body fat & weight loss

Question
Hello,

Around five weeks ago I started a program to help me reduce my body fat percentage. Using a fat analyzer, I was measured at 29.5% body fat and 189.5lb.  After five weeks of better eating habits I am now 179.5lb with 28.0% body fat. How can I tell if this reduction is from body fat alone or in part due to muscle tissue loss?

ES

Answer
Hello, Emi. Congratulations on losing 10 lbs. Good work. Keep at it!

If your analyzer is of quality and is correct, then it should calculate your body fat loss and not confuse it with the muscle mass.  

I surely hope that you don't lose muscle mass because that's quite undesirable. Knowing how many diets out there cause the essentail muscle tissue loss, I wish to warn you of that. This is especially likely to happen if your diet it low on carbs and you stick to it for a long time. If your body doesn't burn carbs and your overall intake of food is low, then it will start breaking down essential proteins and prevent your muscle tissues from repairing themselves. This is something you should avoid. Low carb, high protein diets are good for short periods of time (to lose 5 or 10 pounds) but if you want to transform your body into the overall more toned and more healthy one - low carb diet is not the best choice.  

Also, you mention that you lose weight by proper eating habits. What about exercise? What about intense cardio workout? The latter is essential for effective, healthy weight loss and for jump-starting your metabolism. Diet alone is not a great idea. It must be complimented with regular, cardio-intense exercise that elevates your heart rate to 75-85% of its capacity.   

Tanks, and I hope this helps. If not, please follow up.

Arkady Itkin
www.PracticalHappiness.com  

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