The truth about dieting!

          Have you ever looked at the first three letters in the word DIET? The World Health Organisation (WHO) classifies a diet containing less than 2100 calories for a man and 1800 for a woman as a starvation diet. People who diet eat less than 1500 calories a day. The single most important principle of weight management is to never starve you. We are wired to eat, you must eat. It’s not natural not to. If you don’t give your body what it needs it will fight back.

          Even if you do manage to lose weight when dieting, as much as 60% can of the weight loss can be metabolically active muscle. Muscle burns 70% more calories than fat. Anything you regain will be all fat. You cannot regain muscle. You must build muscle. Lose too much weight to fast and you will release a fat storing hormone called lipoprotein lipase. The very act of losing weight strengthens and makes more potent the very hormone that is in great measure responsible for you being overweight to begin with. Here’s an example of what happens when you diet.

         You weigh yourself and at 240lbs decide its time to do something about it. You’re body fat percentage is 33% or 79lbs of fat. After two months of strict dieting you weigh in at 200lbs at 28% body fat.

         However, over the next ten months you regain 30 lbs of fat and now weigh in at 230lbs. Yes you are 10 lbs lighter than when you started. Now the bad news. You weigh 230lbs at 35% body fat. That’s 82lbs of fat compared to 79lbs when you started.

        Body fat percentage up , body fat up, lean tissue down. One year later you’re heavier and unhealthier than when you started.

      Of greater concern is a type of fat you can’t get rid of by dieting alone. That fat is called visceral adipose tissue or VAT. VAT lies deep within the abdominal cavity. VAT has been linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, breast cancer and high total cholesterol. Alcohol is a major contributor to VAT. Dieting alone will not reduce the amount of VAT you have but healthy eating and exercise will.
Stay Focused
Eric