There is a big difference between losing weight and losing fat. Your goal should never be to lose weight, but instead should always be to lose fat. When you lose weight, you lose a little bit of everything–fat, muscle, fluids, organ size. You want the majority of your weight loss to come from fat, not the other stuff. If you are only concerned with seeing a smaller number on the scale, you may be losing valuable muscle instead, which will result in long-term weight–meaning fat–gain.

Body Fat Testing

To determine whether you’re losing weight or fat, perform a body fat test. If you’re a female who weighs 150 pounds, with 35 percent fat, you’re carrying around more than 52 pounds of fat. Ideally, a healthy woman will be around 25 percent fat, or about 37 pounds, so a loss of 15 pounds of fat would be required to reach a healthier level. Say you lost 20 pounds total, but only 10 pounds of it came from fat stores. You would still be at an unhealthy 32 percent fat. To reach the 25 percent body fat level, all 20 pounds must come from fat.

Dehydration Not Real Weight Loss

One of the quickest weight loss tricks that has nothing to do with fat loss is from being dehydrated. If you lose weight because you’re dehydrated, you’ve only lost water, and those pounds will come right back. Don’t fool yourself into thinking those pounds are really gone. You still have just as much fat on your body as before. In fact, without hydration, the muscles will shrivel up because water keeps them plump and vital, leaving you lighter, but without any energy or strength.