YOU DON’T WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT.
Ooh, that title is clickbait. But at least I have your attention! And technically, it’s correct. I’ll get back to that in a moment!
I have several coaches in my Facebook friends list who proudly post one success story after another about what they’ve achieved with clients. For example: “Annabel (fictional name) lost 25KG during the 6-month program. So proud of her!” Accompanied by a photo of a proud Annabel, possibly holding a pair of jeans that are too big, flexing a bicep, or something similar.
The first thing I think is: okay, how much of those 25KG lost is fat mass? Because that’s what you want to lose! And how much of the 25KG is lost muscle mass? Believe me, that’s something you absolutely don’t want.
That damn scale
If it’s really just about the number on the scale, then there are plenty of ways to bring it down. In my work with pro athletes, who compete in a specific weight category, we sometimes drop up to 5KG in a week. How we do this is not important here. And to dispel any prejudices: this can be done in a healthy way!
I know how fixated some people are on the scale. In fact, I’ve had plenty of clients crying in the gym because the number on the scale wasn’t dropping. For many, this struggle starts in puberty, and it’s heartbreaking to see. The coaches who celebrate these successes on social media only reinforce this fixation. And I understand why they do it. It’s evocative! At IMPACT Performance Gym, we’re more realistic, and we educate every member about what’s truly important in the pursuit of a fit lifestyle!
Back to Annabel
it’s almost impossible that those 25KG are purely fat mass. Losing 25KG in half a year is a lot and has a huge impact on your body. If part of that is water weight and stomach content, that’s fine. But most likely, there’s also some muscle mass lost. And this naturally decreases as you get older anyway. Maybe you think, “Who cares! I don’t do physically demanding work.” Or, “I don’t need to be a bodybuilder.” But the less muscle mass you have, the lower your metabolism will be. And it’s precisely this metabolism that makes or breaks weight loss! Because the lower your metabolism, the less you can eat to maintain your weight. And to achieve weight loss, you need to eat even less over a long period.
Wishfull thinking on my behalf
I hope that colleagues will speak more about fat loss instead of weight loss in the future. But this is harder to measure, and the numbers are often less impressive, so I’m afraid this will remain a utopia. Nevertheless, (morbid) obesity is a true epidemic, and we as coaches play a leading role in tackling it!