By: Lyen Wong, Peak Physique & Performance
When it comes to weight loss, the scale isn’t telling you the whole story. The scale is an important tool in tracking progress, as is a measuring tape, but it doesn’t tell you how much of your loss is fat and how much is muscle. In order to know if your weight loss has been primarily fat loss, you need to know your body fat percentage and your circumference measurements (waist, abdomen, thighs).
I’ve encountered too many people, especially women, who are proud that they’ve reached their “ideal” weight, but more often than not they achieved it through unhealthy and often unsustainable diets. If they exercised at all, they probably only did aerobic/cardiovascular exercise and left out resistance training.
Diet without exercise doesn’t get you the “toned” look you want
When a caloric deficit is created through diet and aerobic exercise, the dieter will probably lose weight. But she will end up with an unhealthy body fat percentage that can potentially be even higher than it was before she started the diet, the so-called “skinny fat”. That may look OK when wearing clothes but much less so without!
In a caloric deficit situation, our bodies would much rather shed muscle than fat so you need to send a message to your body that it needs to keep the muscle it has. The way to do this is with a properly designed resistance training program. In addition to preserving your muscle mass, you will increasingly challenge your muscles which helps to burn more calories even while at rest. Plus, resistance training will help increase bone density, reduce the chance of injury, lower high blood pressure, reduce the risk of diabetes, and the list just goes on and on.
In addition to the health benefits, a low body fat percentage together with better muscle shape creates the “toned” look that so many women want.
So, be sure to include all of the necessary components in your weight loss program. An incomplete fitness and weight loss program will lead to incomplete and unsatisfying results.
Lyen Wong
Owner and personal trainer (ACE)
PEAK PHYSIQUE & PERFORMANCE
350 NE 24th St. #102
Miami, FL 33137
Web: www.ppptraining.com
Blog: personaltraininginmiami.wordpress.com
Phone: (305) 674-8435
PEAK PHYSIQUE & PERFORMANCE is a specialized personal-training-only studio with highly qualified and experienced personal trainers. It is owned and operated by figure competitor and fitness model Lyen Wong. We create individual road maps for health and fitness that deliver results and help our clients reach their goals!