Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Why You Seemingly Can't Lose Weight Despite Following A Low Calorie Diet

By Russ Howe


Have you ever followed a very low calorie diet and noticed how difficult it is to lose weight? If so, you are one of the millions of fitness enthusiast out there trying to build a better body but not experiencing the results they want. Today's article will explain why you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet unless you get a few fundamental rules in place first.

The basic advice in the fitness world for those looking to lose unwanted body fat is to eat less and exercise more, but this rule is only a very loose guide to success. There are many individuals who are doing too much dieting and too much training, surprisingly ruining their own chances of success in the process.

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.

We all know somebody who has fallen victim to that particular trend, due to the fact that it's often featured in celebrity magazines and pushed as the number one method to lose fat.

Eating 500-1000 calories per day is outdated, ineffective advice and despite the fact that it has been scientifically proven wrong many times, there are still tens of thousands of people following that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spend over two hours per day on the cardiovascular machines in the gym and don't see any results because this is also outdated advice.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:

They drop a few pounds at first due to the sudden shock to their system. They get to a sticking point after around two weeks. After around one month, they hit a wall where they seemingly cannot lose any more no matter what they do. They begin severely restricting calories even further and increasing cardiovascular exercise even more. They get frustrated at the lack of results, quit and binge eat. They pile all of their weight back on and end up heavier than when they started their diet.

Of course, once the individual ends up in that situation they often blame themselves and begin a new diet, adding an even greater calorific restriction and increasing cardiovascular exercise as a punishment for their previous failed effort.

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.

If you are pushing yourself hard in the gym you will begin to shed lean muscle tissue, too. That's certainly not a situation you want to find yourself in, but sadly many people do. These are now signs associated widely with crash, quick fix and yo-yo diets. Instead of adopting this unsuccessful approach, incorporate HIIT into your routine and use it alongside a regular weights-based program.

Building more lean muscle is key when it comes to losing fat, because the body will find it far easier to burn off fat as it gets leaner and stronger.

In terms of calories, you must first correct the issue you have created from could have been years of abuse. Slowly begin increasing your calories by around 5 percent each week until you reach a point where you can teach your body to survive on a decent portion of food each day while maintaining your present weight.

Who do you think will find it easier to lose body fat - the person eating 500 calories per day or the person eating 2000 per day? Obviously, the latter. They have more calories to play with and therefore will find results a lot easier to come by. You should never, ever be eating less than 1000 calories per day if you are regularly exercising.

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.




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