If noticeable weight loss occurs before or without a reduction in your body dimensions, it can be a sign of unhealthy weight loss.

When people are or start becoming more metabolically healthy and lose weight, we usually see changes in their body dimensions (body composition) before much weight is lost on the scale.

When the scale shows appreciable weight loss, and one’s clothes still fit the same, it can indicate a loss in lean body mass or muscle instead of fat or visceral fat.

More and more people who are using new incretin hormone medications like GLP-1 targeting drugs are reporting 20-plus pounds of weight loss yet no appreciable changes in their waist, hip, or chest circumference. 

One person recently reported losing 60 lbs on these weight loss injections without reducing their clothes size.

The only way this occurs is by losing muscle rather than fat.

When people change their diet to a healthier, low-insulin-producing diet, eat less frequently, or begin to fast, the opposite happens. We see clothes start to fit looser before the pounds come off very much on the scale.

Why? 

Insulin-friendly eating, meal timing, frequency, and fasting cause the reduction in liver, organ, and visceral fat first and preserve the muscle from being burned or wasted.

Weight loss diets and fasting cause around 20 to 25% of the weight loss from muscle. Weight loss causes fat and muscle loss together, regardless of your model or style.

In fasting, we see a loss in muscle volume, not a loss of muscle fiber, and it will usually come back better and stronger when you come off your fast if you eat and work out correctly.

Weight loss injectable medications cause 40-50% of the total weight loss from muscle loss.

So, if you are losing weight and your clothes fit the same, your weight loss isn’t healthy in the long run for your physical strength or quality of life, especially as you get older.

Just some food for thought.

We can do better!

Dr. Don