Is The Best Way To Burn Fat The Fastest Way To Lose Weight?
“That’s it. I’ve had enough. I’m going to diet and finally get rid of these pounds!”
Did words like these ever come from your mouth?
Having finally committed to the diet, we usually move next to finding out how we can get rid of the weight the fastest way possible.
I know this because I’ve gone through the same kind of thing myself in the past. We live in fast times and it’s natural for us to seek fast results. So let’s take a closer look at this desire for “now” results and see where it leads us.
Usually when we start considering how to lose weight fast, the tactic that comes first to mind is eating a calorie reduced diet.
This is basically the correct line of thinking. Losing body fat is in the most simplistic sense, a matter of eating fewer calories than it takes to maintain the pounds we want to get rid of.
As an approach to how to lose weight, this method is fine. The issue of interest in the quick weight loss diet is not the “how”, but rather the “how fast.” A sharp reduction in caloric intake leads the body to fear that it is facing starvation. It then takes measures to save itself.
It is a curious fact that as conscious beings, we sometimes disagree with nature’s view of what’s important. In situations where the survival is the focus of attention, this disagreement takes on a much heavier consequence.
Take for example hypothermia. This is a condition where the body’s temperature becomes abnormally low; as when ill dressed for harsh winter weather for example.
In an attempt to weather out the threatening hypothermia situation as long as possible, the body shuts down blood to non-essential parts of the body. This list of “non-essentials” seems reasonable: arms, legs . . . WHAT?!? . . . the head? That’s right; the body considers the head a non-essential part!!
We also come to a parting of the ways with our bodies when it comes to how the body handles things when it thinks we are in danger of starving. Among the many responses the body has to this situation, two are of particular interest.
1. Adaptation: Our bodies adjust to the fact that there are fewer calories available by slowing down our metabolism. Now the body can hang on to its fat more easily.
2) The body knows that muscle is “high maintenance.” Muscle consumes calories even if we’re just relaxing on the couch. So the body remedies this problem by reducing our muscle mass – it literally “eats” it!
It would appear that we have been outsmarted by our bodies. By becoming more frugal about spending fat and evicting much of the muscle population, the body transformed our fast weight loss diet into keep weight at all costs diet.
The transition is complete; we are now long term fat storage units.
The lesson here is to avoid aggressive diets if you can.
So what would a more conservative approach to dieting look like?
Here are the least number of features an effective diet should have:
1. Non-aggressive calorie reduction: don’t cut your calories by more than 20%.
2. A strength training component to increase muscle mass.
3. An aerobic component to help raise the metabolism.
These features are each well covered in many books as individual topics. If you are looking at a diet system that is missing some of these activities, you can always just add them.
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