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DEL.ICIO.USWeight Loss and Fitness Mythbust #2: Dieting Will Eliminate Fat
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is a big myth I fight to correct everyday. Stay with me on this: Your body can’t tell the difference between you dramatically reducing your calories to lose weight with a diet, or starvation. The science behind it is simple: when you dramatically reduce your caloric intake, your body shifts into a protective, survival mode by slowing your metabolism down so you won’t burn as many calories. This means your body holds onto your ugly body fat and burns up your valuable, figure slimming muscle instead. Why does your body eat up your own muscle tissue instead of burning fat while you are deducing your calories? Because your muscle is what burns the most calories. As a matter of fact, muscle is the only tissue in the body that utilizes fat as energy. To keep you alive for the long haul, your body cannibalizes what burns the most calories! In other words, you will breakdown muscle to get it’s primary energy. Thus, drastically reducing your calories will make you fatter!
In the beginning of a diet you WILL lose weight by dramatically cutting calories. But it won’t be fat loss, it will be water weight and lean muscle tissue – the exact OPPOSITE of what you want to get rid of. There are 3,500 calories in a pound of fat. So, when a diet promises to help you lose 10 pounds of weight in one week, it can’t be fat. Why? Because 10 pounds of fat is 35,000 calories. That’s 5,000 calories per day. Even with exercise that is a an impossible feat.
Science has proven this over and over again. It’s an undisputed universal fact. Not only will harsh diets slow your metabolism down to a crawl, causing your initial weight loss to come to a gradual halt, they will also inevitably bring about a “rebound” effect. This rebound will make you even fatter than you were before starting the diet. This is the result of, among other things, losing muscle. When you rebound, not only do you generally put on more weight than you actually lost with the diet, your percentage of body fat increases because your body cannibalized muscle tissue as an energy source during the dieting process. Thus the “yo-yo” effect that almost all calorie deprived dieter’s experience.
Remember, weight is nothing more than a measure of gravity pulling an object toward Earth. It is not a measure of body composition. No matter how you look at it, there are no shortcuts. You must simply eat right and combine it with the right form of exercise.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment | Categories: Nutrition
Comments
By Deb
June 5, 2006 02:44 PM | Link to this
I must say that I never understood why weight lifing was important to lose weight, or that is fat, until now. Thanks for the clarification.
By Heather
June 6, 2006 09:38 AM | Link to this
While this is good to know, I would like some details on what I can eat to lose fat without my body thinking I am starving it. Every where I turn there is conflicting nutritional information. I eat Special K with fat free milk for breakfast, an orange or apple for mid-morning break, raw veggies and sometimes chicken for lunch and chicken (rarely steak) with brown rice for dinner. I am not hungry but I have been told that I am not eating enough. What else can I eat that is good for me? I also go to the gym every day, doing weights on MWF and cardio everyday. Please help, I have not lost a damn pound.
By Kelly Huggins
June 9, 2006 08:29 AM | Link to this
Heather,
Based upon the information you gave me, I would need more detail to give you more advice (one question is- how long you been doing this?). However, based upon you comment I can make these recommendations: 1. Though Special K is advertised as healthy, it is very high glycemic (raises blood sugar quickly). I suggest eating oatmeal, kashii w/skim, or something similar. These are low glycemic starchy carbs. Combine your brkfst with a lean protien (i.e. eggs and turkey bacon).
2. As far as your workout routine- make sure you have variety and are changes your routine every 3-4 weeks. Make sure you sweat. 3. Last but not least- DON’T GET FRUSTRATED (or turn your frustration into something positive). Evaluate your success not only by weight, but by inches, increased energy, etc. Doing something is better than nothing. You are making effort. Though I could be off base, it may be that all you need is some more consistency, time, and change of routine.
Hang in there- Kelly