Losing fat through quick fixes or fad diets may actually make you fatter. Im being dead serious too! We all want results and the faster the progress the better, right? Not necessarily. Doing the low carb approach, total calories that are too low, high cardio and other quick fix options compromise energy and when energy output is reduced our calorie burning potential drops as well, especially if done for several months or years. With less energy in, because of lower carbs and calories, we end up moving less because we simply do not have the energy. If you are lifting weights (which everyone should), you wont be able to fully exhaust muscle tissues and this puts you in a more catabolic or muscle wasting state. Muscles exists on a use it or lose it principle and if you are in too great of a caloric deficit, your body will rapidly strip muscle as a way to reduce energy needs and as an energy source, especially if you are not lifting. So not all weight lost is going to be the weight we want to lose, muscle will be shed in the process and that slows down metabolism. When metabolic functions slow because youve reduced muscle mass then that means your body adapts and learns to survive with less food. When this happens because of the nutrition restrictions or high amounts of cardio, any surplus in calories from cheat meals/days or reduction in lengthy cardio will most definitely result in fat gains. The more extreme the nutrition restriction, the more extreme the fat gain rebound because you no longer have the muscle you once had that acted as a buffer to burn off those higher calorie days. Think of quick fixes, low carb, low calorie, etc... like high interest credit cards. While you can make the purchase for now, is it really worth it when you add up the interest paid over time? While the quick fix may help you lose a little for the now, is it worth it in the long haul with the price youll pay after? In the perfect world, we would want calories and carbs to be as high as possible to still see progress. With cardio (assuming you are not a distance runner for sport), you want to keep cardio as minimal as possible while still seeing progress. And lift!! Lift with all your might! This will help keep metabolic functions higher and if progress stalls, a marginal drop in total calories and/or a marginal increase in cardio should resume progress again.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 00:46:53 +0000