Fat Loss FAQ

Because the scale measures fat plus water, glycogen, and gut content — and those swing around by up to 2kg on any given day. Real fat loss of 0.3–0.5kg a week can be hidden by a 2kg swing in water. If you're cutting properly, the scale can sit still or even rise for a week while you're genuinely losing fat. The fix is to track a weekly average over four weeks, not a single morning. See why the scale lies.

No — and that's the entire point of this site. Weight is fat plus muscle, water, glycogen, and food in your gut. You can lose "weight" fast by dropping water and muscle while fat barely moves. The goal is to lose fat, not to make the number go down. That's why we emphasise measuring fat, not weight.

Real fat loss is roughly 0.3–0.5kg per week, which needs about a 300–500 kcal/day deficit. A kilogram of fat stores about 7,700 kcal, so anything much faster than half a kilo a week is not coming from fat. "Lost 5kg in two weeks" diets are shedding water and muscle — and they set you up to regain it as fat. More on the calorie math.

During a cut, aim for 2.0–2.1g per kilogram of bodyweight per day, spread across 3–4 meals, each delivering roughly 25–28g to keep muscle protein synthesis switched on. Higher protein also means more satiety, which makes a smaller deficit actually comfortable. Read why protein comes first.

Not obsessively. Counting every meal drives people mad and then they quit. What works: eat mostly the same foods, track a weekly average, and adjust your intake about once a month based on the trend. Rules and weekly averages beat obsessive daily arithmetic.

Not if you lift weights and eat enough protein. Without strength training, up to 25–30% of the weight you lose can be muscle. Training sends your body a clear "keep this muscle" signal, and protein supplies the material to rebuild it. The pair is what turns a diet into fat loss. See the muscle protector.

Skinny-fat is the classic crash-diet outcome: you lose weight and the number drops, but you've lost muscle and kept the fat. The result is a body that looks soft and weak even at a lower weight. It's the reason "I lost weight but look the same" is so common — the wrong thing was lost.

Yes — that's body recomposition. A mild deficit (300–500 kcal) plus 2.0g/kg protein plus strength training 2–3×/week lets beginners, overfat people, and the detrained lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. It's slower per week but sustainable and compounding. Explore body recomp.

For trends, not absolute values. They use bioelectrical impedance, which is heavily affected by hydration — so the number bounces from one day to the next for reasons that have nothing to do with fat. Use them for long-term direction only; don't take a single reading seriously. Compare the best measurement methods.

DEXA is the gold standard but costs $50–$100 per scan. For everyday tracking, skinfold calipers plus a waist tape are accurate and almost free — and waist circumference is a useful proxy for visceral fat. The golden rule: always the same machine, same time, same conditions.

The glycogen-water effect. Cutting carbs depletes glycogen, and each gram of glycogen carries about 3 grams of water. In week one you can drop 2–3kg — almost entirely water, not fat. That's why low-carb diets look amazing for two weeks and then stall.

Less than people think. What matters is protein timing across the whole day, not any single meal. If you skip breakfast, make sure the remaining meals are big enough to hit your per-meal protein target. Consistency of total protein beats the timing of breakfast.

Barely. Protein powder is food — and the cheapest way to hit your gram target, so it's genuinely useful. Creatine has solid evidence for supporting strength. Beyond those two, the rest is optional and most of it is marketing. Supplements never fix a bad diet.

3–4 meals, each with about 25–28g of protein. That combination hits your daily protein target and keeps muscle protein synthesis triggered throughout the day. Front-loading all your protein into one meal is the least effective strategy.

Your hormones are signalling scarcity. When you restrict hard, leptin drops and ghrelin rises, so hunger gets louder and fullness gets quieter. A very strict deficit makes this dramatically worse. Higher protein and fibre improve satiety and let you run a deficit without constant hunger.

You can, but it costs you. Alcohol is 7 kcal per gram of empty calories that displace protein, and it impairs recovery and sleep. In a deficit, keep it minimal — a busy social life is a fair trade, but don't pretend it's helping. It's extra calories plus worse recovery.

You face anabolic resistance. Older bodies are less sensitive to protein per meal, so getting enough protein in each meal matters even more. Spread the 2.0g/kg target across 3–4 solid meals rather than one big one, and prioritise strength training to protect what you have. Read protein first for over-40s.

Expect 4–8 weeks before your measurements move in a meaningful direction, and take monthly progress photos because the mirror is unreliable. Week to week it's slow; month to month is where the change shows. If something is worth doing, it's worth the slow version.

Only if you crash diet. A moderate 300–500 kcal deficit doesn't trigger meaningful metabolic adaptation. Very aggressive restriction and muscle loss do — metabolism drops, hunger rises, and the weight comes back as fat. This is the skinny-fat cycle in action.

With the four rules: protein first (2.0g/kg), strength training (2–3×/week), a moderate deficit (300–500 kcal), and measure fat, not weight. Go to the home page for the full picture — and remember your body was built to keep the fat, so you have to work with it, not against it.