We have all been there before. You've dieted hard and you've done tons of cardiovascular activity but you step on the scales and nothing has changed. You reach the conclusion that you just can't get in shape, that you simply can't lose weight on a low calorie diet with regular exercise. Today you'll find out why this happens and how to sort it out.
It's easy to sit back and say that you just need to eat less and workout more to drop body fat levels, but that advice is not specific enough. In fact, too much exercise can be a very bad thing. Likewise, too few calories can actually make it harder to lose those unwanted pounds!
If your goal is to get a smaller waist and retain it, you need to avoid the common trend of coupling starvation diet tactics with a near gym addiction. Otherwise you'll find it very difficult to forge further progress and get frustrated to see others obtaining results while you stay in the same position.
At some point, almost every adult gets sucked into that quick fix trend. Mainly because it's featured in celebrity magazines which are aimed at overweight people attracted to instant solutions rather than hard work. Either way, it's bad advice.
If you have ever followed a diet which calls for eating less than 1000 calories per day while battering the bike or treadmill every night, you will know it's not the most effective or lifestyle friendly choice. Individuals who go down this route usually encounter the following things:
An initial drop in weight is seen due to the sheer shock placed on the body as it struggles to comprehend with this new routine. The person fools themselves into believing this drop must mean it's working, before hitting a sticking point a couple of weeks later. About one month into it, they reach a stage where they feel like they cannot lose anything no matter how hard they work or how little they eat. As a result of this sticking point, they begin eating even less and exercising even more. The depression takes hold and forces them to come off the rails, binge eating on junk foods and takeaway meals. Their body cannot handle this sudden influx of calories after a starvation diet and suddenly piles a lot of weight on in reaction to it.
When the person finds themselves in this situation, which most of us have undoubtedly experienced at some stage or another, we falsely put the blame on our own lack of effort and begin a new routine which is largely based on the same principles as the last failed effort, except with even more stringent calorie restriction and more work on the gym floor.
Is it even possible for someone to exercise religiously and eat barely any food but lose nothing? Actually, yes it is. The body doesn't like to be starved and it combats this by slowing down your metabolic rate in order to preserve fat in a bid to keep you alive. Despite punishing yourself, you are not burning fat.
Instead, it will feed you lean muscle and learn how to adapt to survive on a low calorie intake. Almost all of the carbohydrates and fats in everything you eat will be stored in a bid to bolster it's reserves of these all important fuels which crash diets often advise you to cut out. Long, steady state cardiovascular exercise has also been shown to have a detrimental effect on lean muscle tissue, making a severe problem even worse. Instead, switch to a short but effective HIIT routine coupled with a regular resistance training program.
Building more lean muscle is key when it comes to losing fat, because the body will find it far easier to burn off fat as it gets leaner and stronger.
Your daily diet should be fun, not punishment. You need all three macro's and you need a good number of calories to see any results otherwise your body will enter starvation mode and revoke your control, which has already been documented. If you have previously put yourself through yo-to dieting tactics you will need to slowly increase calorie intake over a period of weeks and months to get yourself back on track. Once the issue is fixed, it's fixed permanently.
If you had two people that weighed the same but one individual ate 400 calories while the other ate 2500, which one would find it easier to drop unwanted pounds? Clearly, the second individual would easily be able to achieve more results because the first case is already starving themselves.
It is not uncommon for people to believe they can't lose weight on a low calorie diet and blame themselves. However, it's not entirely true. The myth of 'more is better' does not apply to exercise and your body needs a healthy number of calories to enable any results at all. Starvation is not the most effective method of dieting.
It's easy to sit back and say that you just need to eat less and workout more to drop body fat levels, but that advice is not specific enough. In fact, too much exercise can be a very bad thing. Likewise, too few calories can actually make it harder to lose those unwanted pounds!
If your goal is to get a smaller waist and retain it, you need to avoid the common trend of coupling starvation diet tactics with a near gym addiction. Otherwise you'll find it very difficult to forge further progress and get frustrated to see others obtaining results while you stay in the same position.
At some point, almost every adult gets sucked into that quick fix trend. Mainly because it's featured in celebrity magazines which are aimed at overweight people attracted to instant solutions rather than hard work. Either way, it's bad advice.
If you have ever followed a diet which calls for eating less than 1000 calories per day while battering the bike or treadmill every night, you will know it's not the most effective or lifestyle friendly choice. Individuals who go down this route usually encounter the following things:
An initial drop in weight is seen due to the sheer shock placed on the body as it struggles to comprehend with this new routine. The person fools themselves into believing this drop must mean it's working, before hitting a sticking point a couple of weeks later. About one month into it, they reach a stage where they feel like they cannot lose anything no matter how hard they work or how little they eat. As a result of this sticking point, they begin eating even less and exercising even more. The depression takes hold and forces them to come off the rails, binge eating on junk foods and takeaway meals. Their body cannot handle this sudden influx of calories after a starvation diet and suddenly piles a lot of weight on in reaction to it.
When the person finds themselves in this situation, which most of us have undoubtedly experienced at some stage or another, we falsely put the blame on our own lack of effort and begin a new routine which is largely based on the same principles as the last failed effort, except with even more stringent calorie restriction and more work on the gym floor.
Is it even possible for someone to exercise religiously and eat barely any food but lose nothing? Actually, yes it is. The body doesn't like to be starved and it combats this by slowing down your metabolic rate in order to preserve fat in a bid to keep you alive. Despite punishing yourself, you are not burning fat.
Instead, it will feed you lean muscle and learn how to adapt to survive on a low calorie intake. Almost all of the carbohydrates and fats in everything you eat will be stored in a bid to bolster it's reserves of these all important fuels which crash diets often advise you to cut out. Long, steady state cardiovascular exercise has also been shown to have a detrimental effect on lean muscle tissue, making a severe problem even worse. Instead, switch to a short but effective HIIT routine coupled with a regular resistance training program.
Building more lean muscle is key when it comes to losing fat, because the body will find it far easier to burn off fat as it gets leaner and stronger.
Your daily diet should be fun, not punishment. You need all three macro's and you need a good number of calories to see any results otherwise your body will enter starvation mode and revoke your control, which has already been documented. If you have previously put yourself through yo-to dieting tactics you will need to slowly increase calorie intake over a period of weeks and months to get yourself back on track. Once the issue is fixed, it's fixed permanently.
If you had two people that weighed the same but one individual ate 400 calories while the other ate 2500, which one would find it easier to drop unwanted pounds? Clearly, the second individual would easily be able to achieve more results because the first case is already starving themselves.
It is not uncommon for people to believe they can't lose weight on a low calorie diet and blame themselves. However, it's not entirely true. The myth of 'more is better' does not apply to exercise and your body needs a healthy number of calories to enable any results at all. Starvation is not the most effective method of dieting.
About the Author:
About your author: Established online personal trainer Russ Howe PTI shows effective weight loss facts on his blog for free. If you believe that you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet he will show you how to correct this issue.
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