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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 over and over again when people start their fat loss journey. At some point while shedding pounds, you may very well end up looking a bit flabbier than before.

First of all… DON’T PANIC!!

Let’s talk about why this happens and what to do about it.

why you could look fatter

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 their 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 will look fatter than you do. really is.

Glycogen depletion rate compared to fat loss rate

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 also lost a few pounds of fat, but they ‘look’ like they’ve gained fat even though the scale says otherwise.

The mirror can be very misleading.

Glycogen and Muscle Mass

Your body can only store a limited amount of glycogen, which means you have a limited amount of glycogen to lose. Your glycogen stores are quickly depleted during the diet, but don’t worry!

As long as you’re strength training, you’ll preserve muscle mass. Have you ever seen someone with an arm in a cast? When the arm is out of the cast, it is considerably smaller and has lost muscle. Why? Because it wasn’t being used!

So make sure to strength train while dieting. When you’re done cutting fat and go back to maintenance eating, your muscles will plump up again.

So don’t worry!

When will you look thinner?

When your fat loss exceeds the weight you’ve lost in glycogen and water weight, you’ll finally start to show the fat loss you’ve 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 exhausted muscles. This is a great indicator to know that you have reached an ideal state. That way, once you go back to eating at maintenance, your muscles will fill up, making you look even better!

wrapping it up

That first month of dieting can be tough. Especially since according to the mirror, you may look 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 fat loss to outweigh glycogen/water loss.

Once that happens, the mirror will begin to show 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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