If you have ever dieted, which I know the majority of you have or are currently dieting, tipping the scale can be frustrating. The main goal of any diet is to maintain a healthy lifestyle and shed fat. S=But shedding fat isn’t the only thing that will bring down those numbers.

3 ways your body loses weight:

1. Dehydration
2. Muscle Loss
3. Fat Loss

 

Dehydration

Dehydration is not a recommended form of weight loss. Although, we know that wrestlers or boxers will dehydrate to drop as much weight as possible for a short time to make a certain weight class for a tournament. They will then re-hydrate after they weigh in.

Losing water weight is also a reason why low carb dieters  lose so much weight in the first 1-2 weeks. Carbs are stored as glycogen in the muscle and liver and for each gram of glycogen stored,  3 grams of water is held. When your carb storage is depleted in your body, so is the water.

If you cycle carbs, especially during prep, water loss and gain is the reason for the day to day weight fluctuation which can drive you crazy if you don’t really understand what’s going on! Focusing on weekly lows when trying to lose weight may help keep you more sane… maybe. 😀

Staying hydrated is key to your health, curbs cravings and keeps your performance top notch! Being dehydrated only 2% can cause a 20% decrease in performance.

Muscle Loss

In the bodybuilding world, especially for natural bodybuilders, maintain or gaining muscle while shedding fat is the main priority. For the non bodybuilder, muscle loss means loss of those sexy curves and a decrease in your basal metabolic rate (BMR). Many things can contribute to losing muscle mass such as:

• Excessive caloric deficit (more than 500 calories below maintenance)
• Losing weight too fast (more than 1-2 pounds per week)
• Not eating the correct proportions of macronutrients (proteins, carbs and fats)
• Not exercising properly (too much cardio, not enough strength training)

As stated above, if you lose muscle mass, you also decease your BMR. Get some muscle!The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn, the more food you can eat…yay!

Fat Loss

The goal when trying to lose weight… shed fat!!!! Shedding fat while keeping your metabolism healthy is key. Losing weight slowly in a 15-20% calorie deficit, or about 1-2 pounds per week is best on a balanced diet. Incorporating strength training is key to your program to increase your BMR and gain some sexy curves.

Calculate your BMR, maintenance calories and macro ratios at IIFYM.com.

 

 

featured image from http://gofitmom.com/one-simple-tip-lose-weight