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.
This trend is so popular because it is often pushed by gossip magazines and experts who proclaim that there is an instant solution to your problems, while making you believe that all of your favourite foods are you enemy.
Eating 500-1000 calories per day is outdated, ineffective advice and despite the fact that it has been scientifically proven wrong many times, there are still tens of thousands of people following that protocol in the gym. Likewise, they spend over two hours per day on the cardiovascular machines in the gym and don't see any results because this is also outdated advice. Those who combine these two ineffective protocols usually go through this cycle:
After experiencing a quick weight loss for a period of about a week while their body reacts to being starved, they quickly hit a wall. They mistake that quick loss for progress, so they continue restricting calories and hammering cardio sessions on the gym floor. They suddenly realize that they can't lose any more body fat no matter how much they try. This leads to frustration, causing the person to eat lots of junk foods in anger and pile on any pounds they had lost in the first place.
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.
That's right - building lean muscle tissue via weight training will actually increase your fat loss substantially!
When trying to structure the perfect diet, the first rule is the eliminate any thoughts of starving yourself or cutting out certain nutrients like carbohydrates. If you are reading this and perhaps noticing that you may have put your own body through this in the past, the best way to get back on track is to slowly increase your calories each week rather than suddenly jumping up.
How much you eat can determine how easy it is to drop unwanted poundage in future, too. For instance, a person who maintains 200 lbs eating only 500 calories per day will find it very hard to get further progress because they are already malnourished, whereas a person eating 2000 calories per day will find it easy.
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.
This trend is so popular because it is often pushed by gossip magazines and experts who proclaim that there is an instant solution to your problems, while making you believe that all of your favourite foods are you enemy.
Eating 500-1000 calories per day is outdated, ineffective advice and despite the fact that it has been scientifically proven wrong many times, there are still tens of thousands of people following that protocol in the gym. Likewise, they spend over two hours per day on the cardiovascular machines in the gym and don't see any results because this is also outdated advice. Those who combine these two ineffective protocols usually go through this cycle:
After experiencing a quick weight loss for a period of about a week while their body reacts to being starved, they quickly hit a wall. They mistake that quick loss for progress, so they continue restricting calories and hammering cardio sessions on the gym floor. They suddenly realize that they can't lose any more body fat no matter how much they try. This leads to frustration, causing the person to eat lots of junk foods in anger and pile on any pounds they had lost in the first place.
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.
That's right - building lean muscle tissue via weight training will actually increase your fat loss substantially!
When trying to structure the perfect diet, the first rule is the eliminate any thoughts of starving yourself or cutting out certain nutrients like carbohydrates. If you are reading this and perhaps noticing that you may have put your own body through this in the past, the best way to get back on track is to slowly increase your calories each week rather than suddenly jumping up.
How much you eat can determine how easy it is to drop unwanted poundage in future, too. For instance, a person who maintains 200 lbs eating only 500 calories per day will find it very hard to get further progress because they are already malnourished, whereas a person eating 2000 calories per day will find it easy.
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 teaches proven weight loss facts on his website for free. If you feel like you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet he will teach you the facts.
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