Weight loss for many of my clients has proven to be an insurmountalbe task. No mater how much or hard they exercise they just can't seem to lose unwanted pounds. When this happens I am forced to dig into my bag of tools and begin investagating what obstacles are preventing them from achieving our goal of shedding these subborn fatty tissues.
Let's start at the top by explaning the theory of "The law of Thermodynamics" This simply means that body fat reduction can only take place when there is more energy being burned than consumed. Therefore, the only way (outside of surgery) one will lose weight or body fat is if one consumes less calories (food or drink) than one expends (activity). So if an individual is exercising, but not losing weight, he or she is somehow, some way consuming more calories than he or she is expending,So, with the identification of these hard facts, let's move on to our next course of action. Monitoring and evaluating the "diets" of these individuals. This is more often than not the problem in most cases and needs to be addressed immediately. A common response that I get from people is: " I'm exercising and eating as healthy as ever before, I don't understand why I'm not losing weight."
The true fact of the matter is that the majority of people just don't read nutritional fact sheets or understand how to make necessary adjustments, in the percentages of macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fats) consumed each day.Now pay attention, here's the skinny on how to fix this problem
:Step one: Start by eating 15 calories per pound of body weight. Get a calorie-countng guide (http://www.howmanycaloresin.com/) that tells you how many calories are in a serving of as broad a variety of foods as possible. Keep it simple, don't make it rocket science. Watch your mirror for the next 2 weeks and adjust your 15 calorie to lb. value up and down accordingly.
Step two: Spread your calories over 5-6 smaller meals spaced evenly over the hours of the day. The purpose here is not to prevent a fall in your metabolic rate.
Step three: Increase your consumption of good proteins (http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/) beyond the normal recommended rate and decrease your carbohydrate intake. Conventional dietary recommendations will state that our diets should include 50-70% carbs, 15-30% protein and 10-30% fat. This is generaly the format to follow. But, for the purpose of turbo charging our metabolism to encourge fat loss we are going to make some temporary changes to achieve our goal.
When our bodies are rich with carbohydrates, our bodies will naturally select carbs as an energy source when performing exercise and other physical activities. What were going to do is spare these carbs (which are in the form of glucose) for those tissues that really need it by an increase in burning of fat. To do this we will follow an eating plan deving 40% of its calories from protein, 40% from carbs and 20% from fat. (This can yield phenomenal results. When you start eating 40% of your calories form protein and the same from carbs, your fat-burning metaboism gets a tremendous boost. Your appearance will change accordingly.
Remember diet alone will not produce positive weight loss results. A systematic and consistent exercise program targeting 3 to 5 days of aerobic and resistance training a week, is paramount in maximizing fat loss. If you find it difficult to increase your protein intake through natural food sources, you can consider one of the many protein supplements on the market.
"Moving fitness to friends and making a friend out of fitness
"Love, Truth and Exercise!
