Is It Actually Possible To Target Direct Fat Loss? (Fat Loss VS Weight Loss)

paul7g

Hi, can someone explain the difference between Fat Loss VS Weight Loss… and is it actually possible to burn fat directly, without weight loss?

01 - Calorie Deficit

If my daily calorie intake is 2,400 calories day (in favour of high protein, low fat macros), and I drop to 2,100 calories, will the 300 calorie deficit actually burn fat directly or will it just reduce my overall weight which then results in loosing some fat, or both?

My concern and experience is that you obviously do lose weight, but you seem to lose muscle mass too.

02 - Intense Cardio

If I up my cardio will that allow me to directly target and burn actual fat, or is that just burning more of my calories which means you end up with a result of a calorie deficit?

In other words, is it actually possible to directly target and burn fat without it affecting your weight and other things?

Thank you in advance for your help and guidance.

Padre_Pio

that's a very confusing post, not sure what you're asking exactly.

A calorie deficit is when you burn more calories than you consume. So you can either burn more OR consume less to get a deficit.

If you are in a deficit and don't exercise, you will lose fat AND muscle.

If you are in a deficit and exercise, you will lose fat and likely not much muscle.

to the question "In other words, is it actually possible to directly target and burn fat without it affecting your weight and other things?"

Not really, that would require you to lose fat and REPLACE it with something else, likely muscle or water.

paul7g

Thank you…

I have always believed it is impossible to not lose muscle when losing fat?

I'm not a body builder… but for an example, when you see a body builder going on a cut… yes they lose a lot of fat, but their overall size mass is so much smaller at the end of their cut. So in other words was all that mass they just lost, fat? They still exercise throughout their cut, but are usually a lot smaller in size, albeit more shredded.

Which brings me back to my original question (sorry to confuse), is it possible to directly target fat loss, without losing muscle?

Black Sheep

Google Dr Mike Israetel on losing fat and building muscle. He's spoken a lot on this subject.

The best way I can say it is that you can do things to try to minimise the amount of muscle mass you lose if you enter a calorie deficit.

It's possible you are also asking can you building muscle and lose fat at the same time, and could this mean someone's weight remains more similar than we might otherwise expect. This is generally associated with beginners to strength training, if it occurs at all. You have someone who goes from a bad diet and sedentary, with little muscle mass, to doing resistance training and progressively overloading and eating better. There is a window of time where they may be losing fat and actually putting on muscle at the same time, depending on the balance of energy demands.

Mellor

If you lose 1kg of Fat directly, and lose nothing else. You lose 1kg of weight. How could you not? Confused by what you are asking tbh.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122498890#Comment_122498890

As I said, generally no. However, you can minimize muscle loss through exercise. If you're not a bodybuilder then it doesn't really matter. You're not going to waste away.

Mr. CooL ICE

If you go into a calorie surplus, keeping protein intake high and doing resistance training is the best thing you can do to minimise muscle loss. There's a variety of other minor changes you can make, but the above is the most important.

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122499194#Comment_122499194

i think they want to stay the same weight & strength but lose the fat round belly or wherever

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500243#Comment_122500243

That's just not possible. Why does "staying the same weight" even matter?

Muscle is far denser than fat, someone 90kg 5% fat looks completely different from someone 90kg with 20% fat.

Besides, if the OP has 5kg of fat to lose for instance, there is no way they are replacing this with 5kg of muscle.

batistuta9

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500481#Comment_122500481

don't know, i was just saying what i think the op was trying to ask.

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500243#Comment_122500243

Yeah that's that part that doesn't make sense. If you target fat directly, you will lose weight/mass too. Fat has mass.
To stay the same weight you need to also add muscle, but that's not what OP asked.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122498890#Comment_122498890

Your believe is incorrect, is impossible to lose fat without losing muscle. There will still be a direct weight lost equal to the fat, obviously as fat has mass. The more aggressive your deficit, you current compeition, and your diet will affect have mush fat you can lose before losing muscle.

I'm not a body builder… but for an example, when you see a body builder going on a cut… yes they lose a lot of fat, but their overall size mass is so much smaller at the end of their cut. So in other words was all that mass they just lost, fat? They still exercise throughout their cut, but are usually a lot smaller in size, albeit more shredded.

A body builder is pushing things to extreme limits. They are carrying an abundance of muscle which means the people is more primed to reduce it. And they have already less fat mass to begin with, which limits the fat they can lose per day.
Bodybuilders are relevant to only body builders.

At the other end is bariatric patients. They have massive amounts of fat, which means they can lose a much higher amount of fat per day. The results is losing kilos per week and all of it fat.

Most of us lie somewhere between those two extremes.

Which brings me back to my original question (sorry to confuse), is it possible to directly target fat loss, without losing muscle?

Yes you can target fat only. Every kilo of fat you lose means 1 less kilo of total body weight/mass.

The amount you can lose before starting to also lose muscles is dependent on the variables above.
Unless you are extremely lean, this is probably over focusing on detail

Quantum Erasure

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500748#Comment_122500748

Yes you can target fat only. Every kilo of fat you lose means 1 less kilo of total body weight/mass.

i doubt this is true, but if i could lose the beer belly while keeping the same mass, i'm all ears…

Mellor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122500753#Comment_122500753

Did you misread my post, or are you really doubt that a kilo of fat = 1 kilo of body mass?
I'd have thought that was a simple idea and was a bit confused about the OPs question tbh.

Padre_Pio

There's no point discussing this further, the original question doesn't make any sense.

nickkohl

Calorie deficit is a key