“I lost 30lbs but look the exact same!? WTH?”
Here is one for you, and I want to see if you can figure out how someone can lose 30lbs but feel they look the same.
At the time of writing this, early last year, I had a person reach out to me that was at a loss for words.
Let me give you some background….
- Female in her mid-thirties, 5’6″ 180lbs
- Just had a baby one year ago
- Healthy pregnancy, all blood work is normal
- No known medical issues
- Gained baby weight and wanted to get it off (about 30lbs)
- She decided that she was going to train for a marathon to lose the weight
- In her words, she ate fairly well, focused on lower carbs (less than 100g a day)
- Trained for 5 months following a couch to marathon program she found online
- She completed her first marathon in about 5 hours (Very impressive!)
- But she felt softer and said that she looked the same after losing the excess weight.
Ok, so think about this for a second… this person can lose 30lbs through diet and exercise (running in this case) but feels she looks the same except a smaller version of herself.
I immediately knew what happened and what she was saying, but I want to see what you think.
Think about this for a second and scroll down for the answer.
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Answer: Lack of Weight Training
For those that decide to take up running as a form of weight loss usually hit a period of WTF when they see the scale go down, but they feel they look virtually the same.
I mean, how is that possible? How can someone lose 30lbs but look about the same, except just a smaller version of themselves?
This is because the person focused on weight loss and not fat loss.
Weight loss and fat loss are two very different things.
Weight loss, in most cases, will ensure that you will lose WEIGHT, and weight can be anything from fat, water, waste, muscle… So the weight you lose can, and in many cases, will be a combination of fat AND muscle. This can end up giving the body a smaller but not leaner look.
Fat loss, on the other hand, is exactly what it sounds like. Losing fat and ideally keeping the muscle, which gives the body a LEANER more toned look.
This is why it’s important to do strength training, even during marathon training.
With this person, she DID lose 30lbs, which is fantastic in its own right! But her bodyfat changed very little by her before and after pics. She had visually the same build, just smaller. It looked as if someone took a pic of her and zoomed out a bit.
Adding in Weight Training
When we chatted more, she did like running, wanted to continue training for her marathons and other races, but we added strength/weight training to her mix.
We focused on her glutes, hams, back, and abs, making those muscles as strong as possible. This is good for a healthy balanced runner anyway, in addition to increasing her carbs, so she had more fuel in her gas tank.
What ended up happening was her weight stayed about the same; she fluctuated between 147-150, BUT she was getting noticeably leaner with much more tone. She was running faster, felt better, and was happy with the direction her body was going in.
Weight Training and Fat Loss
Yes, cardio and dieting (eating fewer calories) do have their place when it comes to losing weight and fat, but to make sure that you’re keeping the muscle you want to avoid just smaller, add strength training several times a week.
For sports specific reasons, 3 tends to be a good starting point, for transformation goals (fat loss and reshaping the body) 4 is a good starting point.
This is why at RTC we have weight training and our beating your numbers concept as a corner-stone for our transformation method. If your goal is to lose weight, lose fat, or change the way you look, our small group personal training is a good place to start.
Just because you lose weight and get small doesn’t mean you’ll look leaner, but if you lose fat and keep your muscle… yes, you may get a bit smaller, but you’ll look a lot leaner.
In Health and Awesomeness,
Travis Merritt, BS, CPT, (and other letters behind the name) is the Owner of Rowlett Transformation Center in Rowlett, TX.
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