weight loss - how to lose weight article

Quite often I see people asking about nutrition, weights, losing weight etc. I am no expert, but this is a subject Ive been very interested in for the last few years. Now, Iâm going to warn you, you might not agree with everything I say. A lot has changed in the last few years of nutrition and development. It still continues to change daily. So don't email me telling me I'm all wrong etc. Fact is I took the time and effort to write an article as a novice and you as a pro didn't.

Weight loss Forget all the hype. There isnât any quick fixes, machines, diets, magic pill etc that promise results in 3 weeks or your money back. It took a lot of abuse to get the pounds on; it takes more work to get em back off. Simply put to lose weight Calorie intake must be less than caloric output.

Let's say that again. Calorie intake must be less than caloric output. For your body to burn fat, what goes out, must be more than goes in. Great you think, I'll just starve myself. No such luck I'm afraid. Your body still thinks you're a caveman. You stop giving it food, it thinks, no food, conserve energy, hold fat stores it doesn't know you have a fridge full of cheesecake. Worst part is, instead of eating fat it will eat lean muscle. Which is very, very bad. Because simply put, muscles are the ONLY thing in your body that burn fat. So by starving yourself you are just as fat, you are weaker and you just made your body a much worse fat burning machine.

So, how do I do it? I hear you ask. There isn't just one way to do it. It's a combined effort. By going to the gym, eating buckets of protein you gain bigger muscles, which need more fuel meaning your body is a better fat fighting machine. But this is meaningless without diet. Over training is almost as bad as doing nothing at all. In this case, more isn't better. The best way I can describe muscles is as a wall. You go to the gym; you knock away at it. The builders come in, repair the wall and add on a few more bricks at the top making it a bigger, stronger wall. If you start chipping at the wall again whilst the builders are working, not only will you lose those extra bricks, you will be lucky to break even. Train each body part once a week. (abs can be trained 3 times a week). Have a free day, get plenty of rest and make sure your getting enough protein. Your body pisses it a whey (ta Dorian Yates) every 2-3 hours. So its essential if you are building muscle to ensure that your body is constantly fuelled with it. Things like ECA can help, but they only work as hard as you do.

Eating fatty foods. Eating at night is a big no no. Your body will pretty much store everything you eat at night as fat. Itâs best not to eat 4 hours before bedtime. After training your muscles want protein and carbs to help rebuild themselves. Carbs and healthy fats are your friend. But they donât play well together. Your body will only use one of these at a time and store the other. Try to eat little and often. Bill Phillips explains this as grazing. A bear eats as much as it can during summer so it can pile on fat to keep it warm and fed during winter. A horse grazes all day. It just takes what it needs at the time. Your body can only absorb so much food at one time. What it doesn't use, it stores as fat. The whole notion of 3 square meals isn't great if you're trying to lose weight. 6 smaller fist size portions containing both protein and carbs. Too much protein is okay as you body gets rid of it. Try to take around 30g of protein and the same in carbs per meal. You should aim for 1-2g of protein per kg of bodyweight daily (yes it seems a lot, but a tin of tuna contains around 30g) Water you should be drinking 2 litres of this a day (Coke, tea, vodka doesnât count).

Cardio. Yep afraid so. And lots of. Without exercise its very difficult to burn fat without losing the same amount of muscles. The best time to do cardio is first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Since itâs been around 12 hours since you last eat anything, the body will be far more eager to tap into fat. If you canât do it in the morning due to work etc You shouldnât do cardio before you lift weights. You will be cheating yourself in the gym. If after your workout, you have some energy left, then you go on the bike, running machine etc etc. Too much cardio is worse than too little! The notion that you should go in 110% sweat dripping off you for 2 hours, near death, dizzy is completely wrong. Anything over 45 mins at high intensity will start to burn muscle, not fat. Working too high a heart rate will also not touch fat either. Get a heart rate monitor or ask the gym for the heart strap. You should be working at 60% of your training zone using the Karvnon formula (or get it done properly by the doctor).

You can calculate your training heart rate by first determining your resting heart rate, maximum heart rate and heart rate reserve.

Resting Heart Rate (RHR) = your pulse at rest (best time is first thing in the morning when you get out of bed)

Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) = 220- your age Heart Rate Reserve (HRR) = Max heart rate

Resting Heart Rate

To get 60% of this (HHR x .60) + RHR = 60% Thus, for myself who is 22 with a resting heart rate of 55 MHR = 220

22 = 198 HRR = 198

55 = 143 (143 x 0.60) + 55 = 140.8

At this heart rate you should be sweaty, breathing slightly heavy but still be able to hold a conversation. Do this from 20-45 mins (you donât start to tap into the fat supplies till 15 mins in)

Keep the faith

It takes time, but I hope I've given you more tools in which to do it. The weight will fall off quickly at first as your body adjusts, then more slowly. Any weight lost quickly will be mostly muscle and water. If your naturally skinny, the above doesnât really matter to you (why would you be reading a weight loss article?). It's a long hard ride, I myself have been on this road for a while now, and still have a bit to go. But I'm getting there. The most important thing is to remember that you will fall during this period. If you starve yourself, your body will MAKE you run to the fridge in the middle of the night. It's the caveman at work again. A pizza will be too tempting; a party will come up etc etc. The thing to remember is that one-day a week eating whatever you like wont do you any harm. Infact it can help you by telling the caveman that food is plentiful and there isnât any need to store. It also lets you feel how slow and tired you feel eating crappy foods. The motivation will go after a few weeks. After that only sheer stubbornness will keep you going. Remember excuses are for losers and in the end your only letting yourself down.