Weight loss and improvement of body composition

Why always look at weight and not body composition?

Weight loss and improvement of body composition

Weight is one more indicator of body mass, but it should not therefore be considered the most relevant. The majority of patients who come to consult with the goal of losing weight, focus their success on this factor, without taking into account, for example, the improvement of body composition.

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Lose weight and improve body composition

The body is made up of two compartments that can be distinguished from each other: lean tissue or fat-free mass, which includes bone mass, muscle mass, extracellular water, etc. and adipose or fatty tissue, formed by adipocytes and which plays a role in energy reserves and hormonal metabolism, among others.

The percentage of each of them depends on many factors such as age or sex for example. The fat percentage increases with age and is also higher in women than in men. There are also differences in the distribution of fat based on sex, since men tend to place it more on the abdomen and back, while women on the hips and thighs.

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Importance of fat loss

When looking for rapid weight loss with aggressive caloric deficits, it will most likely be in the form of muscle mass and water, since the body does not have sufficient energy reserves and resorts to muscle metabolism.

Likewise, the so-called "rebound effect" usually occurs, since these diets are very deprived of food, the metabolism slows down and adapts to the situation, so that when caloric intake increases, a caloric surplus will occur, increasing in such a way the weight, being able to even exceed the initial weight.

The important thing is to maximize fat loss and minimize muscle loss. Having a good percentage of body muscle mass promotes increased strength, stability, power and endurance, as well as increases energy and vitality and improves metabolic efficiency.

For this, two essential factors to take into account are going to be the practice of physical exercise, strength exercise being very important, as well as establishing a not very aggressive caloric deficit of around 10-20%, including a good amount of protein.

Knowing all this, let's stop focusing on the scale and value success more with factors such as increased muscle mass and decreased fat mass, increased energy and vitality, metabolic improvement, even emotional improvement, etc.

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For this reason, as I always tell you, the best "diet" is the one that the person is able to maintain over time in a reasonable manner and in accordance with their lifestyle, since a "restrictive diet" will cause us more anxiety and cravings to eat. sweet things and even lead us to suffer a "binge" and its disastrous consequences.