Intelligent Fat Loss
It is ironic, how when we speak of muscle, images of body builders start popping into our heads. “Oh”, you say, “but I really don’t want muscle, I just want to lose the belly fat, just a little…” All I need is the same diet that everybody else goes on, and I’ll be fine. “And anyway”, but this you say to yourself, “I really don’t have the will or the self discipline to actually get myself to exercise!”
History has taught us now that “the diet that everybody else goes on” is having them fatter the moment they go off that diet. On the ultra low calorie diets the body begins to cannibalize its own muscle tissue as its defense mechanisms come into play.
Muscle is the furnace that burns in the body, and retaining and conditioning that muscle is what you should be aiming for. Now this does absolutely not mean we have to develop our muscles into the bulk that we are familiar with seeing on body builders.
Retaining your muscle mass while on a weight loss program is one of the most important aspects that you need to concentrate on as this will help you to keep your fat percentage down long-term.
Here is what Lynn Van Dyke has to say in her article “The Number One Way For Obese People To Lose The Fat”: When we strength train, we add lean muscle mass to our body. This lean muscle mass burns through 35-50 calories per pound of muscle every single day. Let’s take a look at that number from a different point of view. If we have 5 pounds of lean muscle, that muscle will burn about 250 calories a day. Here comes the fun part. If we have 10 pounds of lean muscle mass, then our muscles burn about 500 calories a day. Hopefully you can see why adding lean muscle is the best way to lose fat.”
Which means that you’ll be shredding the fat even when resting, while your trusted old muscle tissue keeps on doing what it does best.
And healthy is what you should be aiming for when you go on a weight loss program and not simply losing weight, as actually improving your overall health and well-being will help you to live a better lifestyle for a lot longer.
Increasing your muscle mass also improves your metabolic rate whereas body fat has a very low level of metabolic activity.
