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Critical Dieting Errors
Critical Dieting Errors
By Karen Sessions aka: MsFit
This is Part 1 of a two-part article. We will be discussing the million-dollar question, "How do I lose body fat?" Does it sound familiar? I'm not going to go into detail statistics and mathematical equations on how to lose body fat. All this is irrelevant unless you set a goal, make a commitment, and follow through with it. I will, however, discuss some of the mistakes made on the fat loss quest.
The biggest mistakes I see in those with weight loss endeavors are:
1. Jumping from one diet to the next, without giving ANY of them a chance to work.
2. Cutting calories drastically, far below one's BMR.
3. Eating correctly, but failing to make small adjustments to shock the body.
4. Scared to death to eat carbohydrates.
The most successful dieters are bodybuilders. They can drop the body fat and keep the muscle. How do they do this? Most would like to point the finger at drugs, but I can tell you first hand that what you put into your body accounts for 90% of your physique. You can weight train every day and do cardio for two hours every day, but unless you are eating correctly, you will keep running in circles, hoarding fat, burning muscle, and lowering your BMR.
Jumping From One Diet to the Next
This is basically being impatient with your current "diet". Most people stay on a diet for 4-7 days. If they fail to see results in this short time frame, it's left in the way side, only to adopt the current fad diet for the week.
Obviously, those trying to lose weight want immediately results. You did not gain weight in 4-7 days, so thinking it will come off in such a short amount of time is irrational. You cannot solve a weight problem in a week. You can, however, create healthy habits and make noticeable changes in a week.
If more people took the time and allowed the given program to work, they could make a fair assessment. If you keep jumping from one plan to the next, you will only end up being a professional dieter and not ever reaching your goal.
If you eat a balanced diet, exercise, and are consistent, you can make worthy changes in 10-20 days. If you continue your consistency, you can make outstanding changes in 20-40 days.
Drastically Cutting Calories
Far too many seeking weight loss will drastically cut their calories in hopes to shed body fat quickly. Sure, you may lose some weight in the beginning, but in doing so, your metabolism is lowered, your body holds on to fat, and you burn muscle. Muscle loss lowers your basal metabolic rate even more! This is the well-known starvation defense being enacted.
The starvation defense kicks in when your body thinks it is being deprived of nourishment (food). It is your body's way of conserving energy, so it burns fewer calories.
When the "diet" ends and you begin eating normally again, or worse binge, your body will rebound and you will gain even more weight due to the starvation mode the body thought it was under. It is actually absorbing more food for the next famine.
How to Manage
If your goal is to lose weight you must supply your body with fuel in order to burn fat. Beginning a "diet" on 1200 calories or less (starvation level) leaves you no room to lower calories later when you hit a plateau.
The best way to lower calories is to set them to your BMR plus activity calories and make small weekly cuts so your body doesn't react and slip into starvation mode. Eat balanced meals and rather forcing the body to change, allow it to respond.
Stay tuned for next months Part 2 where I will discuss mistakes number 4 and 5.
(C) 2004 Karen Sessions All Rights Reserved
Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions;
aka: MsFit
By Karen Sessions aka: MsFit
This is Part 1 of a two-part article. We will be discussing the million-dollar question, "How do I lose body fat?" Does it sound familiar? I'm not going to go into detail statistics and mathematical equations on how to lose body fat. All this is irrelevant unless you set a goal, make a commitment, and follow through with it. I will, however, discuss some of the mistakes made on the fat loss quest.
The biggest mistakes I see in those with weight loss endeavors are:
1. Jumping from one diet to the next, without giving ANY of them a chance to work.
2. Cutting calories drastically, far below one's BMR.
3. Eating correctly, but failing to make small adjustments to shock the body.
4. Scared to death to eat carbohydrates.
The most successful dieters are bodybuilders. They can drop the body fat and keep the muscle. How do they do this? Most would like to point the finger at drugs, but I can tell you first hand that what you put into your body accounts for 90% of your physique. You can weight train every day and do cardio for two hours every day, but unless you are eating correctly, you will keep running in circles, hoarding fat, burning muscle, and lowering your BMR.
Jumping From One Diet to the Next
This is basically being impatient with your current "diet". Most people stay on a diet for 4-7 days. If they fail to see results in this short time frame, it's left in the way side, only to adopt the current fad diet for the week.
Obviously, those trying to lose weight want immediately results. You did not gain weight in 4-7 days, so thinking it will come off in such a short amount of time is irrational. You cannot solve a weight problem in a week. You can, however, create healthy habits and make noticeable changes in a week.
If more people took the time and allowed the given program to work, they could make a fair assessment. If you keep jumping from one plan to the next, you will only end up being a professional dieter and not ever reaching your goal.
If you eat a balanced diet, exercise, and are consistent, you can make worthy changes in 10-20 days. If you continue your consistency, you can make outstanding changes in 20-40 days.
Drastically Cutting Calories
Far too many seeking weight loss will drastically cut their calories in hopes to shed body fat quickly. Sure, you may lose some weight in the beginning, but in doing so, your metabolism is lowered, your body holds on to fat, and you burn muscle. Muscle loss lowers your basal metabolic rate even more! This is the well-known starvation defense being enacted.
The starvation defense kicks in when your body thinks it is being deprived of nourishment (food). It is your body's way of conserving energy, so it burns fewer calories.
When the "diet" ends and you begin eating normally again, or worse binge, your body will rebound and you will gain even more weight due to the starvation mode the body thought it was under. It is actually absorbing more food for the next famine.
How to Manage
If your goal is to lose weight you must supply your body with fuel in order to burn fat. Beginning a "diet" on 1200 calories or less (starvation level) leaves you no room to lower calories later when you hit a plateau.
The best way to lower calories is to set them to your BMR plus activity calories and make small weekly cuts so your body doesn't react and slip into starvation mode. Eat balanced meals and rather forcing the body to change, allow it to respond.
Stay tuned for next months Part 2 where I will discuss mistakes number 4 and 5.
(C) 2004 Karen Sessions All Rights Reserved
Fitfully Yours,
Karen Sessions;
aka: MsFit
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