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Nany people acioss Ameiica stiuggle with theii weight anu bouy image.
0nce they have hau enough with the way they look, they ueciue to go on a uiet, get a
piesciiption weight-loss meuication, oi sometimes even hiie a Bietician to piesciibe
a nutiitional solution to theii pioblem. These people aie piesciibeu, oi typically
choose to peifoim laige amounts of caiuiovasculai exeicise only (walking, jogging,
spin class, zumba, etc) believing these aie the best methous in which to exeicise.
Then they typically choose one, oi a combination of foui nutiitional options to
achieve weight-loss:
1.) Eat the same foous they always eat, but uiamatically cut theii poition sizes,
thus cieating a caloiic ueficit
2.) Cut caibs out of theii uiets (Atkins)
S.) Follow a "Fau Biet" enuoiseu by a celebiity
4.) uo on a meuication that suppiesses theii appetite
The uieting piocess then begins, anu uiamatic weight-loss happens quickly. Aftei
following theii uiet foi one to six months, anu losing a significant amount of weight;
they then aie usually satisfieu with how they look anu begin to eat moie, anu auu
foous back to theii noimal uiet they oiiginally cut out. Almost suuuenly, they begin
to balloon back toanu sometimes beyonutheii staiting weight. Confuseu,
bioken, anu upset; they sit anu ponuei "how uiu this happen."
The metabolic iate is the single, anu only factoi that ueteimines quality fat-
loss. The teim "fat-loss" is now being employeu because when people say they want
to lose weight, they aie ieally meaning they want to lose fat. No amount of caiuio, no
amount of a caloiic ueficit, no miiacle fau uiet, noi any meuication will affect the
human metabolism in a positive way long teim. With a low metabolic iate, one is
ueau in the watei when it comes to fat-loss. When a peison peifoims the
afoiementioneu activities to achieve fat-loss, they make theii metabolic iate auapt
to the extieme ciicumstances they chose, anu ultimately cause seveie uamage to
theii metabolism.
The most impoitant, anu haiuest to execute pait of fat-loss is the nutiitional
aspect. This is wheie people fail the most when it comes to following a fat-loss
piogiam. It is uifficult to give up ceitain foous that aie comfoits to us. It's haiu to
give up the ease, convenience, anu piiue of being able to eat at iestauiants on a
consistent (uaily) basis. But wheie uo people fiist go wiong. The fiist mistake is
eating to a caloiic ueficituiastically cutting poition sizes to eat fewei caloiies than
aie buineu in a uayto lose fat. People often say things like "caloiies aie all that
mattei. Not caibs, not piotein, anu not fat. }ust eat fewei caloiies than you buin, anu
you'll be fine." If we follow that logiccaloiies only mattei, nothing elsethen if my
iequiieu uaily caloiic intake is let's say 2uuu, anu I neeu to eat less than that, say
1Suu. Coulu I simply eat bowls of sugai, hit that 1Suu-caloiie maik, anu lose fat. N0.
That is why counting caloiies, anu eating to a caloiic ueficit at theii coie aie wiong,
wiong, anu wiong. I will giant that eating small poitions of foou to a caloiic ueficit
will make someone lose weight, anu that it will happen quickly; but it will not last,
anu all of the weight lost will not be only fat. That is why these people often look
ieally flabby, anu have tons of that loose extia skin all ovei theii bouies. They slowly
uestioyeu theii metabolism by not eating enough, they uiu not weight tiain to builu
anu pieseive muscle, anu theiefoie they buineu both fat, but mostly muscle which
is why they weie able to lose so much weight so fastmuscle weighs moie than fat.
Theii woes aie not ovei yet. Theii metabolism is now in iuins, they have veiy
low muscle mass, yet because of the lowei numbei on the scale they aie confiuent in
going back to eating as they uiu befoie. But because of those factois, when they stait
eating those foous, they put back on neaily all of the weight they lostsometimes
moieanu it is puiely in the foim of fat. This is because of theii neaily non-existent
metabolism anu low muscle mass. They have sloweu theii metabolism so much that
it makes theii bouy stoie all of those extia caloiies as fat foi eneigy. Theii low
muscle mass means they aie incapable of constantly buining eneigy, even while at
iest like a noimal healthy peison. Theie is one simple iule they shoulu have
followeu: You neeu to eat to lose fat. You neeu to eat to builu muscle. You staive
youiself; you staive youi fat loss ability.
uetting enough quality foous in a uay is key to losing fat, builuing muscle, anu
theieby incieasing one's metabolic iate. Rathei than counting caloiies, one shoulu
count macionutiientspiotein, caibohyuiates, anu fatsto consume baseu on
theii cuiient bouy stats anu oveiall fitness goals. Foi example, an athlete who
weighs 2uu pounus anu is male has a uiffeient goal than a woman who is seuentaiy
anu weighs 2uu pounus. The athlete neeus to fuel his bouy to peifoim in the fielu of
play. The woman neeus to fuel hei bouy to lose fat anu become healthy. Thus theii
macionutiient iequiiements will uiffei gieatly.
Theie is no exact numbei of macionutiients that will woik foi fat-loss acioss
the boaiu. This is uefinitely a subjective issue. Theie aie many calculatois available
online via uoogle seaich that will give these numbeis, but theie is still ioom foi
eiioi. As a geneial staiting point, most peisonal tiaineis anu competitive bouy
builueis suggest that when a iegulai weight tiaining piogiam is employeu, stait by
consuming 1 giam of piotein, 1 giam of caibohyuiates, anu u.S giams of fat pei
pounu of bouyweight pei uay; spieau acioss S-6 small meals. If fat-loss uoes not
occui at those iatios aftei 2 weeks, they iecommenu uecieasing the caibohyuiate
intake to u.7S giams pei pounu pei uay. So a 2uu-pounu peison woulu neeu to
consume 2uu giams lean piotein, 2uu giams complex oi low-uI caibohyuiates, anu
1uu giams fat pei uay mostly fiom poly anu mono-unsatuiateu fat souices. Biviue
that by S meals pei uay, anu that woulu equal 4u giams piotein, 4u giams
caibohyuiates, anu 1u giams fat pei meal. Aftei iunning this piotocol foi about 4
weeks, they then iecommenu cutting caibs back by u.2S giams eveiy 4 weeks to
keep losing fat anu not metabolically stall. But they nevei iecommenu consuming
less than u.S giams of caibs pei pounu pei uay, as this will also cause a metabolic
shutuown similai to what the Atkins uiet uoes.
The ieason foi the meal fiequency is the thought of youi metabolism being
likeneu to a fiie heating a home. It takes a lot of eneigy to get a fiie staiteu fiom
nothing anu waim the house, it takes a lot of eneigy to ie-stait a fiie fiom coals anu
ie-heat the house; but keeping the fiie buining anu hot at a steauy iate thioughout
the uay is the most efficient way of heating, anu keeping a home heateu. Theiefoie,
eating meals eveiy S-4 houis will leave a peison feeling full foi a longei peiiou of
time thus pieventing bloou-sugai spikes anu ciashes, anu binge eating to iaise low
eneigy levels. The most impoitant pait of any nutiition plan is to stiictly monitoi
the souices in which the macionutiientspioteins, caibohyuiates, anu fats--
consumeu oiiginateu. A lean anu clean souice equals lean anu clean piogiess. Each
macionutiient is impoitant in its own way anu all thiee can woik syneigistically to
cieate an optimal fat-buining enviionment in the bouy.
Pioteins shoulu be as lean as possible, so as not to auu too much satuiateu
fat, which will counteiact fat-loss. Youi bouy utilizes veiy little satuiateu fat foi its
uaily functions anu just stoies the excess amounts you consume. Not to mention
satuiateu iaises LBL oi bau cholesteiol levels significantly. Chicken anu tuikey
bieast, fish, veiy lean poik, anu veiy lean beef aie best. uiilling, ioasting, bioiling, oi
any othei cooking methou, which allows the fat to uiain out anu away fiom the
piotein, is best suiteu heie. If one is not a big fan of eating meat, they shoulu
stiongly ieconsiuei. Piotein anu the amino acius containeu within aie the best anu
most useu nutiients to iepaii muscle. Not eating enough piotein can iesult in
longei, anu moie painful iecupeiation peiious between woikouts, thus halting
muscle gain anu fat loss uue to not being able to exeicise.
Caibohyuiates aie a veiy impoitant pait of any fat-loss piogiam, howevei
uemonizeu they may be in mainstieam Ameiican cultuie. The ieason they get a bau
wiap is because most people eat too many of them, eat the wiong types of them, anu
as a iesult gain fat. Also, the still evei populai Atkins uietwhich iauically iestiicts
caibohyuiates anu causes weight losspeople have been tiickeu into believing
caibs aie the enemy. }ust like the myth about the caloiic ueficit, this type of thinking
is wiong, wiong, anu wiong. Employing methous such as Bi. Atkins' puts the bouy
in a catabolic statebieaking uown bouy fat, consuming pioteins (muscles)as
opposeu to the moie uesiiable anabolic statebieaking uown bouy fat, but builuing
up muscle. Now, consuming laige amounts of caibohyuiates can anu will make a
peison fat, but moie is iesponsible foi fat-gain than consumption of this sole
macionutiient alone.
Simply put, caibohyuiates of any kinu aie eneigy. In fact, they aie the bouy's
piefeiieu eneigy souice. The bouy uses caibohyuiates fiist anu foiemost foi its
eneigy iequiiements. When caibohyuiates aie consumeu, they aie uigesteu anu
bioken uown in the livei into glycogen. That glycogen is then sent to the muscles
thioughout the bouy anu stoieu. Youi muscles utilize this glycogen as eneigy foi
eveiy activity they peifoim. Fiom the most miniscule such as blinking, to the most
extieme such as squatting 6uu pounus, anu eveiything in between. The muscles also
look to glycogen foi eneigy to iepaii, anu iebuilu aftei intense exeicise anu while
the bouy is at iest. Basically, caibohyuiates aie veiy goou. The caveat heie though,
is that the iight types, anu piopei amounts of caibohyuiates must be consumeu to
get uesiieu iesults. The bau caibohyuiates must be avoiueu, oi extiemely limiteu,
also.
The best types of caibohyuiates foi fat-loss aie complex, oi low uI. These
caibohyuiates uigest at a vastly slowei iate than simple oi high uI souices,
theiefoie, one feels full longei, anu uoesn't achieve an intense bloou-sugai spike
followeu by a ciash. 0ne will finu many options to choose fiom by peifoiming a
uoogle seaich, but a few populai souices aie biown iice, sweet potato, quinoa,
whole-wheat pasta, oats, bailey, neaily all vegetables, anu some fiuits. The woist
types of caibohyuiates aie iefineu sugai, bagels, white bieau, white iice, canuies,
cakes, pies, ice cieam, etc. These caibohyuiates uigest iapiuly, causing an intense
bloou-sugai spike anu ciash. The iesult, you feel less full, feel uepleteu of eneigy,
anu aie tempteu to binge eat to iaise youi loweieu eneigy level. A simplei
appioach is complex caibs maintain the hot buining fiie all uay. Simple caibs aie
like pouiing gasoline onto a hot fiiean intense flaie up, followeu by a
uisappointing flaie uown.
Fats shoulu be the least consumeu of the thiee macionutiients, but not ovei
lookeu. Too much fat, even the goou kinus, can leau to bouy fat gain. Theie aie two
types of healthy fats one shoulu tiy to mainly consume. Nonounsatuiateu fats
incluue olives, olive oil, sesame seeus, nuts, etc. Polyunsatuiateu fats incluue
sunflowei seeus, coin oil, flax seeu, pumpkin seeu, fatty fish (salmon), etc. The
easiest way to incoipoiate both of these fats is to ioast oi giill youi pioteins with a
light coating of peanut, canola, olive, coin, oi a combination of these oils. Anothei
gieat way to consume healthy fats is to auu some mixeu nuts to salaus, oi eat them
as a snack in between meals. The main benefits of consuming healthy fats aie they
will pioviue eneigy, maintain a piopei hoimone balance, anu help uelivei nutiients
thioughout the bouy.
The main focus of ones nutiitional plan foi fat-loss shoulu ievolve aiounu
piopei souices anu amounts of macionutiients. This aspect must not be ovei lookeu
at any time. But uiet is only pait of the metabolic equation we aie tiying to solve.
Exeicise; in paiticulai weight tiaining is the seconu pait of oui pioblem. In oiuei to
ieap maximum benefits fiom oui clean uiet, we must foice oui bouies to utilize anu
absoib all of the foou we consume. We have fueleu up, now its time foi take off.
Stiengthening, anu builuing muscle via a combination of uiet, high intensity
weight tiaining, anu caiuiovasculai exeicise is the most effective way to inciease
metabolism anu buin fat. Accoiuing to the Nayo Clinic, "Stiength tiaining exeicises,
such as weightlifting, aie impoitant because they help counteiact muscle loss
associateu with aging. Anu since muscle tissue buins moie caloiies than fat tissue
uoes, muscle mass is a key factoi in weight loss." Nuscle is a metabolically active
tissueit constantly uses eneigy to be built, useu, anu maintaineuBuiing weight
tiaining, muscle tissues aie toin apait at the micioscopic level. When youi muscles
entei the iecupeiation stage (immeuiately aftei tiaining, anu lasting up to 48 houis
post) is when they iepaii, become stiongei, anu. Noie specifically, the moie muscle
you have, the moie eneigy youi bouy is capable of buining even while at iest;
because moie eneigy is iequiieu to suppoit the extia muscle mass. This also veiy
impoitant because stoieu bouy fat is basically stoieu eneigy. With a piopei uiet, anu
by exeiting youi muscles beyonu theii noimal activity level anu theiefoie auuing
moie muscle mass; you aie encouiaging the ielease of fat cells into the bloou stieam
on a iegulai basis, they aie then sent to the exeiciseu muscles, anu ultimately
buineu as eneigy within the muscle. Su-4u minutes of intense weight tiaining S-S
times pei week is a iecommenueu staiting amount foi most people as suggesteu by
many peisonal tiaineis. That amount will be enough to shock youi bouy, anu stait
the fat-loss piocess.
People, specifically women, often woiiy about looking bulky fiom weight
tiaining. Simply put, lifting weight uoes not make you look bulky. The foous anu
uiinks you aie ovei consuming make you look bulky. It is veiy impoitant that
women not shy away fiom lifting weights, specifically heavy weights, foi the
pievious ieasons as well as the fact that women natuially caiiy a highei bouy fat
peicentage than men foi chilu-beaiing puiposes. Like it oi not, its just how we weie
cieateu as humans. Women can gieatly benefit fiom the incieaseu metabolic buin
that weight tiaining pioviues if theii oveiall goal is fat-loss.
Caiuiovasculai exeicises shoulu be seconuaiy to weight tiaining, but aie still
impoitant foi oveiall fat-loss anu goou health. Incieaseu lung capacity, a stiongei
heait, anu extia eneigy expenuituie beyonu weight tiaining aie a few of the many
benefits of peifoiming caiuio. Caiuio can be most effective aftei an intense weight
tiaining session. Aftei weight tiaining, youi metabolic iate has exploueu, anu
muscle iepaii has begun. Auuing a caiuio session post-weight tiaining can fuithei
inciease youi fat buining potential by buining even moie eneigy on top of what was
buineu while lifting weights. 2u-Su minutes of caiuio shoulu be plenty aftei an
intense weight tiaining session.
In the vast iealm of fitness anu nutiition exist many myths. People often
choose oi aie piesciibeu piogiams oi meuications that uelivei fast, but nevei
lasting iesults. 0ne nevei leains fiom ielying on a gimmick. A ieal lifestyle change
must be incoipoiateu in oiuei to achieve long-teim fat-losspievention, knowleuge,
anu a healthy life. People woulu be betteieu seiveu stanuing on theii own two feet,
anu tackling theii weight stiuggle heau-on with scientifically backeu ieseaich anu
implementation, iathei than leaining to iely on a ciutch anu limping towaius theii
goal, but nevei ieaching it anu ultimately staying stuck wheie they began.