“I want to lose weight.”

I’ve heard it countless times. We all have. I mean, think of New Year’s Resolutions. Weight loss seems to become everybody’s favorite goal each time January 1st rolls around, but weight loss goals extend so far beyond resolutions.

Working in the Fitness Industry, I regularly talk to people about their fitness goals. Weight loss comes up significantly more often than any other goal.

Everybody wants to have that body that they see in movies, magazines, and on the internet. I’ll admit it, the last time I watched The Avengers I caught myself envious of Thor’s triceps.

We are constantly bombarded by these stellar physiques. For a lot of us, it inspires us to want to build our own bodies.

Most people think that weight loss is how they are going to get the body they have been dreaming of.

It isn’t.

Wait… What? Allow me to rephrase: Weight loss is one of the worst ways to build a lean, muscular body.

How Weight Loss Sabotages Your Success

Weight loss goals are focused on one thing: making the number on the scale shrink. Usually people make that happen by eating less and moving more. Calories get cut, jogging/treadmill time goes up, and weight goes down. It must be working. Even though the weight has been coming off, there is one obvious issue: still no rippling arms, and no washboard abs.

Instead of the look you want, you are left smaller, weaker, and sometimes even fatter than you started. The culprit is catabolism. The way most people (especially women…sorry ladies) train for weight loss leads to muscular catabolism, which is the breakdown of muscle for energy. Sure, the number on the scale is smaller, but your muscle mass has paid for it. Extreme caloric restriction coupled with endless cardio makes for a molotov cocktail of muscular catabolism as the body desperately tries to reach homeostasis (equilibrium).

A while ago, I talked with a friend of mine after he had finished trying lose weight for a month and a half. During that time, he did nothing but jog, jog, and jog some more. On top of that, he strictly followed a big caloric deficit. He lost weight like crazy (about 25 pounds), but he “felt tiny” and described himself as having “zero muscle.” What’s more, he couldn’t do 135 more than 3 or 4 times on the bench press. He not only had no size, but no strength.

We need to get rid of the “weight loss” mindset. Instead of losing weight, we should focus on losing fat. Contrary to common weight loss plans, proper fat loss programs help you to maintain as much muscle as possible (or even gain it).

Fix It With Fat Loss

An aside: track your fat loss (and muscle gain) by having your body fat percentage measured. There are several ways to have it done and most of them don’t take long at all. Next time you’re at the gym ask a trainer if you could have your body fat measured.

Once my friend started training properly and tweaked his diet, things changed. His strength went through the roof and he packed pounds worth of muscle. The results were obvious and he was fired up. He had stopped trying to lose weight, and started building the body he wanted.

The biggest difference-makers between losing weight and withering away, or losing fat and looking the way you want are training and nutrition. The short answer is that you need to train the right way and eat more of the right things.

I’ve got good news. It is possible. In fact, I want to help you make it happen. Click HERE to discover everything you need to lose fat. Apply for coaching today.