Losing Weight is Great or is it?

April 8, 2018 – 

I know a person, who in the attempt to lose some weight, a belly and fatty legs and like most of us (all of us) they wanted it done right away and without much sacrifice.  One thing was for certain; the overeating was going to have to change.  Anyhow, after visiting a business that specializes in quick weight loss my friend asked me if I agreed with their recommendations.  I did agree to a food journal, and I did agree to plan to limit calories.  I did not agree to the “no exercise or weight lifting” restriction on their plan.

According to the National Academy of Sports Medicine:

“The importance of exercise and activity as a complement to any dietary strategies for weight loss is obvious for a myriad of reasons – one reason being the preservation of lean mass, which in turn maintains or increases metabolic rates within the body.  Dieting alone can certainly result in weight loss, but it is safe to estimate that for every pound (0.45kg) lost, 69% of the weight loss will originate from fat, while the remaining 31% will originate from lean mass (muscle.)  Dieting coupled with cardio can also help clients lose weight; but again for every pound lost, assume 78% will originate from fat and 22% from lean mass.  Resistance training, on the other hand, is an effective method not only to lose weight but also to preserve lean mass.  With the modality, the loss of lean mass for every pound is only 3%, with the remaining 97% origination from fat.  Considering adults can lose as much as 23% of all lean mass between the ages of 30 and 70 due to the natural aging process, the inclusion of resistance training in all weight loss programs in crucial.  Furthermore, resistance-training programs can add lean mass and elevate resting metabolic rates.  Although adults gain only small amounts of lean mass through resistance training, it may be sufficient to raise resting metabolic rates by 7%, equivalent to about 100 calories each day, or 10 lb (4/5 kg) in 1 year.”  N.A.S.M – WLS 2017

What I know to be true is that a balanced muscular system is constantly in movement and burning calories, when stressed for an increase muscular contraction (strength training) not only are more calories burned but there is an increase in caloric expenditure after the contraction in its recovery and repair.  This is known as EPOC or exercise post oxygen consumption.  The body begins working harder for an extra 1-5 days after the exercise to replete the glycogen cells and heel the millions of microscopic tears from the workouts.  More muscle = more calorie burn/faster metabolism, thus less muscle = less calorie burn/slower metabolism.

Another weight loss nightmare in my opinion is a VERY low calorie diet.  Some diets go as low as 500 calories a day in fact.  These diets are not proven to work over long periods AND proven to fail in most cases.  And, no exercise is permitted.  The success comes from an absolute loss of muscle and with time just simply destroys an adults metabolism.

If you are under 40 or over 40 (or whatever age you are for that matter), go for it … put on some muscle.  I promise you, you will be losing some each month for the rest of your life.  If you can get some now, do it!!

Go ahead, grab your upper arm … is it mush?  Put your finger on your thigh and push, how much dense muscle between you skin and the bone is there?  IF you feel a bone right away then I think we should definitely work on your muscle mass, today!

Hey, build some muscle, build some bone, and you will have a body with muscle tone!

In good health,

Bob

“Your body starts each day as a fat burning machine, and the key to simultaneous fat loss and muscle muscle gain is to avoid screwing that up.” – John Keifer