As integrative medicine and holistic lifestyle experts, we’ve seen a growing obsession with not just weight loss but fast weight loss. People want to drop kilos quickly, often without understanding what’s really being lost—fat, water, or muscle.
It’s time we move away from the fad of shrinking and shift toward the intention of strengthening. This obsession with the weighing scale? It’s hurting more than helping. Your weight is a number—Your health is a story. Real health is built across several layers—hormonal balance, gut health, mental clarity, energy levels, immune strength, emotional stability, and quality sleep. It is everything working in harmony and balance. You can lose 5 kilos and still feel bloated, moody, fatigued, and disconnected from your body. That’s not health. That’s just weight loss without context. True transformation is internal.
Fat Loss vs Weight Loss
Weight loss from crash diets or extreme workouts is often temporary—and harmful. What’s lost isn’t always fat. Most quick-fix weight loss comes from losing water, muscle, or bone density. You might weigh less, but you feel weak, moody, bloated, or even dizzy. Your body enters panic mode. Metabolism slows. Unhealthy food cravings skyrocket. Fat loss, on the other hand, happens gradually and sustainably. It supports organ function, regulates hormones, and maintains metabolic health. In our practice, we see people regain that lost weight quickly—and often with more fat and less muscle. It is called the yo-yo effect. Why? Because when the body is deprived or overexerted, it stores fat as a survival mechanism. That’s biology. You can’t trick it with fads.
What Should You Focus On Instead?
Building lean muscle isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s essential for longevity, hormone regulation, better posture, stronger bones, improved balance, and resilience in ageing. Focus on strength, not just size. The goal isn’t to shrink yourself—it’s to strengthen and support the body you live in every day. These are the real markers of health. Not a smaller number on the scale. Your body doesn’t need punishment. It needs balance. We need to address the real root of most health issues—human behaviour. That’s the biggest challenge. What Hurts You Most? Fast results and false hope. Skipping meals doesn’t burn fat. It burns your muscle. Starving today only slows your metabolism tomorrow. Weighing yourself every morning doesn’t build health—it builds anxiety.
Detox teas and fat burners? They sell hope but rob your system. There’s no app or expert that can accurately calculate how many calories your unique body needs—only rough estimates. For athletes or those managing a condition, tracking can help. But for most people, your body already gave you cues: hunger, thirst, and instinct. The goal isn’t just low calorie—it’s high nutrient. Your cells don’t thrive on numbers; they thrive on quality. Go too low on nutrients, and you’ll start to see it in your immunity, hormones, skin, mood, energy, and even libido. Focus on mindful, balanced eating that feeds your body, not just your calorie count. Be educated, not influenced. If a fad diet or weight loss challenge sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
You are not your weight. You are your habits, your healing, and your mindset. Until we start working on behavioural change—our relationship with food, movement, and our own body—we’ll keep chasing short-term fixes. Sustainable wellness begins when we shift mindsets, not just meal plans.
Coutinho is an integrative lifestyle expert