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6 Fatal Female Fat-Loss Mistakes - Part I

By Josef Brandenburg

When it comes to fat-loss most women have it all wrong because they have been lied to over and over and over again. Consequently, most women's fat-loss efforts are actually counterproductive. These are the top 6 fat-loss mistakes that women make.

#1. Exercising on an empty stomach

I can not tell you how many women I meet who think that hungry exercise is the key to female fat-loss. Here's the truth:

In Japan, Sumo wrestlers have a great strategy for packing on the fat fast. They skip breakfast and hit the gym on an empty stomach. This helps them get fat in several ways:

#2. Worshipping the scale

This is women mistaking weight loss for fat-loss. Would you rather be a beach ball, or a baseball? The beach ball weighs less, but is big and soft, while the baseball is heavy, but small, tight and firm.

Its not how much you weight, but what that weight is made of. On a traditional weight-loss program that emphasizes low fat foods and aerobic exercise, only about half of what you lose is fat.

(Please note that a weight-loss program is NOT the same as a fat-loss program. One is a short term program for inevitable failure, and the other a long term plan for success.)

The rest is muscle and water. If you lose muscle, then you lose tone, and you depress your metabolism. And that means that you are MUCH more likely to regain everything that you lost and then some – reverse fat-loss. Haven't you already done this?

A much better way to keep track of meaningful progress (a.k.a. fat-loss) is with a simple tape measure. Once a week, measure your hips, thighs and abdomen at a specific place. For example, at your belly button, 6" above your knee cap, and at the biggest part of your butt.

If they are getting smaller, then you are stimulating fat-loss regardless of what the scale says. I've had female clients drop a dress size while gaining weight. The scale doesn't really matter.

#3. Inner/Outer thigh machines

This machine is just about THE biggest waste of time in the gym. The theory is that if you work your inner and outer thighs, then that specific fat will dissolve. This is also known as the myth of "spot reduction."

In reality, fat-loss is systemic. That is, if you are doing the right things (not likely) then you will lose fat from all over your body. All over fat-loss includes your inner and outer thighs.

Stimulating fat-loss is about working as many muscles as possible at the same time and cleaning up your diet. (Please note cleaning up your diet is NOT the same as starving yourself. You probably need to eat more of the RIGHT foods to stimulate fat-loss as a woman.) The inner and outer thigh machines only work a very tiny amount of muscle at once.

A much better exercise for female fat-loss would be the squat. When you squat you get your outer/inner thigh (these work very hard to keep your knees from collapsing in or out), your butt (all of it), your thighs (front and back with one movement), your abs and lower back, and even your lower legs. That is 75% of your body working at once vs. just 5% at best with the inner/outer thigh machine.

Performed correctly, the squat is also MUCH safer. Your body is designed to function as a whole unit – as it does during a squat or a push-up. When you attempt to isolate a muscle, as on the inner/outer thigh machine, or with a bicep curl, you disrupt the way your body naturally functions.

Isolation exercises erode coordination and function over time, and this usually leads to serious injury and pain over the long term.

Stay tuned for Part II coming soon:

#4. Lifting pink dumbbells
#5. Living in the cardio area
#6. Talking during exercise

About the Author:

Josef Brandenburg is an award-winning fat-loss expert based in DC, specializing in helping normal, busy people create the bodies they want, in the time that they actually have. He is also author of "The Body You Want." Visit his Website to find out more!