Many people are still under the misguided assumption that reducing calorie intake is the solution to weight loss. Although calorie intake is a factor, it is far from being the ideal solution most believe.
consuming fewer calories results in a slow down of the metabolic rate and a reduction in the number of calories burned. Thus, there will be little long term beneit.
The best approach, based on the latest research is a combination of steps which, when combined, have a fast and permanent impact on your weight loss efforts.
The first step is to eat more meals, but much smaller potions throughout the day. Every time you eat, you give your metabolism a boost which helps burn fat. Another benefit is that when you go for long periods without eating, your body can burn off muscle tissue. You want to maintain as much muscle as possible since since lean muscle revs up the metabolism. You can solve this problem by eating small meals throughout the day.
Step two is to flush out and clean the colon. Many people have 5-10 pounds of waste in their intestines. The elimination of excess waste can result in a dramatic drop in weight of five pounds or more.
Additionally, by eliminating this waste your body will be able to absorb the nutrients from the foods you eat much more efficiently.
In step three you raise your protein intake while lowering your carbohydrate and dietary fat intake. You can get high quality protein from chicken breast, salmon and other lean meats like sirloin. High protein food help build muscle tissue which increases metabolism.
Don’t slash your carbohydrate intake. Carbohydrates are fuel for our bodies and supply our energy needs. However, overeating carbohydrates often results in a spike in insulin which can result in excess fat storage.
Because body fat and dietary fat are similar, the body is very efficient at storing dietary fat as body fat. You don’t need a lot of dietary fat if you are trying to lose weight.
Protein is the nutrient for revving up the metabolism. By supporting normal thyroid levels it plays a major role in burning fat.
Eating foods that burn fat is step four. Vegetables alter the way your body handles foods by tempering the release of insulin. Since elevated insulin can make the body more efficient at storing fat, eating vegetables will decrease the chance that the body will enter a fat-storing state.
To be more specific, some vegetables, like cauliflower, cabbage and broccoli contain indoles that fight fat. Estrogen is body fat friendly and indoles interfere with it’s uptake.
The fifth step is to use nutritional supplements. Science has discovered unique compounds in some foods that you can get in supplement form that helps the body burn fat. included in this group are acai berry, green tea, whey protein and certain fish oils.
Other supplements such as hoodia help decrease the appetite.
Step six involves weight training which increases metabolism and burns more fat than slow cardio. Studies now show that lifting weights increases metabolism and maintains fat burning longer than cardio. This works on two different levels.
First, weight training aids the formation of muscle growth. Muscle tissue is critical to a higher metabolic rate.
Another point, is that resistance training creates more anabolic hormones in the body. By driving the metabolism, anabolic hormones support increased fat burning. Additionally, because the body requires calories for the rebuilding process, after weight training you will maintain a high metabolic state long after you’ve finished exercising.
Doing high impact cardio is step 7. With high impact cardio you do quick but short bursts of energy and then a slow down or rest period. Not only will this burn more calories than slow cardio, but will have an effect similar to weight training by keeping the metabolism revved longer.
Do cardio when you first get up in the morning before eating. This is when blood glucose levels are lowest and the body will be forced to burn fat rather than relying on glucose reserves.
Doing high impact cardio for longer than ten to fifteen minutes can result in muscle breakdown and shoul be avoided. But these ten to fifteen minutes should work you more than 30 -40 minutes of slow-low impact cardio and will burn more calories. High impact cardio will give you a good sweat after 10 to 15 minutes.
The take away from this artice is that weight loss involves more than just counting calories.