Why losing fat can make you look fatter and how to fix it
Why Losing Fat Can Make You Look Fatter
I have seen this time and time again when people start their fat loss journey. At some point, while losing pounds, you may very well end up looking a little flabbier than before.
First of all… DON’T PANIC!!
We are going to talk about why this happens and what to do about it.
Why you might look chubby
A calorie deficit is king when it comes to fat loss. You MUST eat fewer calories than you burn to get rid of unsightly fat.
This cannot be avoided.
However, when you’re in a good calorie deficit, your muscles can also deplete your glycogen (glycogen is essentially the carbohydrate fuel stored in your muscles for activity).
When your muscles are full of glycogen, you look fuller and more powerful.
When glycogen is depleted, your muscles can look flattering.
Think of it like filling a tire with air. The tire has not lost material (muscle), it just has less air (glycogen).
Now this is crucial because when your muscles are depleted of glycogen due to your calorie deficit, it creates an effect where you look like you have less muscle relative to your body fat… This means you’ll look fatter than you think. really is.
Rate of Glycogen Depletion Compared to Rate of Fat Loss
You know how some people claim to have lost 5-10 pounds during their first week of dieting? This is due to a combination of water weight AND glycogen. Water and glycogen bind in the muscles and are stored there. When you start dieting, this combination of glycogen and water is depleted and your muscle volume plummets.
They may have lost a few pounds of fat as well, but they ‘appear’ to have gained fat even though the scale says otherwise.
The mirror can be very deceptive.
Glycogen and Muscle Mass
Your body can only store a limited amount of glycogen, which means it has a limited amount of glycogen that you lose. Your glycogen stores are quickly depleted during the diet, but don’t worry!
As long as you are strength training, you will preserve muscle mass. Have you ever seen someone with an arm in a cast? When the arm is finished in a cast, it is considerably smaller and has lost muscle. Why? Because it wasn’t being used!
So be sure to strength train while dieting. When you finish cutting fat and go back to maintenance eating, your muscles will fill up again.
So don’t worry!
When will he look thinner?
When your fat loss exceeds the weight you have lost in glycogen and water weight, you will finally start to show the fat loss you have achieved.
The first month can be a rough patch for many people. Especially if you base your success on what you see in the mirror.
Don’t be discouraged!
This is only temporary and after that brief visible hurdle, you will begin to see for yourself that you have, in fact, lost fat.
When you’re skinny enough
Listen, you want to look lean and defined even with your muscles exhausted. This is a great indicator to know that you have reached an ideal state. That way, once you eat maintenance again, your muscles will fill out, making you look even better!
wrapping it up
That first month of dieting can be tough. Especially since according to the mirror, you may see yourself worse. Don’t be discouraged!
Measure your waist and use the scale. These two are a powerful combination to track fat loss.
You will look visibly better, it just takes time for the fat loss to outweigh the glycogen/water loss.
Once that happens, the mirror will start showing you what the scales and waist measurements have been telling you. That you have achieved significant fat loss!
You should be proud!
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