Modern culture has thrown up an A-Z directory of weight loss diets, from keto to GM or Detox diets, each guided by its own principles.
But there are times when you’re doing everything right, but the numbers on the weighing scale remain stubbornly fixed. Or you’re losing weight… but you don’t feel particularly good. Are you on the right track?
There’s a smarter way to think about weight loss. “The fitness parameter we need to address is body composition. It doesn’t matter how much you weigh, as long as that weight is coming from muscle and bone versus fat. For example, an athlete and a non-athlete of similar height may weigh the same but will look very different. Why? Because most of the athlete’s weight comes from muscle.”
What we really want to lose is body fat and not body weight. “Fat occupies a lot of volumes, but very little weight. It’s like a big ball of cotton that takes up a lot of space, but doesn’t weigh a lot.”
This is why when you lose fat, you see it as changes in volume (you look leaner, smaller) before you notice a significant change on the weighing scale. It’s what’s happening when you notice “inch loss” without weight loss.
“Even as we focus on losing fat, we need to ensure we’re providing our bodies with enough energy and other nutrients to function properly and healthily.
When you start your Weight loss journey, here are some non-scale wins to look out for as indicators that your diet is in fact working for you.
5 - ways to tell if your weight loss diet is actually working for you:
1. Your clothes fit better
This is one of the first markers of fat loss. As you lose volume, that old pair of jeans and those tight shirts finally start fitting like they used to.
2. You have more energy
You could experience really high energy levels as you start eating better which helps you to be consistent with exercise to. This is due to the dopamine and endorphins that regular exercise releases.
3. You sleep better
Nutrients from food impact your hormones, which impact your ability to sleep well, and through the night. So, if you’re sleeping better after changing the food you eat, count that as a major win. And it’s a virtuous cycle because sleeping well (both quality and quantity) plays a major role in managing weight. This is because there are certain hormones that are secreted only when you sleep that regulate fat loss and gain.
4. You exercise better
Eating the right food fuels your body, and allows you to exercise optimally. This in turn improves your health, and mood and helps you build more muscle and bone strength, which eventually helps burn more fat even when you’re simply resting. (In fact, you may even gain a few pounds on the scale – but this could be because you’re gaining muscle, even as you’re losing fat.)
5. Your blood work is clean
Blood tests are a great way to gauge if your body is working well internally. Ideally, your blood sugar levels, cholesterol levels, iron, and uric acid levels should all fall within the normal range.
So think about weight loss not as an end goal, but as a side effect of changing your diet for the better. There’s no magic in weight loss – you can lose weight simply by not eating. The real magic lies in achieving all these other gains.
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