5 Tips to Prevent Slowdown in your weight-loss Luckily, there are several ways to prevent serious metabolic issues from occurring. The metabolism will slow a bit on any diet, but this does not and should not lead to extreme calorie deprivation and hours of cardio. This isnt healthy, and in the end it wont get you lean enough. Here are the rules to follow for a better prep. 1 / Practice Patience Fat loss should not be rushed. It takes time, and plenty of it. Aim to lose no more than two pounds of fat per week, and preferably closer to a rate of 1-1.5 pounds. This ensures that muscle loss is minimized. Muscle tissue consumes calories all the time. You dont want to cannibalize this metabolically critical tissue. Another part of being patient is learning to make minor changes to the diet rather than massive cuts. As soon as you make a change, whether it be cutting carbs or increasing cardio, your body will immediately begin adapting to the change. Every change you make to increase fat loss is a tool in your kit. Do not use all of your tools in the first few weeks. If fat loss stalls and you cannot cut calories any lower and already do hours of cardio per day, youre stuck. You need to save something up your sleeve for the end of the prep. 2 / Keep The Carbohydrates If you want to get lean, you sometimes have to drop carbs to low levels. This does not mean that you should eliminate them.Carbs increase cellular hydration, and therefore cell volume. When muscle cells are hydrated and have greater volume, this signals the body that it is in a satiate state. The body, sensing it is fed, keeps the metabolic rate raised. Obviously if carbs are too high, fat loss cannot occur, but for continued fat loss, carbs should remain in the diet. 3 / Utilize High-Carb Days I believe carbohydrates are essential to keeping an elevated metabolism. Leptin is a primary reason for this. Leptin is a fat-burning hormone; its release is directly related to carbohydrate intake and body fat levels. Leptin serves many functions, including the control of energy expenditure. As carbs get low and body fat levels dwindle, the body inevitably lowers leptin levels. You can combat this to an extent by adding in high-carb days. A high-carb day once every 4-8 days can boost leptin levels; leptin is highly responsive to glucose metabolism. Add high-carb days to boost leptin, and it will lead to a more positive hormonal profile in general. High-carb days can lead to higher levels of the thyroid hormone t3, as well as help to keep testosterone levels elevated, both of which can further your fat-loss efforts. 4 / Dont Cut Fat Too Low Fatty acids must be available in the body to create cholesterol, which is eventually converted to testosterone. If fat intake is too low, there wont be enough fatty acids available for optimal testosterone production. This leads to lower testosterone levels, which lead to greater muscle loss during prep. The two combine to lower your metabolic rate. The body also has a built-in adaptive response to chronically low dietary fat intake. When it senses an extremely low intake of fat, your body naturally tries to hold on to body fat stores, since fats are at a premium. Moderate amounts of fat intake will ensure that calories are low enough for fat loss, but that the body does not perceive starvation. 5 / Reverse Diet A reverse diet is where you add calories back into your diet slowly, much the same as when you cut them slowly in order to get lean. This will prevent copious amounts of adipose tissue from collecting within the first month or two after a show. Reverse dieting is essential to prevent the cycle of metabolic slowdown, or stop it if you are already in the situation. Even the best contest prep in the world will lead to a significantly slowed metabolism. Conversely, the human metabolism can be raised by systematically, but slowly, adding protein, carbs, and fat. If you already find yourself with a crashed metabolism, then a long reverse diet is the best prescription to help get you back on track.
Posted on: Sun, 10 Nov 2013 12:04:31 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015