You have reviewed your diet, resumed exercise, and yet the scale barely moves, or no longer. Enough to discourage you. But this plateau effect is actually very common and does not necessarily mean that your efforts are wasted. As Pauline Pied, dietician-nutritionist on Instagram, explains, we must distinguish two different notions when we seek to slim down: losing weight and losing fat mass.It’s not the same thing.”.
The scale doesn’t just measure fat
The first reflex when you want to slim down is to watch your weight like milk on the stove. Yet the scale only tells part of the story.
“The scale weighs everything at the same time: water, glycogen, what you have not yet digested, your muscle mass and your fat mass”explains Pauline Pied. “It adds everything up and displays a single figure which can vary up to two kilos in the same day, without you having gained a gram of fat.
In other words, a variation on the scale does not necessarily reflect a change in fat mass. This is also why some people feel like they are stagnating even though their body is actually changing.
Body composition changes the silhouette
So two people can have the same weight and height, but very different body shapes. The reason? Body composition.
“The muscle is dense and compact: it reshapes the silhouette, where fat takes up more space”, explains the dietitian.
Result: by developing a little muscle mass while losing fat, the weight can remain stable… while the body becomes slimmer.
And the scale does not make this distinction. “Your mirror and your clothes, yes” insists the expert.
Losing fat: a slower but more sustainable process
Why is it important to remember this difference? Because fat loss may be less spectacular, when done well, but more satisfying.
Unlike restrictive diets that cause the weight on the scale to quickly drop, fat loss relies on more balanced habits.
“Losing fat means eating enough, moving in a way you like, and getting enough sleep.” recalls Pauline Pied.
An approach that is often slower, but also more sustainable. Indeed, “when you do not excessively deprive your body, there is less risk of regaining all the weight lost”.
How do you know if you are really losing fat?
But then, if the scale is not the most reliable indicator, how can we know if we are on the right track? Rest assured, other concrete signals can show that your efforts are bearing fruit.
- The first clue is often in your clothes.”When a piece of clothing starts to get bigger, it’s because we lose fat.”explains the nutritionist;
- Another solution: take action.
“Observing changes in waist or hip circumference is more revealing than weight.”
If the centimeters decrease, it means that the fat mass is decreasing… even if the same number persists on the scale. In the end, the question is simple: what really matters? The number on the scale or the way you feel in your body? Because for equal weight and equal size, the silhouette can be totally different. And no scale will ever be able to show you that.