Number 9 on my list can be a bit confusing. This is because it is often difficult to accurately measure fat loss versus other kinds of weight loss (muscle mass, lean body mass, or water weight).

Water, or fat?

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard someone say “I started this diet two days ago, and I’ve already lost 5 lbs!” Well, I sincerely doubt you lost 5 lbs of fat. That’s 17,500 calories. Extremely difficult to do in two days, even if you’re named Michael Phelps.

Most of the time, this is simply excess water weight that is lost when drastically changing a diet. It takes most people far longer to really lose 5 lbs of fat. But, never fear – a simple 500 calorie per day deficit can net you 1 lbs of fat loss every week. And that’s just from diet alone! You can lose even more when you incorporate exercise!

There are other ways to lose weight besides water and fat. You can also lose muscle mass. This is independent of your diet. For the most part, you lose muscle mass when you stop using the muscle. Muscle isn’t diet-controlled. After all, when’s the last time you ate your way to big muscles via Quarter Pounders?

I know I’m on a Lance Armstrong kick lately, but hey, the Tour de France is happening, so I’m still topical! Before a race, Lance doesn’t swim. He doesn’t do push-ups. He avoids lifting anything over 5 lbs. The reason for this is that he doesn’t want to carry any weight on his body that he won’t use during a race. And he definitely won’t use his arms a whole lot in a bicycle race!

You’re always going to weigh within a certain range of values. You may weigh up to ten pounds less in the morning than you did the previous night. But, you’ll probably gain most of that back during the upcoming day. What you want to focus on when “losing weight” is your measurements. The scale often lies, but the mirror never does. Well, unless you work in a carnival.

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