Trying to start …. to start to lose weight can seem like an endless cycle of dieting, sacrificing, meal prep, and exercise to then watch any success fade away as you hit that all too familiar plateau. The number that was falling in your favor, giving you hope and confidence, has suddenly become either stuck or reversed its course. This can be very discouraging and lead one to throw their hands in the air and return to habits which caused their issue to begin with. After all, if nothing is working, you might as well enjoy food again….right?
Well not so fast. While I think that situation is a common occurrence I see in practice, I don’t think dismissing all progress to return to bad habits is the answer. Before we get there, lets begin with the initial question: “Where do you start if you’re trying to loose weight?” I think we first need to define weight in this sense and make sure this is truly the goal.
You see weight pertains to the entire composition of the body, not just the stuff, fat, you want to disappear. The problem is, most people are using a standard scale which only measures weight in pounds or kilograms and ignores more important metrics like body fat mass, percent body fat and skeletal muscle mass. These metrics tell us exactly what kind of weight we have and what kind we need to lose.
Did you know that rapid weight loss fad diets that severely restrict calories can result in a significant decrease in lean muscle mass.(McCarthy). This is important because without tracking body composition, you can get misleading feedback from a standard scale. You think you are losing fat but in reality you are likely losing mostly fat but also a good bit of much needed muscle. Skeletal muscle mass is crucial to the weight loss process as it is a major contributor to your resting metabolic rate (RMM).
So where do you need to start? I think the first step for people serious about losing weight is to know where they stand today. In order to do that you have to know what you’re made of. I mean this quite literally and maybe a bit metaphorically. The first step should be to find out your true body composition. There are a lot of ways to do this but the most cost effective and practical way is to do what is known as a bioelectrical impedance analysis or BIA. You may have seen these advertised for home use, in a gym, or nutrition center. It is a safe, and relatively accurate (depending on the scale) measure of your body composition including important metrics like body fat percentage (BPF), skeletal muscle mass (SMM), and fat mass (FM). Some BIA or body composition scales, like the InBody570, offer measures such as visceral fat composition as well as a breakdown of your water balance and how fat/muscle is distributed throughout your body.
These metrics are extremely valuable in order to track real progress in your weight loss journey. So if you are thinking of making changes this year, you may want to start by finding out exactly what needs to change in regards to your body composition.
Step Wise Tip
Try This:
Schedule a physician consult with Nutrition and Weight Loss at CNT which includes an InBody570 Body Composition Analysis.
Or
Schedule an appointment for a body composition analysis with InBody570.
I hope I can be a part of your weight loss journey. Be wise about the steps you take.
C J Wolinski , MD
Nutrition and Weight Loss at CNT
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