29/05/2025
WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT? NO, YOU DON’T
Like most personal trainers, one of the most common goals I hear is ‘I want to lose weight’ or ‘I want to be thinner here and here’ pointing to various body parts. And, on the surface, it’s a perfectly normal thing to say.
But, if weight loss is your goal, it’s not weight you need to lose, it’s FAT - and they are two different things. Ultimately, it’s not about what the total figure says on the scales. It’s how much fat you have on you - stores of excess energy that doesn’t just change the way you look, but has a million other impacts on your body’s health and ability to keep the machine that is you running smoothly. And, short of liposuction, you can’t lose fat from one area - it’s all over, from your face to your feet.
But it’s also important to be realistic and sustainable. Competitive bodybuilders are usually somewhere around 5-7% bodyfat which is virtually impossible to sustain and can cause health issues, so rest assured that those Men’s Health cover models have worked for weeks and weeks to very strict regimes to get into that shape for one shoot and, post that, will revert to something more manageable day to day.
Take a look at both the images and chart to give you a guide as to what various percentages look like and what’s healthy for you. Remember, this is just a basic guide; to really establish what’s right for you then talk to a professional so they can establish all the key data to work out a plan that’s sensible, achievable and sustainable for YOU.
To help get you to the shape and body composition you want (especially if you want to lose fat) if you only do three things then eat (healthily) sleep (well) and train (regularly) Then, rinse and repeat.
Also, if you pop over the Nutrition page on our website, (motionlabs.co.uk) we’ve a handy calorie calculator to give you outline macros to help give you a guide to what you could be consuming a day to help you get to your goal.
