Dear Dr. Suzy,   

Q. What is the difference between losing weight and losing excess body fat?

A. Good question!  There is a distinct difference between losing excess bodyfat and losing weight. The term "weight" refers specifically to overall bodyweight, which includes bones, organs, skin, fluid, muscle, and fat.

For this reason, fad diets that promise that you will be watching numbers rapidly drop on the scales are sometimes dangerous. Bodyfat is not the only thing you lose on these diets. Losing muscle as a result of dieting decreases metabolism and actually slows down bodyfat loss.

When you severely restrict the amount of calories that you take in, your body perceives this condition as starvation.

The body's natural response to starvation is to “lighten the load” by shedding its muscle tissue. Since muscle is metabolically active, your body needs less food to survive when muscle tissue is lost.

If you are starving yourself just to watch the numbers go down on the scales, remember this. The weight you may lose at first on an extremely low-calorie diet is not just bodyfat. Much of it is muscle. When muscle tissue is lost, it is easier for the body to store fat.

When you lose muscle tissue, you will become weak and tired, resulting in a reduced level of physical activity. In turn, this inactivity and weakness causes an even greater loss of muscle tissue. 

Excess bodyfat is basically stored energy. Dietary excesses, whether in the form of fats, carbohydrates, or protein, all eventually turn to bodyfat if they are not needed by the body as a source of energy. Energy is stored by the body as fat in adipose tissue, which is a distinct type of connective tissue.

Adipose tissue increases in two ways. Existing fat cells can grow by filling up with more fat, or the total number of fat cells can increase. As the original fat cells are filled to capacity, new ones are created.

I find it very interesting to note that when an overweight adult reduces body size, there is a decrease in fat cell size, but no change in total fat cell number. In other words, fat cells can shrink in size, but once new fat cells are created, they are there to stay.

Bodyfat, Bodyweight, and muscle tissue are three distinct, separate entities.  Understanding the difference between them makes it easier to obtain the strong healthy body that you desire.  Knowledge truly is power!