The truth about fat loss
Reply With Quote
:ohsnap: Josh I hear the same things, I agree with you thanks for the
IRT (in relation to) point two, you definitely can't "turn muscle into fat". However the key thing IIRC (if I recall correctly) that Josh has mentioned in another thread, is that adjusting your diet to a higher protein diet, and decreasing your caloric intake (calories eaten) may just NOT BE ENOUGH to provide weight loss.
IMHO (in my humble opinion) everyone should exercise as well anyway (it's good for more than losing weight!). Exercise increases your usage of calories (and increases your RMR discussed below) therefore you shouldn't end up with an excess of calories that the body then needs to make into fat cells:
Simple maths
- Exercise (meaning energy expenditure) less than caloric intake = increase in weight
- Exercise and caloric intake are the same = weight maintenance
- Exercise more than caloric intake = weight loss
I'm sure this is not news to most people, this should be common sense.
However this brings me to point 3 and how Josh has accurately described what happens when people crash diet, trying to use the third sum above and it doesn't add up!
The body goes into starvation mode & desperately holds onto the fat it has stored and even tries to store more. It thinks we are hibernating or in a low nutrition scenario.
The weight people lose in diets is often in this order, firstly water and then the break down of lean tissue and lastly from fat tissue. Diets may also cause a decrease in the RMR (resting metabolic rate), which is the resting rate at which you use energy (calories) i.e. while sitting there reading this!
Now IME (in my experience) the LAST thing you want to do is lose LBM (lean body mass) it is what helps us to utilise fat! In addition to which you want to RAISE your metabolic rate, not lower it!
Many factors determine our metabolic rate, including:
Genetics - Some people have a hereditary (passed down in their genes) faster metabolism
Health & Nutrition - To process food effectively, our body needs a constant supply of nutrients. Without these nutrients (vitamins and minerals) metabolism can be inefficient. To ensure good dietary nutrition I suggest you eat a balanced diet.
Activity Level - Exercise burns calories. When we stop exercising, the effect continues. So we burn calories at a faster rate for several hours afterwards.
However IME if the exercise is multi-jointed/compound (these include squats, dead lifts, lunges, step-ups, swings, snatches, bench presses, incline presses, shoulder presses, seated or bent over rows, lat pulls, pull-ups, chin-ups, dips, push-ups, high pulls, clean and presses, etc.), which means it uses lots of muscle groups, the effects last longer (1 or 2 days!). Whereas a steady pace cardio workout only elevates your RMR for 1-2 hours following your workout.
Age - As we get older, our caloric needs decrease. It drops ~2% every 10 years, imagine an average 10 year old and an average 20 year old, which one needs more calories?
Muscle:Fat - Muscle cells are ~8 times more metabolically demanding than fat cells. The greater the proportion of muscle to fat, the faster the metabolic rate.
Frequency of Caloric intake - MR increases during digestion, aka "the thermal effect of food". If you go too long without food (~5 hrs for men; ~3 hrs for women), the body thinks there is a food shortage and the metabolic rate tends to slow down. Hence IMHO the good sense shown by Josh in getting up and having a protein shake in the middle of the night.
For the ladies:
IME 1 of the top reasons that many females sometimes have a hard time reaching their weight loss goals is that they're afraid to lift weights at all or are afraid to lift heavy weights (back me up here Kelly!;)).
IMHO they're missing one of the most important methods for getting lean and healthy and STAYING lean. The point is to make your muscle work for you (using your RMR) on a 24/7 basis.
I hope this has been helpful, if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask....
Oh no....
Bookmarks