**The TRUTH*COLA Blog**

Can I Lose Body Fat Without Losing Muscle?

This is a frequently asked question among people trying to lose weight. In this article, TRUTH*COLA answers this question, but help you better understand how to approach your goal of losing fat or losing weight, without losing muscle mass, in a holistic, personalized and sustainable way.

Clarify Your Goals

Maybe you've always framed your goal as losing body weight. Maybe your real goal is not body weight loss, as much as it is body fat loss. This would particularly be the case if now, or in your previous body weight loss attempts, you've lost muscle mass and body weight, but not the stubborn fat in various parts of the body.

"Research suggests that as much as 25 per cent of weight lost

by dieters is from muscle."

(theglobeandmail.com)

Of the many factors that make dieting not produce the results you want, is this issue that you are not losing body fat, but are losing muscle.

When you focus on fat loss, rather than weight loss, you will work on shifting the body's makeup so that you have less fat and more muscle. By approaching it this way, you will find that weight loss is a side effect, a simple consequence of your approach.

How to Lose Fat Without Losing Muscle

Losing fat, but not muscle, can be a complex and delicate matter.

If you are good with researching skills and have a DIY mentality, for you there is a plethora of information available online. But be aware that there is a mix of disinformation, outright falsehoods, snake oil claims, and some evidence-backed truthful information. Be sure to use your good researching skills to navigate this clutter carefully.

If DIY is not your personality, or researching isn't your skill or interest, it would be best to get help from a professional. In looking for a professional, it would be wise to avoid people making tall claims (you know what we mean by that!), and those that are too salesy (these are more interested in your wallet than your well-being). Ask for references. Talk to references. Don't accept simple online testimonials - these can be faked easily, and unfortunately many people and businesses do fake their testimonials to go along with their tall claims. After all, this is not just about your fat loss, it is about your wellness.

Take this very seriously.

To meet your goal of losing fat without losing muscle, you would want your plan for losing body fat to simultaneously incorporate elements for gaining and maintaining lean muscle mass or lean body mass.

What Does it Take to Lose Body Fat?

Don't aim for shortcuts and don't fall for miracle programs. Take a long-term view. This way, you will not fall prey (perhaps, yet again) to some gimmick that may bring some result only to vanish on you, leaving you frustrated.

1. Fewer calories, while maintaining the nutrition you need

2. Regular exercise and physical activity

This is a simple formula to burn more fat without contributing to muscle loss.

We could easily tell you to follow the "Atkins diet" or the "Keto diet" or any number of other diet programs. We could advise you that you need to focus on "Calories Restriction." But the reality is that are these appropriate for you?

Another vital matter in this regard is to get yourself checked for nutritional deficiencies. Sometimes stubborn body weight gain or body fat gain comes from existing imbalances in vital minerals and phytonutrients in your system. These can be addressed, in most cases, by altering the types of food taken. However, depending on the level of deficiency and its impact on the system, supplementation with the right herbal, natural or nutritional supplements may be needed.

Your body composition is unique. As are your genetics. And your life history. And your present condition. This is why something that worked for someone else may not also automatically work for you.

How to Build and Maintain Body Muscle?

Building and maintaining muscle is another key facet to meeting your goal. Again, strive for steady progress versus immediate or fast results. This way, the routines you put in place will be sustainable over time for you. Always listen to your body and mind - and make adjustments to your eating plan and exercise.

1. Get the required amount of the right kind of protein, which is vital for growing and maintaining muscle tissue

2. The right kind of exercise will help greatly in building and maintaining muscle

We could say that you should consume such and such type of meat, or consume "whey protein." But maybe you are a vegan or pescetarian or vegetarian, and the recommendation would not be appropriate for you.

We could easily say that you should follow weight training or strength training methods like "resistance training" or "interval training." Or perhaps we could easily say that "aerobic exercise" is vital. But is this a wise course for you and your present health and condition? This is why generic recommendations are not very useful and could well be wrong for you.

This is another reason to work with a professional, if you can afford it. What has worked for someone else may not automatically also work for you, because of the myriad factors involved in fat loss and muscle gain, like body composition, age, genetics, lifestyle, health history, present health and life circumstances. An honest professional can tune the program to your specific need and thus increasing the likelihood of your success. Maybe it could be strength training, but maybe it could also be another mix of exercises that is more suitable for you.

How to Measure Progress?

If your goal was to lose weight, then a simple weighing scale is enough to measure progress.

But if your goal is fat loss or to lose inches, it is clear that you should be thinking about measuring your success differently.

Think beyond the scale. Think beyond the measuring tape. Tune your measurement in a way that is suitable to your journey.

Don't Lose Sight of the Big Picture. Honor Yourself

Gimmicks, lose weight fast claims, all these are ultimately detrimental to your mind-body-spirit wellness. Falling for these, and failing in the process can set you back even more from where you started.

The totality of your physical health and wellness, mental health and emotional health and wellness, and spiritual health, are important.

Don't look at yourself as just a set of body parts, some of which you may like, other body parts which you don't like, and still others that you tolerate. Approaching your wellness in this way, you are setting yourself up for internal battles of self-criticism, self-judgment, and even self-loathing or self-hate. Those make matters more complex than necessary.

Take for instance, the importance of good sleep in getting to and maintaining optimal body weight. Or whether your body has gone into fat storing vs far burning mode. Or whether your body could be burdened by the poor self-esteem you may hold about yourself. Or, whether your body is producing and maintaining the right level of growth hormones. Or, when your pounds fall off, your energy levels are falling, and fatigue is increasing. These sorts of things talk to the need for a holistic view of your wellness, not just so-called targeted weight loss or targeted fat loss that is marketed aggressively too often.

Honor yourself as a unique human being. Even though we are not separate from one another at the deepest level of existence, your body-mind-spirit is certainly orientated uniquely with gifts and weaknesses. Following a program that has worked for someone else, blindly, with just hope, is not a plan for success. It is not different than gambling and hoping for a win. Do you really want to gamble with your wellness?

This is why we recommend taking a long-term view, researching deeply or getting professional help, crafting a sustainable plan that is right for you, executing that plan diligently, allowing room for setbacks but always getting up from those setbacks and moving forward, measuring progress the right way suitable for your plan, and be adaptive and not rigid about it all.

Your attempt to lose body fat, or waist inches, or body weight is a part of your life. It is not a distinct thing that is apart from your life. So, don't make this as a project, upon whose completion you are going to be fulfilled. Oh no! Be happy each day. Make steady progress. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare comes to mind here: Slow and steady wins the race.

What is the real race? What really matters in life? What are the big ideas that matter in life? Happiness. Wellness. Serenity. Love. Don't lose sight of this. Your quest for body weight loss, waist inch loss, arm fat loss, thigh fat loss, belly fat loss, buttock fat loss, etc. must be placed firmly in the context of the real things that matter in life.

Everyday presents the gift of life. Use everyday wisely.

Other Ways You Might Look for this Information

You could have posed your question in any of these other ways too:

* Is it possible to get stronger and build muscle while losing fat?

* How do you really lose fat without losing weight?

* What it takes to lose fat?

* How to lose fat without losing muscle (burn the fat, not the muscle)?

* Should I weigh myself everyday to lose fat?

* Does diet or training matter more to lose fat?

* How do I lose weight without losing muscle?

* What should I focus on? Fat loss, or weight loss?

No matter how you may have posed your question, we hope that this overview article has been helpful to you in gaining a new perspective and a holistic approach to losing body weight, or losing body fat, without losing body muscle mass.

Interesting Factoids on Losing Fat, Losing Weight

"Since female bodies are more sensitive to calorie restriction than men are, fasting for long periods can affect the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates your body's hormones."

(thebeet.com)

"To lose one pound of fat per week, your calorie deficit has to be 3,500 calories."

(telegraph.co.uk)

"Sleep requirement varys [sic] from person to person but most healthy adults need between seven to nine hours of sleep per night to function at their best."

(express.co.uk)

"Nutritionists believe that how much and when you eat to reduce obesity, along with that your eating time is equally important."

(pledgetimes.com)

"Eating at the same time every day keeps the balance between meal time and circadian rhythms." (pledgetimes.com)

"Because fat contains 9 calories per gram and carbohydrates contain 4 calories per gram, it's theoretically more advantageous from a caloric standpoint to consume more complex carbohydrate-based foods while limiting fats."

(mdlinx.com)