MORE TO WEIGHT LOSS THAN EAT LESS - EXERCISE MORE

By now everyone has heard that to LOSE WEIGHT you need to EAT LESS and EXERCISE MORE.

If you go for a run, hit the gym or take a LONG HIKE your friends will CONGRATULATE you and pat you on your back.

When we go out to eat it is common for people to LAMENT the amount of calories in the food they just consumed.

While IT IS TRUE that you need to be in a CALORIE DEFICIT to lose weight anyone who has ever tried to reduce their CALORIES for an extended period of time can ATTEST to the fact that it is HARD if not IMPOSSIBLE to SUSTAIN this LONG ENOUGH to achieve significant WEIGHT LOSS.

WORSE YET if you are one of the RARE people who is able to “WILL POWER” their way to WEIGHT LOSS success you will MOST LIKELY end up CAVING in to your cravings and GAINING it all back with more besides.

?IF YOU ARE able to sustain this reduced calorie intake for months on end you will ultimately find that your weight begins to creep back up despite the fact that you are not eating any more than before.?

This as we all know is due to the body ADAPTING to what it has to work with and becoming more EFFICIENT at conserving calories.

Now, try to add EXERCISE to this equation and HANDLING the stresses of every day LIFE while you are HANGRY and you have a HUGE PROBLEM on your hands.

If the MISERY from your hunger doesn’t get you THE NEGATIVE effects on your social life and relationships WILL as you SNAP at the slightest thing and BLOW minor annoyances OUT OF PROPORTION.

So, WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? The solution to this COMMON PROBLEM lies in your HORMONES.

Now I am not TALKING so much about hormones like ESTROGEN and TESTOSTERONE although those do play a roll as well.

I am REFERRING TO hormones involved in FAT BURNING, APPETITE, STRESS and HOW LONG YOU STAY FULL after eating.

HORMONES SUCH AS

-????????INSULIN

-????????LEPTIN

-????????GHERELIN

-????????CORTISOL

To name a FEW.?

While many WEIGHT LOSS programs focus STRICTLY on CALORIES, I tell my clients to FOCUS more on WHERE those calories are coming from.

JUST LIKE any successful endeavor you WANT to BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND.

You SHOULD know approximately how many calories you SHOULD be eating to ACHIEVE your goal whether that GOAL is weight loss, muscle gain or weight maintenance.

No FOOD is going to MAGICALLY make you LOSE WEIGHT.?However, certain foods will help put your body in the PROPER hormonal state to BURN FAT, suppress appetite and STAY FULL longer.

The END RESULT is that you will unwittingly EAT LESS food and therefore LOSE WEIGHT. (MORE ON THIS IN A MINUTE)

At this point I want to make the DISTINCTION between weight loss and FAT LOSS.

Unless you are an athlete where weight class matters for performance and placing in your sport MOST PEOPLE are referring to FAT LOSS when they say they “WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT”.

You see, SIMPLY losing weight will DO YOU ABSOLUTELY NO good in terms of your HEALTH or AESTHETICS if you lose both FAT and MUSCLE.

To IMPROVE the HEALTH and the APPERANCE of your body you must MAINTAIN or INCREASE your MUSCLE MASS while simultaneously LOSING BODY FAT.

Returning to the PREVIOUS POINT when ALL we focus on is CALORIES we MAY make our FAT LOSS efforts much more difficult and unsustainable in the long run.

What I mean by this is that our body does not know that we are trying to lose bodyfat.?All it knows is that there is not sufficient calories available. This is not good.?Our body’s TOP PRIORITY is SURVIVAL.?Since MUSCLE uses more energy than FAT our body will begin to strip away muscle as well as fat when there are INSUFFICIENT calories coming in.

Many people when trying to LOSE WEIGHT make the mistake of simply cutting calories.?They will opt for a SALAD and FRUIT instead of the burger.?

Alternately they may have a diet soda or eat LESS of the foods that they normally eat, typically foods high in carbohydrates.

While VEGETABLES and FRUITS are good for you they are not the things that you should be prioritizing if FAT LOSS is your goal.

You see, as MENTIONED ABOVE when we eat less for a prolonged period of time our body tends to want to conserve on energy.?Therefore, it will begin stealing resources from our muscles to fuel the needs of our bodies.

This loss in muscle mass will ACHIEVE our body’s goal of survival in the form of a lowered METABOLIC RATE.

So, HOW do we AVOID this outcome??

I mean we need to be in a DEFICIT to lose weight but now I am saying that doing this will LEAD TO a LOSS in lean tissue and SUBSEQUENT metabolic SLOW DOWN.

You are right.?The SOLUTION here is to MAINTAIN or even slightly INCREASE protein intake.

THAT’S RIGHT.?KEEP the burger and ditch the SODA and the ORANGE JUICE.?

If your goal is FAT LOSS you should even be prioritizing that BURGER over the FRUIT SALAD.

The REASON for this is something called NITROGEN BALANCE.?To promote muscle MAINTENANCE AND GROWTH we need to maintain what is called NITROGEN BALANCE.

When DIETING we can achieve this effect by EATING MORE PROTEIN.

In this way our muscles will be getting the AMINIO ACIDS they need to stay healthy and strong.

Since we are not getting as much energy substrate in the form of FAT and SUGAR we will begin to lose BODY FAT.

So now we have addressed the MUSCLE MAINTENANCE part of the equation.?WHAT ABOUT the HUNGER, LOW ENERGY and CRAVINGS part?

HORMONAL balance is also ESSENTIAL here.?If for example we try to cut calories by eliminating MOST of the FAT from our diet what we are left with is carbohydrates and protein.

This is not a bad way to go if your protein intake is EQUAL to your carbohydrate intake and APPROXIMATELY 50% of your carbohydrates are coming from VEGETABLES.

However, keeping fat intake TOO LOW can negatively affect TESTOSTERONE LEVELS which are IMPORTANT for FAT BURNING in BOTH men and women.

Furthermore, LOW FAT diets tend to keep INSULIN levels elevated.

When INSULIN is elevated HUNGER is INCREASED. This is why it is hard to SUSTAIN a calorie DEFICIT on a LOW-FAT diet long term.?We end up craving sugar and nibbling on things like chips and rice cakes all day.?When we have sufficient fat in our diet if we skip a meal our body will burn the fat and since our BLOOD SUGAR levels are MORE STABLE we will not get the massively hungry feeling common when SKIPPING meals after ingesting LARGE amounts of CARBHYDRATES.

From MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE I have noticed that LOW FAT diets also impair BRAIN FUNCTION.

Your body OPPERATES best on a mix of carbohydrates, protein and fat but if CUTTING calories your BRAIN will operate much better with FAT as opposed to CARBOHYDRATES and LOW FAT.

LONG STORY SHORT protein and moderate amounts of healthy FATS will help to STABALIZE your blood sugar and allow you to MORE EASILY enter a FAT BURNING state.

If you do not eat enough FOOD for one day you WILL struggle LESS with HUNGER AND CRAVINGS because your body has become ACCUSTOMED to burning fat for fuel and WILL EASILY transition to burning STORED BODY FAT.

ANOTHER KEY HORMONE to consider when it comes to WEIGHT LOSS is GHERELIN.

GHERELIN is known as the HUNGER HORMONE.?When your STOMACH IS FULL GHERELIN levels decrease.?As your stomach becomes EMPTY the levels of this HORMONE INCREASE sending a signal to the HYPOTHALUMS in your brain that it is time to go looking for food.

Unfortunately, in OBESITY hormones are often malfunctioning for a variety of reasons.

GHERELIN is no exception.?Obese individuals have LOWER LEVELS of GHERELIN than those of normal weight and ALSO experience only a SLIGHT INCREASE in this hormone after eating which OF COURSE can lead to overeating.

This is where again the kind of FOOD you consume can help.?Fructose is a sugar that occurs naturally in FRUITS and VEGETABLES.?

UNLIKE glucose FRUCTOSE does not trigger a RISE in GHERELIN after eating.?ADDITIONALLY, 30% of the calories from FRUCTOSE get immediately converted to FAT regardless of quantity consumed.

This is not really a problem when we eat FRUCTOSE in it’s natural state.?The FIBER and WATER content in FRUITS and vegetables will STRETCH the stomach which will TRIGGER Ghrelin and thus a SIGNAL to the brain to STOP eating.

In the CASE of SODA and other sugary drinks there is no FIBER to compensate for the properties of FRUCTOSE additionally the quantity of FRUCTOSE in a single can of POP is equal to that of many apples.

IN SHORT if you want to restore PROPER Ghrelin function you should AVOID POP and other sugary beverages and prioritize protein at your meals.

Another KEY HORMONE when it comes to WEIGHT LOSS is one that is manufactured by your FAT CELLS.?

This HORMONE is called LEPTIN.?It serves MUCH LIKE the fuel GAUGE on a CAR.

When your LEPTIN sensitivity is HIGH your appetite will naturally DECREASE when you begin to gain excess bodyfat.

The LEPTIN sends a SIGNAL to the HYPOTHALMUS in your brain to tell your brain that the FUEL TANK is full so you should put a LITTLE LESS fuel in the tank for a while.?It may also INCREASE the urge to move.

However, here again we see that FOOD and LIFESTYLE choices play a ROLL here.

You may have heard of INSULIN RESISTANCE a condition where the cells of your BODY have to excrete MORE INSULIN to absorb SUGAR from your blood stream into your cells.?

In EXTREME cases of INSULIN RESISTANCE such as Type II Diabetes a person has typically consumed too much SUGAR and/or food usually with little physical activity for a period of time.

The result is that although the person is eating plenty of FOOD the INSULIN receptors in their cells have become DESENSITIZED by the OVERABUNDANCE of SUGAR as a result MORE INSULIN is needed for the SUGAR to be absorbed otherwise the individual will BE “STARVING” even though adequate nutrition is AVAILABLE.

TYPICALLY, INSULIN resistance and LEPTIN RESISTANCE go HAND IN HAND.

When this HAPPENS, an individual MAY FEEL hungry even though they are clearly CONUSUMING too many calories.

As with INSULIN resistance the SOLUTION is to Consume more PROTEIN with your meals, Water and Fiber in the form of VEGETABLES and moderate amounts of HEALTHY FATS.

This in combination with an APPROPRIATE exercise routine will LOWER BLOOD SUGAR and help to INCREASE INSULIN, GHERELIN and LEPTIN sensitivity.

When your hormones are in BALANCE you will find that you have more energy, BURN FAT MORE EASILY, have LESS CRAVINGS for SUGAR and STAY FULL LONGER.

Cutting calories BUT STILL EATING the wrong FOODS i.e. processed carbohydrates, hydrogenated and vegetable oils, sugar and SOFT drinks will inevitably lead to FAILURE because you are WORKING against your body RATHER than WITH IT.

I REALIZE that this POST is getting rather lengthy so I will SAVE some of the other HORMONES (The ones that relate to EXERCISE for a latter post)

HOWEVER, I do want to TOUCH on ONE LAST hormone.

One that is getting A LOT of attention these days for it’s ABILITY to cause WEIGHT gain INDEPENDENT of calories.

This HORMONE as you may have guessed is CORTISOL.?

CORTISOL like any other HORMONE is essential.?However, like most THINGS too much of a GOOD THING is WELL, not good ??

CORTISOL decreases the potency of INSULIN and therefore can make you gain weight through INSULIN RESISTANCE.

CORTISOL also suppresses TESTOSTERONE a beneficial hormone for strength, mental clarity and overall vitality for BOTH men and women.

The GOOD NEWS is that CORTISOL can either promote FAT GAIN or be a POTENT fat burner depending on WHAT other HORMONES it is associating.?

Since this post is already getting EXCESSIVELY lengthy, I will not cover those HORMONAL RELATIONSHIPS at this time.

FOR NOW, here are a FEW TIPS to help you MANAGE your CORTISOL and keep it within a HEALTHY RANGE.

1.??Eat a Balanced Diet from primarily WHOLE FOODS and do not make EXTREME cuts to your caloric INTAKE.

2.??Get enough sleep

3.??Listen to soothing music or music that makes you HAPPY

4.??Deep breathing.?While we can not always WILL our STRESS away, we can DECREASE our stress through INFLUENCING our PHYSIOLOGY.

When we take in Deep Breaths and take longer to exhale than to INHALE, we can force our heart rate to SLOW down and BLOOD PRESSURE to decrease.

In SUMMARY, if you want to SUCCESSFULLY lose weight and KEEP it off you would do well to FOCUS more on WHAT you are eating than SIMPLY counting calories.

As I explained above eating the RIGHT THINGS will naturally CURB HUNGER and CRAVINGS.?Optimize FAT BURNING and MAXIMIZE energy while maintaining LEAN MUSCLE.

The FOODS you should be FOCUSING ON include Protein roughly 20 grams/meal for females and 30 grams for males of average size.?Moderate Fat, Fiber and Water.

In a LATER POST I will discuss HOW to structure your workouts to OPTIMIZE fat burning AND lean muscle.

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