x/week. Maybe he lost the fat in 1month and a half, not 1 month.
This would be 2lbs per week which is more realistic.

* And at last: Scottymouth has a wife, 3 kids, lost his job, had to
buy a squat rack, injured himself, failed, etc. But he didn't made
excuses, he went for it anyway. And he deserves the results he got
for this reason.

Again: great stuff.



***SUCCESS STORY***

Hey Mehdi,

Just wanted to thank you for putting up all the info on your
website. I have gained a lot from reading your articles and the forum postings.

Your articles are concise and to the point which makes them easy to
read andunderstand and the videos have allowed me to learn correct
techniques in the exercises.

I used to go to the gym daily during college about 7 years ago and
regularlysuffered from back pain due to bad techniques.

Recently joined a gym again and was simply messing around with random
exercises for 2 months. Then I discovered your website and decided
to tryyour 5x5 program.

4 weeks into your program, I almost couldn't believe the progress I
was making. My sSuats have gone from 75kg to 98 kg; Deadlifts from
84kg to 107kg; Bench Press from 70kg to 80kg etc.

Regular squats have truly helped me make leaps in other exercises.
And the small increments each workout really add up before you
realize it.

I was an overweight 34yr old guy before, weighing 90kg at 177cm.
Now I've only lost 1kg but my body shape has changed to a more
muscular look. And stamina has improved a lot even though I don't
do any cardio workouts. My weekly badminton game partners were
surprised at my sudden improvement in the game.

Thanks a lot and keep up the good work! Looking forward to reading
more articles from you.

-E.S.


>>>MY COMMENTS:

Great stuff. Pay attention to what E.S. says: he only lost 1kg, but
his body shape has changed to a more muscular look. Meaning he
built muscle while losing fat, that's why he looks better than
before. Body fat measurements every 2 weeks using a fat caliper
would confirm the fat loss. So again: focus on fat loss not weight
loss.

And strength training does indeed increase your cardiovascular
fitness. You don't need to do cardio if you're just looking for a
healthy heart & lung function, weight lifting will do the trick.
Since your heart is a muscle, it will get stronger & more muscular
as you get stronger on exercises like Squats & Deadlifts.