Body weight remains unchanged while fat percentage decreases

Many people measure their body fat percentage before losing weight, thinking that if the body fat percentage decreases, the body weight will also decrease. However, during the training process, you will often find that your body fat percentage has decreased but your weight has not changed at all. This is often because of the wrong weight loss method that causes muscle burning. The following introduces the reasons why fat percentage decreases while weight remains unchanged. Let’s take a look.

Body fat percentage refers to the proportion of body fat weight in the total body weight, also known as body fat percentage, which reflects the amount of fat in the human body. The body fat percentage of normal adults is 15%~18% for men and 25%~28% for women. Body fat percentage should be kept within the normal range. Therefore, for the majority of people who are in dire straits of weight loss, it is not important whether they lose weight or not, what is important is the body fat percentage.

Does not losing weight mean weight loss failure? Body fat percentage is the important reference

1. Lose 5% to 10% of your body weight every three months

During weight loss, water and muscle are lost more easily than fat. If you lose more than ten pounds in a week through unhealthy methods such as dieting, most of the weight you lose is actually water and muscle, while the fat remains in your body. When you stop losing weight, fat will fill the gaps left by muscle and water, causing weight rebound, which will become more difficult to lose than before.

So what should be the standard speed for weight loss? By controlling calorie intake and exercising appropriately, it is more appropriate to lose about 5% to 10% of body weight every three months.

2. Weight may not decrease, but body fat percentage decreases

It is not appropriate to use body weight to measure the effect of weight loss. Your weight will fluctuate with your intake of water and food, and if you lose weight in a healthy way, you will increase your muscle mass while burning fat, and your weight may not necessarily go down.

Why do some people look thinner even though their weight remains the same? Because the real measure of weight loss effectiveness is body fat percentage - the percentage of body fat to total body weight.

Once the body fat percentage drops, it proves that the body fat content is reduced and the body circumference is also tightened accordingly. What's even better is that with less fat and more muscle, your basal metabolic rate goes up, so you don't have to worry about rebounding after losing weight.

But blindly pursuing a low body fat percentage is going to extremes. Fat is essential to the human body, and too little fat can affect health. The ideal body fat percentage for an average man is about 10% to 18%, and the ideal body fat percentage for an average woman should be between 17% and 25%.

3. Calorie intake is less than calorie expenditure

Most women can lose weight by keeping their calorie intake below 1,500 calories, while men can increase it by 300 calories.

We can also estimate the amount of calories the body burns each day by calculating resting energy expenditure (REE) and activity coefficient.

Static energy consumption value REE

Static energy expenditure value is the minimum heat energy consumption of an average person, and the calculation methods are different for men and women.

Female REE = (10 × weight in kg) (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age) - 161

Male REE = (10 × weight in kg) (6.25 × height in cm) - (5 × age) 5

Daily calorie consumption

The static energy expenditure value does not include daily activity, so we also need to calculate the activity coefficient.

Therefore, the daily calorie consumption value is equal to the static energy expenditure value × the activity coefficient.

When the calorie intake just reaches the daily calorie expenditure, weight will neither increase nor decrease.

In other words, if you want to lose weight, your daily calorie intake must be lower than this value, and be careful not to fall below the minimum energy required by the body (about 1200 calories for women and about 1500 calories for men). Otherwise, the body will reduce the basal metabolic rate to ensure normal operation of the body, and you will not be able to lose weight.

4. Get moving

Exercise is the healthiest way to lose weight.

Aerobic exercise is the most effective exercise for burning fat.