Reality of Weight Loss

When you put ‘weight loss’ in perspective of more precise body composition changes, the evidence suggests a combination of contributing factors to the decreasing number fed back to you on the scale, or in the case of the biggest loser, projected for millions of viewers to see at home. Generally speaking, these constituents and their proportional role in typical weight loss are listed in the table below.

But why is that important

Appropriately, our body composition goals should reflect a desire to lower risk of metabolic and cardiovascular disease (i.e. body fat), while improving physical and physiologic function (i.e. muscle). In other words, gain muscle while losing fat. #Winning As explained in a later article “Omnivore’s Dilemma”, muscle is particularly important during times of weight loss if the idea is to sustain loses in body fat while achieving a toned physique.

Whether your goals are purely aesthetic or general health you cannot deny the importance of skeletal muscle. We will reiterate its significance throughout subsequent articles but muscle is the primary driver of:

• Locomotion: capacity to navigate dynamically through space. Supporting physical fitness, self-reliance and independence.
• Muscle Strength: ability of the body to impose adequate force against and protect from the external environment. Let’s face it, life is easier when you’re strong. Injury resistance is increasingly important from the young athlete to the frail elderly.
• Regulation of Blood Glucose: dominant site of glucose disposal, creating a storage depot for energy (glycogen); helping manage blood sugar stability. Particularly important for the prevention of metabolic disorders like diabetes. In other words, the more muscle you have, the easier you can handle carbohydrates in a way that minimizes the accumulation of body fat.
• Regulation of Blood Lipids: muscle is the machinery that utilizes fat to meet energy needs, or store intramuscularly to be used later. Again, the more muscle you have, the more tissue you have to metabolize fat.
• Basal [resting] Metabolic Rate (BMR): BMR is a primary determinant of your energy expenditure throughout the day, HOW MANY CALORIES YOU BURN. For anyone mildly concerned with preventing body fat gain (especially body fat reduction) yet wants to indulge in dietary delights from time to time, needs to maximize the amount of this highly metabolically active tissue he/she carries.

Fortunately, there are two highly potent stimuli that can ‘rescue’ muscle from this precarious fate and in some unique cases even completely reverse this effect. Namely, resistance training and dietary protein ingestion independently can meaningfully augment muscle protein synthesis in the face of a caloric deficit, but when implemented together have a uniquely effective synergistic relationship. I discuss this coordinated process at length in subsequent articles (i.e. “Omnivore’s Dilemma”) so we will not burden you with the science here.

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