If you have not read parts 1 and 2 please do so first!. Now that we understand that the most important factor in controlling bodyweight is managing the energy you use each day with the energy you take in from food and beverages the next step is understanding the crucial difference between losing fat and losing weight!
In the beginning of any new diet there is typically a significant loss of water weight, and while comforting this is a temporary phenomenon and not permanent! Also it is important to understand that real goal should be reducing levels of bodyfat while maintaining or actually increasing muscle mass.
The reason is that muscle and fat are not the same when it comes to how you look and feel. Fat is stored energy and fat tissue takes up much more space than muscle or other lean tissue mass. Take a look at the picture below to get a sense of how different 5lbs of muscle looks compared to 5lbs of fat.
As you can see muscle is much denser and firmer material than fat. The practical implication is that if you were to lose 5lbs of fat and gain 5lbs of muscle - although the scale would not change at all – you (and everyone you know) would notice a big improvement in your appearance. You would actually look smaller and feel firmer.
In addition because muscle burns significantly more calories than fat while at rest your resting metabolic rate would be increased meaning you are burning more calories ALL the time — not just during exercise.
It is very important to have a way to track your progress and the Styku Body Scan is ideal because you will literally see changes in your body and be able to accurately track your fat and muscle mass to make sure you are losing fat and not losing muscle over time.
So the next question becomes “how do I lose fat and build or maintain muscle mass at the same time?”
Regular Resistance Training aka strength training which stimulates your body to maintain or build muscle and bone tissue.
High Intensity Interval Training which maximizes calorie burn both during AND after the workout. One of the best HIIT workouts is Sprint 8 - to learn more about it see this previous blogpost: http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2019/03/is-hiit-really-better-for-fat-loss-than.html
Managing your food and beverage Intake to ensure your calorie intake is slightly below your total calorie output to ensure your body has a reason to use fat (stored energy).
Maintain Adequate Protein Intake - it is very important to eat enough protein to prevent loss of muscle mass during weight loss. Protein needs vary based on your size, age, and activity level but during weight loss you want to shoot for .8 - 1 gram of quality protein per pounds of bodyweight. To learn more about protein needs check out these previous blogposts: http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html and http://workoutanytime.blogspot.com/2021/06/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about.html .
While each of these components are important by themselves - combining them creates a much greater short and long term response. Take any of the four components out and you will limit your results!
Reducing calorie intake (aka dieting alone) will initially result in greater fat loss than exercise for people who are beginning to exercise, BUT overtime your body will ALWAYS slow-down in response to any sustained drop in calorie intake.
Exercise on the other hand is just the opposite — initially for an unfit person exercise makes a very small contribution to any weight loss because the person’s exercise capacity is low. However, over time a person’s exercise capacity will improve. So all forms of diet become less effective over time while exercise becomes more effective.
The key is addressing diet and exercise out of the gate and focusing on HIIT and Resistance Training in your exercise programming while watching your food and beverage intake!
Stay tuned for the final part of this article next week!
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