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Body Composition and Weight Loss

Body Composition vs. Weight Loss

Body weight alone is not a definitive assessment of body composition. Even after losing weight you can still be considered to be over-fat. This occurs when the weight you lose comes mainly from muscle instead of fat. Having excess fat on the inside but looking normal on the outside may result in disease risks that are similar to those who appear overly overweight even though the patient may appear fine.

Many fad diets may help a patient lose weight (sometimes weight loss can be over 15-20 lbs / month) however, these programs are short term and the weight quickly comes back. Patients may lose 30 pounds on a program over time but gain 40-50 pounds back afterwards. This is the phenomenon is called the “yo-yo diet”. Each time the weight comes off the patient is losing valuable muscle mass and retaining body fat which reduces their metabolism and makes them more susceptible to gaining weight again (usually in fat). Patients may go through many yo-yo diets reducing their metabolism and disrupting proper hormone regulation causing the body to gain weight rapidly. This is why it is so important to optimize body composition through increasing muscle mass and reducing fat mass instead of just losing weight.

There is no single cause of unhealthy body composition. Excessive fat accumulation can result from an imbalance between the calories you take in and the calories you burn; lack of physical activity; lifestyle influences such as a high-fat, high sugar diet, overeating, excess alcohol intake, chronic use of drugs, hormone imbalance, toxicity within the body and other metabolic factors.

To regulate the body composition to keep and build muscle and remove fat it is important to do weight bearing exercise along with cardiovascular exercise. It is also important to eat regularly.  Skipping meals or not eating enough calories (good calories not calories of fat, sugar and simple carbohydrates) will cause the body to gain fat and loose muscle.

Maintain proper body composition by losing the fat and retaining and building muscle.  This will increases the body’s metabolism and will turn the body into a fat burning machine instead of a fat storing machine.

Regulating Blood Sugars to Optimize Body Composition

Incorporating lifestyle changes that focus on effective weight control, a program of regular exercise and specific dietary guidelines are very important to promoting healthy blood sugar metabolism.

Obesity, lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet are considered major contributors to developing poor blood sugar metabolism. When we consume excess sweets and refined processed foods the simple sugars they contain are rapidly absorbed and cause a rapid increase in blood sugar. Most of this sugar will be stored as fat and does not go into the cells leading to weakness and lethargy. On the flip side, if we do not eat enough or go on intense calorie restricted diets the body is trained into storing sugars as fats to protect itself from starvation.

A Weight Loss Program that Works

FirstLine Therapy seeks to optimize body composition and NOT simply loose weight. While on the program one can see a reduction in body weight but this is through fat loss and not muscle loss. This allows for sustainable weight loss which will last a lifetime and promote health instead of illness.