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Burning Body Fat With A Low
Calorie Diet:
Does Low Energy Intake
Affect the Success of Our Training?
Most people erroneously
assume that a low calorie diet will be advantageous for burning body fat. A
low calorie diet often amounts to low energy intake. And since burning body
fat is really all about expanding calories, a low calorie diet really is not
the best route to take. You have to have energy in order to burn fat away.
Permanent fat loss can be achieved much more effectively by embracing
healthy lifestyle modifications. Only when you are dedicated to changing
your lifestyle can you escape the heavy probabilities associated with diet
relapse.
Of course that is not to say that a low calorie diet will not help you to
lose weight initially; it will. Especially at first, you may lose quite a
lot of weight rapidly. The problem with that is that you cause your brain to
do the following:
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Decrease your metabolism
making it difficult to burn body fat;
-
Hit a plateau in your
fat-burning goals;
-
Expose yourself to possible
deficiencies of nutrients;
-
Place your body and
starvation mode and cause it to metabolize its own muscle tissue. (The body
will conserve its final 10 or 15 pounds of fat storages. It will metabolize
its protein instead.);
-
And eventually, regain the
weight that you have lost;
So, the final result of a
low calorie diet may be that you will end up being a skinny person with a
slowed metabolism and the same fat storages. You decrease body weight,
decrease lean muscle mass and maintain a relatively high percentage of body
fat. That is not the desired result!
Burning body fat the proper way:
If you’re serious about your desire to lower your levels of body fat, you
have to do more than starve yourself. Fat must be burned away, not starved
away! In order to lose fat, you have to take in fewer calories then you
expend. And, you need to ensure that you’re getting adequate levels of
nutrients and exercising enough to protect your lean body mass.
Understanding the paradoxical nature of a low calorie diet:
To understand what really happens hormonally and metabolically while on low
calorie diet, you have to understand one thing: our bodies are capable of
adapting to almost anything. It’s our survival instinct. This applies to
caloric restriction as well. In the beginning stages, a low calorie diet
will shock your body and you will lose weight. Your brain will acclimate to
these conditions and begin to feel that you’re starving to death. In order
to provide you protection, your brain will send signals to slow down your
metabolic rate. This starvation mode will cause your body to store fat – not
burn it away.
Understanding starvation mode:
When you force your brain to enter the body into starvation mode, one of the
results is that your fat cells released less leptin. Leptin is a hormone
that will cause your body to produce and release a smaller number of
fat-burning enzymes. As the body is protecting its fat stores, it will begin
to gain its energy from its second source: the protein from your muscles.
Let’s be honest about burning body fat:
The majority of people who go on a low calorie diet do so because they do
not want to exercise. They feel if they just take in less food then they
will lose weight without having to perform regular physical activity. This
is an ineffective and potentially dangerous paradigm. If you want to burn
body fat, then you will need to exercise as well as eating a diet that is
loaded with proper nutrients.
The bottom line:
When it comes to burning body fat, it requires a combination of eating
healthfully and increasing your metabolic rate with regular physical
activity. That physical activity can come in any form. Cardiovascular
training is wonderful. Weight training is great. Even going out and taking
an extra 30 minute walk each day with your dog will make a huge difference.
The point is that you need to increase your activity levels and choose your
foods carefully.
Foods that help to increase metabolism:
The foods that you eat should be based from the following groups in order of
importance:
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Fresh vegetables;
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Beans, legumes, nuts, seeds
and sprouts;
-
Whole grain foods like
rice, pasta and bread;
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Fresh fruits;
-
Omega-3 rich foods like
salmon, tuna, olive oil and avocados to name a few;
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Low fat or non-fat dairy
products;
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Very lean cuts of meat if
any at all;
And always remember to drink gallons and gallons of fresh water every week.
Water is life’s liquid and is the most important necessity for maintaining
health after the air that we breathe.
While low calorie diets will help you to shed some weight initially, they’re
not advantageous for burning body fat. Give your body all of the nutrients,
calories, vitamins, minerals, water and physical activity that it needs to
stimulate metabolism. That is the key to burning body fat – nothing else.
The Media Influences on our body shapes
and size
You must seek approval from your doctor
before starting any new diet.
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