"I really want to lose some weight!" - If this is you then you're already on the wrong track.
In this article I will go over the errors of fat loss dieting and how people get it wrong every time.
Firstly we need to define the word 'weight'. What is it that the scales are telling us?
Defining body weight
When we step on the scales, the numbers are mysterious. They tell us what the sum total of our whole body is weighing. That includes, amongst other things, muscle weight, fat weight and water weight.
If we set out with a goal of just losing weight, it's like having a clear out in our house but just throwing out whatever we first get our hands on - the new TV, the old magazines, gold jewellery, broken radio etc.
Defining fat weight
This is simple. The amount of fat we have - which we can totally do without. All but a small amount that is.
What most people do
So most people don't even consider fat loss, and for a pretty good reason. It takes an awful lot of study to understand how to burn fat alone. The problem I have is that some people don't even listen when told. It's like weight loss has been programmed into people on a social level!
So most people will simply eat less. And by less I mean mild to harsh starvation. All so the scales can drop. On top of this they will think they're doing good by eating fruit and cutting back on meat.
And the other thing they do is either avoid exercise or do the wrong kinds of exercise - usually they won't lift weights.
Why this is the wrong approach
Okay, so muscle is the key factor in all this. When I tell my fat loss clients that they need to put on some muscle they often turn around and say "well, I don't really want to put on muscle... I just want to get fit and lose some weight". And I'm talking verbatim.
But the problem is that muscle mass is essential to healthy, strong metabolism (i.e. round the clock calorie burning).
When we eat too little and don't take in enough amino acids by way of protein (meat, eggs, nuts, supplements), our body eats our muscle. Sometimes it can ignore our fat because the human body, in general, loves to store fat. We would then step on the scales and see 'weight loss' but we may well have the same amount of fat!
Another thing to bear in mind is that if, in our daily lives, we're not lifting anything heavy or doing anything strenuous and we're under-eating, our body doesn't see why it should keep the muscle.
When we lose muscle weight, our metabolic rate will drop, leaving us prone to more fat storage in the future.
This is absolute text book yo-yo dieting. It leads only to one place: an unhealthy drop in muscle tissue and fat storage year on year.
What we should be doing?
We need to eat more protein, eat less carbs and train hard. But eat the right things and in the right amounts. This is quite difficult and either takes a trained professional to help out or many months or years of looking into the subject and trying things out yourself.
Lucky for you I've tried my best to cut out the nonsense and give you the facts. For the full version of this article why not check out my latest blog post. Check out the link below and you'll be way ahead of the fat loss game!
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