As I revealed in my last blog, to lose weight, you must simply:
Take in less calories each day than you expend each day.
Or, stated another way:
One must burn more energy (calories) each day than energy (calories) they consume.
We now know the simple answer for losing weight. It is simple math. If we put less energy (calories) into our body than our body requires to meet its daily demands, we will be in a negative energy balance (needing energy). This means that in order to meet our energy demands, we must obtain our extra needed energy from somewhere else. This extra energy comes for our body's own energy reserves. When we burn these energy reserves, we lose weight.
So, if this is the case, why do so many people struggle with their weight? One reason is that a lot of people just consume more calories each day than they can possibly burn and we all know that this leads to weight gain. But what about those of you who have tried so many different diets and still can't seem to permanently lose that extra weight? What about those of you who have learned to eat like birds but yet still can't shake off those pesky pounds? And how about those of you who feel like you are eating the right foods in the proper amounts and also expending energy with weekly bouts of exercise...but still can't find success? Well, don't feel alone! These problems are all to common and I am here to help you understand how to address them and how to find success!
The first step in finding success is to realize that your body is an amazing organism! It is designed to maintain "homeostasis" which means "to constantly remain the same". Our bodies were created to maintain a balance and different systems within our bodies work together to keep us functioning within this balance (for example, keeping blood sugar levels in check). Not being able to maintain this balance leads us to sickness, disease and possibly an untimely death. Our body is designed to survive. It is designed to adapt as best it can to whatever situations we may encounter as we go through life. This is a good thing and it is for our protection. But it can also be a bad thing...if we don't take control of it.
Taking control is a must if we want to lose weight or if we want to change our body in any way. But in order to take control, we need to have some understanding of how our bodies work and then we need to work with them in order to change them. We must accept the fact that if we do not work to change our body, then our body will do its own thing and that is, it will adapt to whatever situation we are in and ultimately stay the same...or get worse.
This brings us back to the question, "How come I can't seem to lose weight by eating less?"
The answer is, that when we eat less, our body's survival mechanisms kick in. When the body realizes that it is not getting enough nourishment (energy) it goes into "starvation mode". Starvation mode tells our body to begin to slow down its' metabolism in order to conserve energy and when our metabolism slows down, so does our capacity to burn calories. It also tells our body to store up energy that will be necessary in the future. How does our body store this reserve energy? As fat!
And what makes this situation worse, is that when we are in starvation mode, we tend to save most of the fat stores and we burn other available energy. Where does this other available energy come from? It comes from our lean body mass. Your body will begin to start burning your lean muscle mass for energy. This in turn, slows down your metabolism even more which means your body does not burn maximum calories as it should. This is why a person can go on a low calorie diet, lose some weight, but then hit a plateau where they do not continue to lose any more weight. Their body has adapted to their eating habits. The body has slowed down, begins storing fat and starts burning muscle. Throw some exercise into the equation and you are actually working against yourself. Instead of being able to build lean muscle mass, you are burning lean muscle mass...the very thing you are trying to gain!
Let's pull this all together. You will definitely lose weight by eating less calories than you expend on a daily basis. The problem is, if not done correctly, you will not lose weight optimally. More than likely, you will be losing more lean muscle mass weight instead of fat weight (you may actually be adding more fat weight). You will also be slowing your metabolism down and you will eventually hit a plateau while remaining hungry and out of shape. And once you go off your diet, you will gain back more weight than before!
It is now time for you to take control and to do this the right way. In blogs to come, I will teach you how to take control and what you need to do to begin living a leaner healthier lifestyle. I will show exactly how to work with your body in order to change it into the body you desire.
Now, here is something for you to think about until next time:
When most of my clients have asked me, "How come I can't seem to lose this weight?" my answer is usually...
"You're not eating enough to lose weight."
Keep on Smiling,
Mark
Take in less calories each day than you expend each day.
Or, stated another way:
One must burn more energy (calories) each day than energy (calories) they consume.
We now know the simple answer for losing weight. It is simple math. If we put less energy (calories) into our body than our body requires to meet its daily demands, we will be in a negative energy balance (needing energy). This means that in order to meet our energy demands, we must obtain our extra needed energy from somewhere else. This extra energy comes for our body's own energy reserves. When we burn these energy reserves, we lose weight.
So, if this is the case, why do so many people struggle with their weight? One reason is that a lot of people just consume more calories each day than they can possibly burn and we all know that this leads to weight gain. But what about those of you who have tried so many different diets and still can't seem to permanently lose that extra weight? What about those of you who have learned to eat like birds but yet still can't shake off those pesky pounds? And how about those of you who feel like you are eating the right foods in the proper amounts and also expending energy with weekly bouts of exercise...but still can't find success? Well, don't feel alone! These problems are all to common and I am here to help you understand how to address them and how to find success!
The first step in finding success is to realize that your body is an amazing organism! It is designed to maintain "homeostasis" which means "to constantly remain the same". Our bodies were created to maintain a balance and different systems within our bodies work together to keep us functioning within this balance (for example, keeping blood sugar levels in check). Not being able to maintain this balance leads us to sickness, disease and possibly an untimely death. Our body is designed to survive. It is designed to adapt as best it can to whatever situations we may encounter as we go through life. This is a good thing and it is for our protection. But it can also be a bad thing...if we don't take control of it.
Taking control is a must if we want to lose weight or if we want to change our body in any way. But in order to take control, we need to have some understanding of how our bodies work and then we need to work with them in order to change them. We must accept the fact that if we do not work to change our body, then our body will do its own thing and that is, it will adapt to whatever situation we are in and ultimately stay the same...or get worse.
This brings us back to the question, "How come I can't seem to lose weight by eating less?"
The answer is, that when we eat less, our body's survival mechanisms kick in. When the body realizes that it is not getting enough nourishment (energy) it goes into "starvation mode". Starvation mode tells our body to begin to slow down its' metabolism in order to conserve energy and when our metabolism slows down, so does our capacity to burn calories. It also tells our body to store up energy that will be necessary in the future. How does our body store this reserve energy? As fat!
And what makes this situation worse, is that when we are in starvation mode, we tend to save most of the fat stores and we burn other available energy. Where does this other available energy come from? It comes from our lean body mass. Your body will begin to start burning your lean muscle mass for energy. This in turn, slows down your metabolism even more which means your body does not burn maximum calories as it should. This is why a person can go on a low calorie diet, lose some weight, but then hit a plateau where they do not continue to lose any more weight. Their body has adapted to their eating habits. The body has slowed down, begins storing fat and starts burning muscle. Throw some exercise into the equation and you are actually working against yourself. Instead of being able to build lean muscle mass, you are burning lean muscle mass...the very thing you are trying to gain!
Let's pull this all together. You will definitely lose weight by eating less calories than you expend on a daily basis. The problem is, if not done correctly, you will not lose weight optimally. More than likely, you will be losing more lean muscle mass weight instead of fat weight (you may actually be adding more fat weight). You will also be slowing your metabolism down and you will eventually hit a plateau while remaining hungry and out of shape. And once you go off your diet, you will gain back more weight than before!
It is now time for you to take control and to do this the right way. In blogs to come, I will teach you how to take control and what you need to do to begin living a leaner healthier lifestyle. I will show exactly how to work with your body in order to change it into the body you desire.
Now, here is something for you to think about until next time:
When most of my clients have asked me, "How come I can't seem to lose this weight?" my answer is usually...
"You're not eating enough to lose weight."
Keep on Smiling,
Mark