Fat loss 101

How many times have you thought to your self, I need to lose weight. Monday I am going to start my diet. So Monday morning comes, breakfast is a piece of wholemeal toast and lunch is a salad? Because of the way fat loss is perceived, through media, so called diet guru’s etc, we come to believe that eating less is best. If you are over weight the first things you do is usually cut down on the food and get some exercise.

Most people have heard of the “body going into starvation mode” But what is starvation mode? When ever you drastically restrict calories, the body decreases its metabolism, forcing the body to preserve fat and increase appetite to try to make you eat more. This is why some people who lose weight quickly on crash diets often look and feel softer.

When calories are heavily restricted, the level of the hormone Leptin, drops drastically. Leptin is an important hormone or protein in the body that is produced by human fat cells. Leptin communicates directly with the brain and tells the brain how much fat is stored in the body and controls your appetite, energy levels, hormone balance and your metabolism.

When calories are heavily restricted, leptin levels drop, sending a signal to your brain that you are not eating enough food. Once this happens, all the things mentioned previously (decreased metabolism, stalled fat loss, increased appetite, etc) occur as a chain reaction.

This is when, fat loss becomes a real battle, and is the reason why a lot of people fail when it comes to losing weight and keeping it off. Creating a moderate caloric deficit through both diet and exercise is the best way to succeed with your fat loss goals. You only need to reduce calories enough to have you losing fat at a consistent, steady rate, but do not cut calories so low as to trigger your body’s starvation protection mechanism.

There are millions of lose weight quick programs, weight loss products, but if I can give you one very simple no cost tip it would be, never ever, skip meals especially breakfast. I am not going to go on about this, but this is the most important meal of the day. Remember you probably had your last meal the previous evening and have quite possibly not eaten in 16 or more hours, so your body is craving food, give it what it wants.

If you need more help or advice on weight loss, and how to get the body you want contact www.exercisenutritioncoach.co.uk

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