“Standard” Caloric Weight Loss
Approach:
Unfortunately, the calories you burn
and weight you lose you burn may or may not be your fat. This may be a little
frustrating to hear after all the time and hard work you put into eating
healthy and making it to the gym, but bear with me, the news gets better. Don’t
get me wrong, watch your calorie intake and run for miles you’ll lose weight,
but you won’t change your shape. You may assume that by doing so you’ll achieve
the perfect Adonis/Aphrodite physique, but instead, if you are a pear shape,
you will simply become a smaller pear shape. And a mushier one too (loss of
muscle means loss of tone).
For most, following the “eat less,
exercise more model” is a crucial part to playing the weight loss game. As
frustrating as it may seem, not only will you not attain the desired shape
change you are after, but it has the treacherous side effect of weight gain
rebound. This is the reason the term “yo-yo diet” is so universal, especially
among those who follow the latest diet “fads”.
It is now common knowledge in the
fitness and nutrition fields that losing muscle during standard dieting makes
it far more likely you will not only regain the weight you worked so hard to
lose, but you will end up fatter than you were before after finishing the diet.
This fact, along with the persistent cravings, unquenchable hunger, and shifting
energy levels produced by these tactics, almost always assures a return to our
former selves... only this time bigger, flabbier, and far less flattering. (see
references 1-7 below for more)
More and more research is showing the long
term success rate of this approach is less than 5%. When is the last time
you’ve trusted anything with a 5% success rate when other, proven, options
exist? Furthermore, research also
tells us that 66% of individuals who take this approach end up fatter within 2
years after their diet!
Caloric weight loss may seem
beneficial in the short-term to make you smaller, but even that won’t last as
almost everyone rebounds and regains the weight. Why risk it, unless you have
complete faith that you’ll be that lucky 5%. This is the crucial misconception
that many in the weight loss world seem to either ignore or fail to notice: a
plan that works well in the short term but is impossible to maintain in the
long-run, is not a plan that works.
Even for those “lucky” 5%ers, it is
an exhausting and continuous battle against willpower to keep their weight off.
All of that work for a body that is softer and not as shapely as they had
likely hoped.
The caloric weight loss game is not
a smart lifestyle approach for those looking for a lasting body change.
Hormonal Fat Loss Approach:
For a majority of people, fat loss
way should be a hormone focused approach. It does not simply emphasize on “calories
in calories out”. It also gives close consideration to hormones. I know that
most of you aren’t doctors and that the idea of “hormonal fat loss” versus
“caloric weight loss” may seem like an unusual idea. So I will simplify it the
best I can you for.
Let your physicians deal with all of
the science terms and methodology behind the why’s of this approach. You don’t
need it to tell you if your hormones are balanced for fat loss. All you need is
to know your HEC (pronounced heck). When your body is burning fat, your HEC
will be in check (kind of catchy, right?)!
So what in the heck is HEC exactly?
HEC is the abbreviation for hunger, energy and cravings, and when
your hormonal metabolism is balanced these three biofeedback tools will also be
balanced. When your metabolism is functioning optimally, hunger will be
reduced, energy will be balanced, and cravings will be almost absent.
By realizing the importance of hormones
and their powers on diet, exercise, and lifestyle, you now control your ability
to police calories naturally with only a fraction of the energy you were
wasting before. You can’t just indiscriminately eat less and move more. This sends
your HEC out of balance and will eventually result in compensatory eating, low
motivation for exercise, cravings, and yo-yo weight regain.
The right approach for fat loss is
to exercise smarter and eat intelligently in a way that maintains muscle and
focuses on fat loss exclusively. This approach takes great care to balance
hormones so that hunger is lessened, energy is raised, cravings are reduced,
and fat is lost.
With fat loss, you keep your muscle,
your metabolic rate is just as high as it was when you were bigger, AND you
don’t have to fight a constant battle against willpower because HEC is
balanced. When HEC is balanced and you are losing fat, you know you have found
a lifestyle you can live forever.
For more information on fat loss (or weight management as we call it).
References:
1.
Benedict FG, (1907) The Influence of
Inanition on Metabolism. Carnegie Institute of Washingtion Publication No. 77.
Washington, DC: Carnegie Institute of Washington.
2.
Benedict FG, Miles WR, Roth P et al.
(1919) Human Vitality and Efficiency under Prolonged restricted Diet. Carnegie
Institute of Washington Publication 280. Washington, DC: Carnegie Institute of
Washington.
3.
Fleisch A (1947) Ernahungsprobleme
in Mangelzeiten (Nutrition Problems During Food Rationing) Basel: Benno Schwabe
& Co.
4.
Keys A, Brozek J, Henschel A et al.
(1950) The Biology of Human Starvation. Minnesota: University of Minnesota
Press.
5.
Nindl BC, Friedl KE, Frykman PN et
al. (1997) Physical performance and metabolic recovery among lean healthy men
following a prolonged energy deficit. Int J Sports Med 18, 317-324.
6.
Young AJ, Castellani JW O’Brien C et
al. (1998) Exertional fatigue, sleep loss, and negative energy balance increase
susceptibility to hypothermia. J Appl Physiol 85, 1212-1217.
7.
Friedl KE, Moore RJ, Hoyt RW et al.
(2000) Endocrine markers of semistarvation on healthy lean men in a
multi-stressor environment. J Appl Physiol 88, 1820-1830.
