The Title is very clear, everyone is having their fundas of fat loss. So many people are following some of the other strategies on their knowledge thanks to social media University. They do lose some extra weight initially but it surely gets back. And this yoyo effect is more harmful than actual overweight or obesity.
So in this blog, lets put some light on facts of fat loss.
Common Note: Body Weight is total of Bones, Muscles, essential and non-essential Fats, water, organs and body fluid.
Calories are a unit of energy that a food provides and body used for it's functioning.
Some opinions or myths related to fat loss and it's facts:-
1. Weight training turns fats into muscles –
Those who say this, my question is can bone turns into muscle. As given in common note fat tissues and muscle tissue are different components. There is a difference between Fats and Muscles properties. Muscles are having specific shape, Specific names, and fats are soft jellies like substance with no specific name and shape. Now the role of adipose tissue is to store the extra calories and the role of lean tissue is the consumption of calories.
Weight training or any exercise when done along with a healthy meal plan and healthy lifestyles routine, the body starts functioning at its optimum status. This increases energy demand. Energy is then sourced from stored fat.
Weight training along with a healthy meal plan also leads to an increase in muscle tissues which leads to increase muscle weight.
So these two processes, use of fat and increase in muscles are independent with its reason as well as mechanism.
Note: To avoid confusion, the right way to analyse right fat loss is inch loss.
2. Weight loss, do more cardio training.
Cardio means its related to Heart. This type of Aerobic exercise helps us to improve the ability of our heart and lungs. So I can say, don’t undervalue of cardio exercises for doing it is for weight loss. This is one point.
Another point is when you do any activity for a longer duration, the body uses more calories. But only for that much duration. So it's not a strategy for fat loss process. Doing two hours, three hours of cardio may lead to weight loss but is usually a loss of water and muscle fatigue. This kind of prolonged cardio exercise starts putting pressure on the lower back, knees and ankles.
So in short it can make us happy at the beginning but later leads to complete exhaustion and even bone injuries.
3. Doing squats helps to lose lower body weight. Spot fat loss
This may come with the belief that if doing squats increases muscle tissues of the thigh muscle, so in turn, they must be burning fat cells around them. Unfortunately, it's not a fact. Exercise is not a cosmetology treatment procedure like botox, liposuction.
Let's understand the few theories associated with this.
During our physical development years, the number of fat cells and the size of fat cells get divided around the body depending on genes, gender and lifestyle. So when extra calories get stored as fat, increase in body size depends on this division. In some individuals, the size of fat cells at lower body increases more than upper body and at some in different proportions. We commonly call this as pear shape body or apple shape body types. Along with this theory, every body is different considering the metabolic rate.
When the body needs to use fat from these fat cells it entirely depends on that body type.
So doing squats will definitely increase metabolism and if we follow meal plan alongside can create a condition to use fat for increased demand for the body, but it could be from fat cells anywhere around the body.
4. More sweating means more fat loss –
Few people switch off the fan and AC, just for more sweating. Of course, if you are doing exercise and you put it off AC or Fan you sweat more but this will not help you for more fat loss.
Sweat is produced by glands in your skin, it's a mechanism to maintain body temperature. With some water loss through sweating may show few grams less on weighing scale.
There are some weight loss/slimming centres who work on this belief. And this is absolutely no logical.
As we discussed earlier that when extra fat converts into energy requirements of the body and that is what we should focus on.
Here let's understand one more point, most of the time water retention is a common problem especially during PMS or menopause in women. But this because of hormones and nutritional imbalance. It puts on some weight and shows swelling at some body parts. In such a case, a healthy lifestyle is helpful to get relief from water retention. This then shows some weight loss and inch loss. But again it's not fat loss.
5. Drinking hot water for fat loss –
There are some thermogenic foods like salad, protein-rich food and omega 3 fatty acids, for their digestion body needs to put extra efforts which thereby increases energy consumption. But water, not even hot water belongs to this.
Drinking Lukewarm water in the morning can be helpful to initiate a bowel movement. It is also a safe way to drink water.
Water is helpful in different ways to maintain a healthy body weight. But hot water doesn't lead the body to convert extra body fat into energy.
So it's time to get this point clear that fat loss is the process when the body uses stored extra fat (subcutaneous and visceral fat).
Healthy meal plan, fitness exercise pattern and active healthy lifestyle is the only strategy for maintaining a healthy body composition lifelong.
Also, make sure that we should not undervalue exercise to use for weight loss do exercise as a ritual to show gratitude towards the body.
In life there is no easy and quick way for success, if you get it, it's an an alarm to stay away from it.
Same applies to fitness.
Write up By Dietitian Prachi M.
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