Q: I just wanted to let you know that I have been following your Fat Around The Middle plan and have already lost weight and inches off my belly.  I am 41 years old and have had an early menopause at the age of 29 and was feeling large and uncomfortable at 11 stone.

But I can’t seem to shift any more weight and have been stuck at 10 stone for some weeks now.  I’m not doing anything differently and haven’t had any sneaky drinks or food that I shouldn’t have.

I know your book recommends ditching the scales but I can’t help having a weekly weigh-in session as it does encourage me to see those pounds going down!

 

A: You are now at the point where it is important to know what that 10 stone is made up from

i.e. what percentage is fat.  If you are 10 stone and your percentage of body fat is within the normal range then that is an acceptable weight for you.  But if you are 10 stone and your body fat is too high then you need to lose some more fat (this is the difference between having fat to lose rather than just weight to lose). 

 

To make fat loss faster, increase the amount of weight training rather than aerobic exercise.  You will then put on more muscle, which is metabolically active, which burns fat faster.  But muscle weighs more than fat, so when you get on the scales you could still weigh 10 stone but you have lost fat.  Also muscle takes up less room than fat so although you might weigh the same you would look thinner and your clothes would fit better.

 

You can buy scales, which also measure body fat, and they just look like a pair of bathroom scales.  It is really important to think in terms of losing fat rather than just losing weight.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 1:20 am and is filed under Ask Marilyn - Star Questions, Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.