"This article explains some key reasons why most people who are successful dieting gain back all of their weight and then some. It also give six great ways to make sure it doesn't happen to you."
How the energy balance affects your results.
The energy balance is one that many people don't understand. Outside of extreme cases the body can normally only burn about 2 pounds of fat per week. So how then are there so many people out there that can claim to have lost a large amount of weight in a short period?
The answer is in the energy balance. I've found that many "experts" repeatedly throw out the 3500 calories is a pound mantra but that just shows that they don't understand the whole story and that means you're not getting the whole story. Let me explain...
Eh, it kind of works
The way most gurus explain it, since 3500 calories equals 1lb of fat, the act of burning or avoiding an extra 3500 calories lead to 1lb of fat loss. This is wrong. 3500 calories does equal (around) 1lb of fat. 1lb of muscle however is only 600 calories. This means that same 3500 calories could equal a loss of almost six pounds of muscle! It’s much easier to lose muscle than it is fat so when you hear someone lost 20 pounds in a month, you can be sure that most of it was water and muscle; not fat.
Remember, you'll never lose all muscle or all fat. If you dropped 3500 calories & lost half in each, that's 1/2 fat but almost 3 lbs of muscle!This is why these these extreme diets always end with more weight gain. You get to the end and you've lost all your muscle, your hormones are out of whack, and your body feels attacked & starved. You get hit with cravings and slower metabolism and all that weight and then some, piles back on.
So how do you keep your muscle when losing fat? Well you're almost always going to lose a little muscle but here are a few tips to maintain as much as possible.
1. Eat 5 small nutrient dense meals daily each w/protein.
2. Don’t go too low on carbs or fat (especially fat) as it will kill your hormone balance.
3. Make tough resistance training a part of your routine so your body has a reason to hold on to the muscle.
4. Work large muscle groups with compound exercises such as squats, lunges, dead lifts, bench press, close grip rows, pull ups, push ups, etc.
5. Do interval training instead of endless cardio. You can do some traditional cardio but most of it should include intervals.
6. Finally, never try to lose more than two pounds per week. Losing more than two is going to be water or muscle.
There you have it. Another truth about fat loss that you never get to hear.
This post originally came from a three part tip of the day series I'm starting for my Facebook fans. I added it on here because I figure many people didn't catch the whole thing and I felt the information really needed to be shared further.
Fans on Facebook will be continually getting more and more bonus stuff such as tips, exclusive articles, and links to great articles from around the web that I feel can be helpful. I also have some more plans that I will be putting in place soon that I really think will help you to lead happier and healthier lives. On top of that, Facebook fans are told immediately when I post something new here so if you're not a fan, please visit www.facebook.com/fitnessquests and become a fan now.
Until next time,
Kris
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