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When we think about losing weight we usually think about a deprivation diet where we reduce our food intake in the hope our body will use up its fat stores. But unfortunately this type of diet usually backfires because 1) such diets are almost impossible to maintain, and 2) they lower the metabolism which is the rate your body burns fuel (calories). Diets also tend to work against the very strength and fitness improvements we wish to make. When we exercise properly we need our eating plan to support the extra activity we will be doing not working against it. We need to be able to put some effort into our exercise program to be able to make the metabolic changes to our body and fat burning mechanism to be able to lose weight in the long term. The opposite of dieting is needed and the quality of food needs to increase along with a better balance of the macro nutrient (protein, carbohydrate and fats) ratio of each meal.
Small frequent meals are needed to keep metabolism high and to curb cravings. Our knowledge over the last couple of decades has increased about weight loss and we now realize it is not the simple "calories in, calories out" equation that we used to think it was. We now take into account the hormonal aspect of the body and understand how this effects whether our body either burns fat or stores fat. The hormones that can help weight loss are only stimulated when the muscular system of the body is challenged with activity. Hormones are released in response to the stress of physical activity and we welcome their input as they lead to a higher metabolic rate. This means we burn more calories all day and night even when we are sleeping or resting. But we need our muscles to be in good condition and be firm and toned to do this. The only type of exercise that will get your muscles in better fat burning order is strength training exercise. Long, slow endurance type of activities that we used to believe were necessary to burn fat will never give you a strong, lean, slim body no matter how much of them you do. They only burn calories when you are actually doing them and do not increase the metabolic rate for the long term. Only by working your muscles with proper exercise can you do this and this is the key to long term weight loss. To be able to put some effort into this type of program means you need tons of energy which is the opposite of what deprivation dieting does. High quality nutrition will give you the horsepower to do justice to your training. People who are strong have lower levels of cortisol which is a stress hormone that can trigger binges and overeating and cause your body to store fat more readily. They also have higher levels of growth hormone which will help you tone up your muscles and increase your metabolism. So, if you want to lose weight don't be tempted to try and diet your way out of the extra pounds, stop and consider a fitness based alternative such a proper strength training along with plenty of high quality food as a more effective and sustainable weight loss solution.
My name is Carolyn Hansen, and my goal is to show you how to burn fat - without starving yourself - by combining strength training with the right foods that increase metabolism, decrease food cravings, and keep you looking trim. Come find out how it is done.
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