How do you measure fat loss progress? How do you know if the weight you are losing is actual FAT or Lean Body Mass?

It is my intention in this blog to shed light and give insight on some actions you start implementing to make your body composition journey more successful! 

Skilled personal trainers and coaches that master their craft in the area of assessments of body fat testing and the breakdown of data, can make calculated adjustments to continue progress in the long term.

But first why is this important?

How many times have you started a plan, seen progress for a few weeks and then suddenly hit a plateau? This can be frustrating and sometimes really exhausting. Or how do you know if the weight you see on the scale is changing and you are losing fat and building muscle?

I want to separate two labels.... there is a difference in "weight loss" and "fat loss". At Mind Performance Health we aim for body composition improvements which is not necessarily measured by weight loss on the scale. Why? because weight loss is a combination of many things including fat, water, organs, structural and lean body mass.

If you want to feel good and look even better, you need to get your head away from the idea of looking at weight loss as the primary reflection of progress.

Now that we have some context behind the following, lets get into some markers we like to see at Mind Performance Health that influence our adjustments in nutrition and training protocols:

• 0.5-1% loss of body fat per week
• 0.5-1% loss of weight per week
• 3-5mm loss of body fat skin folds per week on 10 sites

Visual Improvements

Now these markers may vary depending on some circumstances for example, Females menstrual cycle. These are points that can be relatively

set to forecast and set intentions during preparation.

Example of planning:

• A male with 20% body fat who is 100kg in weight In 10 weeks, we would aim to lose:
• Body Fat Minimum: 5% Body Fat
• Body Fat Maximum: 10% Body Fat
• Minimum Scale Weight: 5kgs
• Maximum Scale Weight: 10kg
• Body Fat Skin folds: 30-50mm loss

We would also aim to retain or have some protein synthesis to build muscle depending on the individual’s genetics and exposure to anaerobic strength training.

What would determine whether you are on the minimum or maximum side of the equations?

1. Compliancy to the plan
2. Awareness of your stress
3. Individual genetic makeup

There are cases where body Re-Composition can be achieved. This is the magical situation where you retain your scale weight, dropping body fat and building muscle. This can be done by not driving your deficit (The amount of food) to low, or by keeping your food around your maintenance calories. Essentially your weight is switching from your fat mass to more lean body mass.

I hope you got value and insight into the art of tracking progress. If you wish to leave the attention to detail with professionals that have a proven track record of results using these methods, you can book a call to see how we can help tailor the process towards your goal: 

CLICK HERE TO BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL 

Measure Smart. Train Hard. Eat For Performance.

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Mind Performance Health

Unit 8/591 Withers Road, Rouse Hill

Personal Training Studio

Coach Mick