Weight

Weight is the most deceptive magnitude that exists in the world of nutrition, fitness and dietetics. We all seek to control our weight as an index of our physical appearance and body wellbeing. The truth is that weight is a complex magnitude, integrated by dissimilar factors, which leads us to confuse in many occasions the weight loss with the loss of body fat.

In the following guide we will analyze the basic aspects that affect the conformation of our weight and the essential questions that we should know about it.

What does weight tell us?

When we go to a scale to check our weight, it shows us the total weight of our body, it does not differentiate between muscles, liquids, fats, bones or any other component of our organism. This tells us that weighing ourselves is not a good indication of our body's fat levels. The logic behind weight loss diets is not to lose weight, but to lose fat. If we decrease our muscle mass or become dehydrated we also lose weight, yet no one would voluntarily want either of these two things to happen.

To understand how misleading weight is, suffice it to say that body fat is one of the elements that occupies the most volume in our body and weighs the least. If we were to lose just a little muscle mass our weight would drop considerably, but we would look just as fat and unhealthy. We cannot assume that the fact of having lost weight is a sign of being thinner or with less fat.

When we start a diet and it shows its effects correctly, it is normal that we rejoice with every kilo we lose. The usual thing in these cases is that a certain obsession arises to check the scales every day, and we think that every kilo we lose is due to the decrease of body fat in our body.

Therefore, when we reach the point where the scale stops marking a lower weight every week, or the rate of weight loss slows down considerably, we tend to get depressed or puzzled because we do not understand why if we keep doing the same as always we do not get the same results.

The truth is that these are very common mistakes, a sign of an inadequate methodology of body weight monitoring and lack of understanding of the natural processes that occur in our body and that are reflected in our body weight.

Weight and fluids

One of the most common phenomena that affect weight is related to water. Water is retained by the body depending on the food we consume. Foods that are abundant in carbohydrates and sodium usually provoke the aforementioned effect, causing your weight to increase by several kilos.

It would not be unusual for you to gain two extra kilos just because you are retaining a lot of water. The menstruation process in women is closely associated with this, where water retention is common and you may experience some increase in body weight.

Weight and muscle mass gain

Not only does the amount of fat increase, but the increase in muscle mass inevitably results in your body weight increasing. Think of two people, one with a noticeably more voluptuous physique than the other, possibly the former weighs more than the latter even though he has less fat in his body.

That said, it is important that you check these aspects before believing that your effort has not been worth it.

Weight and dieting

It's hard to lose too much when you have too little. If you have been dieting for a long time, it is normal to notice a slowdown in weight loss, and this is because the body has a harder time eliminating body fat when it is scarce than