Dear Frustrated Trainee, It sounds like your diet is taking you for a ride, gaining and losing the same ten pounds, the Yo-Yo effect, isn't much fun. What I hope your saying- when you tell me that you want to lose weight- is that you really want to lose body fat, while maintaining lean mass (muscle tissue). If that's the case, the first thing we need to do is get you off the diet Roller Coaster. Crash Dieting only gives the illusion of being effective. That initial quick weight loss is largely made up of water weight. The reason this happens is: muscles hold sugar for energy in the form of glycogen. Each gram of glycogen is stored in your muscles with about three grams of water. When you diet without exercising (to maintain lean muscle tissue) -your just rapidly shedding water weight. It looks good on the scale-but, that's about it. You end up weaker and lethargic and craving sweets. Without resistance training your body just makes up for the calorie deficit by using up your stored glycogen and shedding the water 3 grams to 1 held with it. Not a very good trade! When you can't take it anymore-read friends want to go for pizza and beer-you go off your diet and your muscles fill right back up again, and you gain back all the water. The worst thing is your lethargy may have caused a decrease in workout intensity-even though it feels more difficult to exercise when your starving-and, you may have lost some of your muscle. Remember muscle is the only thing that burns calories. That's one of the reasons it's so important to maintain your muscle-they add shape, tone and lean line to your form. Normally when you diet your body sensing starvation will hold onto fat and use stored sugar (glycogen) to survive. Each time you diet without exercise you leave yourself worse off that when you started, because you end up with less muscle and a lower metabolism. I've met people who have left themselves with such a low metabolism they can barely eat anything at all without gaining weight. The magic is in the method- by adding resistance training to your workout you leave your body no choice but to burn fat as fuel. What a relief! Sure you'll burn both glycogen and fat when you exercise, but having to maintain glycogen levels for the next workout -your body will be forced to replenish the energy and leave your fat cells to wither away,shrinking out of site. They never disappear totally, short of liposuction. They lay dormant calling for calories - crying out in the night. Hunger pains. Having to maintain your glycogen levels the body is forced to turn the food you eat into muscle energy. An effective eating plan literally feeds the muscles and starves the fat. Friends there is obviously some nuance to this , but your body-the ultimate biochemist knows exactly how to do this. You don't need to worry about how it works, just that it works, but know that you need to add resistance training to make work. Let's face it eating less takes work no matter what type of weight your losing, so why not lose fat and maintain muscle. The added benefit with maintaining your lean mass is that muscle burns calories, all day long-even at rest. Brown Fat you say, I'm not gonna go there-any back fat regardless of color- if it burns calories all the better-but, I've gotta see proof. Often men lose weight faster than women-this is because men carry more lean muscle weight and as an added bonus higher testosterone levels. Maintaining your lean tissue will actually maintain your metabolism and help you to keep weight off in the future. The best thing about combining resistance training with a good diet is when you slip- and don't we all eventually slip- and accidentally eat a little too much your body will grab the extra calories and glycogen load which will make your next workout even easier, you'll get a better pump and the weights will feel lighter, and leave you with a fat robbing cushion of error. I assure you the body you've always dreamed of isn't made of deflated muscles. If you want to lose fat and not just water weight you'll need to add weight training to a sensible eating plan. You will be stimulating your body to maintain lean tissue while burning more calories. Leaving you Looking Good and Feeling Great! Save the Roller Coaster Rides for the Theme Parks. You deserve to be your best!
God Bless
Greg
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