Fat vs Muscle

I get this allll the time... “ I don’t want to get big and bulky!” 🙄 um let me remind you to look at the picture of fat vs muscle. Which one is bulkier?! I mean seriously people! Chances are if you’ve got 10+ pounds of fat to lose, you’re bulky! 😲😬 Truth bomb! Let’s discuss further so you can understand the importance of healthy muscle in place of high body fat percentage.

Like a lot of people, you might think that muscle weighs more than fat.

When I hear this statement, I always think of the old riddle: Which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks? A pound is a pound! Again check out that photo👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻👆🏻🙀

Muscle vs. Fat: Clearing Up the Misconception

Common sense tells us a pound of muscle and a pound of fat have to weigh the same, but they do differ in density. This means if you look at five pounds of muscle and five pounds of fat side by side, the fat takes up more volume, or space, than the muscle. That’s important when you’re on a diet and part of your goal is the lean look of muscle, not the flabby look of fat😅

So why do people say muscle weighs more than fat?

I find people make this statement when they put on weight. One person will say, ‘I gained three pounds and I’ve been working out.’ The good-friend response is, ‘It’s all muscle.’ And while this is a very comforting thing to hear, it’s just impossible to gain three pounds of muscle in a week. It is common for exercisers to lose fat and gain muscle without a change in body weight, so I understand why people often get frustrated.

Muscle vs. Fat: The Truth

The first step in a successful diet and exercise program is to banish the idea that muscle weighs more and is therefore bad. In fact, I recommend tossing out the scale altogether! #nomorescalejunkies 🤭

I try to get people to think about how they are feeling, how their clothes are fitting, and how their body has changed. It’s a hard thing to do sometimes. The focus should not just be the number on the scale. If we only did things to make ourselves weigh less, we wouldn’t necessarily be healthier. Learn to recognize how you “feel” 👏🏻😃

Muscle vs. Fat: The Benefits of Muscle

In fact, not only should dieters stop thinking of muscle as the enemy, they should embrace it as their friend.

Muscle boosts a person’s metabolism so a pound of muscle will burn more calories at rest than a pound of fat. What does this mean? Even when you’re not exercising — you could be sitting on the couch watching TV — you will be burning more calories just by having more muscle🤗

Muscle has other benefits, too. It’s critical in improving bone density and helps prevent the loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging, allowing people to stay active as they get older.

Muscle vs. Fat: Ways to Gain Muscle

There’s no doubt cardio workouts such as jogging, cycling, and walking are important for calorie burning and good health. But strength training is vital, too. Of course, we always think of lifting weights to put on muscle, and many fear they will become ‘bulky”, Women need to stop worrying about this🤬

There are plenty of options to build muscle, ranging from free weights to resistance bands and even plain old soup cans. I recommend enlisting the help of a personal trainer 🏃🏼‍♀️(NicholeFitness.com) to design a balanced, full-body workout for the best results. Or if you want to bulk up, lift heavy weights and do low repetitions.  And two or three times a week, with at least one day off in between for muscle recovery, is sufficient.

Ultimately, building muscle mass is a good thing. So find some enjoyable exercises and get lifting! Not sure how? Check out NicholeFitness.com and I’ll help you navigate through a fitness and nutrition program that’s just right for YOU🏃🏼‍♀️💪🏻