You finally decide to
lose those excess pounds of body fat. You open your favorite search engine and
start looking for the "best weight loss program" or some
"magic" pill that will make things much easier for you. You find tons
of ads that offer you fast and effortless weight loss in few weeks or even
days, and you think, "Wow, that's exactly what I am looking for."
Unfortunately, the
chances of finding something that really works are minimal. Why? Because 99% of
the weight loss systems or drugs you will find are either potentially dangerous
for your health or pure marketing hype. Everybody likes to hear that losing
weight is fast and easy, and nobody wants to hear it is a gradual process that
requires some effort and discipline. So the self-claimed weight loss
"experts" are giving to you exactly what you are looking for - a fast
and easy solution for your problem. Unfortunately the easy way is not the way
that will lead you to healthy and long-term results. If you want to learn how
to detect the hype and the gimmicks you have to understand the basics of weight
loss first. So let's start!
Weight loss vs. fat
loss
First of all, let's
consider the differences between both things: There are many ways to lose
weight -losing water weight, losing muscle and bone weight, and losing body
fat. In fact, it is very easy to lose "weight." Just start exercising
and reduce your water intake and you will lose several pounds in the first few
days. When exercising, your body loses a lot of water and because you have
stopped drinking liquids, you easily become dehydrated and you will weigh
several pounds less. But is this is a long-term and healthy weight loss? Of
course not. You will gain back the weight as soon as you restore your normal
water intake.
Here is another
example: When you go on a diet and cut your calorie intake too much, your body
detects the severe calorie deficit and slows down your metabolism. As a result,
you stop losing fat (your reserve fuel), and start getting the energy you need
from the muscle tissue. The result is decreased body weight, but unfortunately
you have lost muscle instead of losing body fat.
As you see, to achieve
long-term, natural weight loss you need to burn as much fat as possible with
the minimum lean body mass loss.
How exactly fat is
burned?
If you are a healthy
person, to successfully lose fat you only need to burn more calories than you
eat (or drink) while maintaining your metabolism fast. Isn't it simple? In
order to achieve this, your calories must come from the proper food sources,
such as lean protein (chicken breast, egg whites, seafood, extra-lean red
meat), complex carbs (oatmeal, brown rice, whole grains, vegetables, etc.) and "good"
fats (olive oil, flaxseeds, fatty fish and cod liver oil). You should also add
some kind of cardio exercise to your program, such as walking, jogging or
cycling. Keep in mind that cardio is considered the best way to directly burn
the fat.
Let's look at an
example:
If you burn 2500 kCal
and eat about 2000 kCal every day, that is a deficit of 500 kCal. There are
3500 kCal in 1 pound of fat. This means you will be burning 1 pound per week of
pure body fat. Surprised? Yes, only 1 pound per week. I know "10 pounds in
two days!" sounds much better, but that is far from realistic goal.
Keep in mind that if
you cut your calorie intake too much, you will slow down your metabolism, and
this is not desirable if your goal is fat loss. This means that "Eat 500
kCal - Burn 2500 kCal - Lose 4 pounds per week" won't work for you.
It's definitely
possible to burn fat at faster rates (with proper nutrition and exercise
program), even without supplements, but keep in mind that the maximum rate that
is considered healthy is 2 pounds per week (if you are extremely overweight, up
to 3 pounds per week is fine). Achieving healthy long-term weight loss faster
is practically impossible. If you find products or nutrition plans that promise
fast weight loss, they probably base their claims on dehydration. You can lose
water weight really fast but this is not a real fat loss and can lead to
serious health conditions.
Conclusion
You don't need a pill
to lose weight. You don't need to starve yourself, to restrict the intake of
any macronutrient, or to buy any "miracle" product. You just need to
consume fewer calories than you burn, and those should come from good natural
food sources. The best way to increase the amount of calories you burn and to
create such calorie deficit is to exercise. Mild calorie restriction plus 30 to
40 minutes of intensive cardio exercise every day is the "magic
formula" you are looking for and that will make you lose fat like never
before.
Comments
Post a Comment