Are you working hard in the gym 3 times a week, eating sensibly but still struggling to lose that weight or change your body shape?
Have you previously lost weight by starting to exercise and watching what you eat, only to continue gaining fat despite sticking to your programme?
If this sounds familiar, there are a couple of things you should take a closer look at?
1.The components of your exercise programme
2.What you are eating
Ensuring you have the right components in your exercise programme is vital ? it is very common to begin an exercise programme and start watching what you eat and find that you do lose weight. This is often because you are managing and manipulating the calorie deficit in your body and the immediate increased demands will cause you to lose weight initially as the body has to find the energy to meet the added demand. However in the long term you must ensure you maintain & even increase muscle mass in your body to keep your metabolism higher and not just increase the duration of exercise to try and burn more calories. For more information about the right combination of cardio and resistance training take a look at my article "The right combination for weight loss".
When it comes to nutrition, you're probably (and quite rightly) concerned with managing your calorie intake to lose weight or change your body shape. However, it is also worth taking a look at what your diet consists of as well as how much you are eating. And I don't just mean ensuring you are eating enough fruit & vegetables.
There are a number of foods that actually take more from your body than they provide ? I call these 'nutrient robbers'. By this I mean that the effort to digest, absorb, metabolise and eliminate such foods actually require more nutrients than they ultimately provide the body with.
If this is the case, what you are feeding your body depletes it of more than you give it and can cause your body to behave like you are actually on a diet, going into survival mode in order to cope with the demands of processing such foods.
In other words, your body will hang on to all the energy and nutrients it thinks it's going to need to process the foods it will be receiving ? in much the same way that it hangs onto energy (fat) & nutrients when you starve your body or go on a diet because it never knows when it will get adequate nutrition.
Some examples of nutrient robbers are:
? Fast foods & takeaways
? Fizzy drinks
? Sports Bars
? A large number of the whey protein shake mixes and protein powders
? Most canned foods, particularly canned fruits in syrup
? Anything cooked or prepared in a microwave
? 99 percent of all packaged foods. This includes any commercially processed grain products, such as pastas, breads (white is the worst) and cereal bars
? Most processed sandwich meats; many of them have both gluten and sugar added to them as fillers, plus the use of synthetic fillers.
? All packaged dessert foods, such as donuts, biscuits (unless made from organic whole-foods) and ice cream.
Therefore, if the majority of your diet consists of these foods, you will rapidly drop to the point at which you have calories, but inadequate nutrition in your body to process them, thus nutritionally you are starving.
In health & fitness terms, this is vital because your body needs all sorts of nutrients to function efficiently and effectively ? all the more so when you are working out three times a week.
Some examples of how nutrients can help your body cope with the demands of working out:
? Proteins help the muscles repair themselves more quickly
? Calcium is vital for normal muscle contractions
? Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant, which possibly helps reduce tissue damage
? Iron in haemoglobin is essential for carrying oxygen to the working muscles
So if you are nutritionally starving because your diet consists of mostly nutrient robbers, then your body will struggle to function efficiently and effectively even at rest, yet alone when you put it through an hour long workout 3 times a week.
Therefore if you are exercising regularly, watching what you eat but still not achieving your weight loss or body shaping goals, then take a look at what you're eating and make sure you're not starving yourself of vital nutrients.
Lea Woodward is a qualified personal trainer and director of activOne ltd in the UK. activOne provides personal training, diet & nutrition advice and massage therapy to private clients & corporate wellbeing services in the UK as well as virtual training to clients worldwide. Check out my website http://www.activone.co.uk
shuttle from Midway Glen Ellyn ..Which is easier to do ? turn a car's steering... Read More
What is the relationship between intake of nutrition and metabolism... Read More
Dieting is not easy. If it were, we would probably... Read More
If you are like everyone else who has hit rock... Read More
Everyone from politicians to parents is talking about fighting the... Read More
That's a pretty "in your face" statement, but really it's... Read More
Obesity, especially in children, is a matter of rapidly growing... Read More
Over the last 30 years, research into food and blood... Read More
If only we could solve this question, the world (for... Read More
Don't diet, just eat and lose weight!First, the following "diet"... Read More
Are you overweight?Most people are afraid to admit they are.It... Read More
Doctor, Why Can't I Loose Weight and by the... Read More
Everyone is looking for the secret to losing weight. Everyone... Read More
If you have been eating as usual and the pounds... Read More
Weight loss can be a difficult goal to achieve. Some... Read More
More than 70% of US adults are overweight and that... Read More
Fat Loss Tip #3) Proper Meal FrequencyMeal Frequency (i.e., the... Read More
Obesity and fast foods - there's little doubt about the... Read More
Weight loss, diets and "carbs" are common household topics. There... Read More
I just finished working my quads on a weight machine.... Read More
"I'd love to lose weight, but I don't have the... Read More
How to burn fat fast is a question that burns... Read More
America is getting more obese every year. Even our children... Read More
Gastric-bypass surgery is only the first step many morbidly obese... Read More
There are many books and internet articles written about weight... Read More
shuttle from O'Hare North Chicago ..Who really wants to lose weight? None of us, right?... Read More
Once there were these two Nuns and they...just kidding! Do... Read More
The heated debate, within diet circles, that began a few... Read More
Obesity and fast foods - there's little doubt about the... Read More
Activity means both mental and physical activity.Mental activity is similar... Read More
Have you ever stepped on the scale after a week... Read More
I wrote this article back in the late fall when... Read More
Students today are faced with the serious reality of unwanted... Read More
We, as a society, are always trying to lose weight.... Read More
1. Carrying around excess body fat will decrease your energy... Read More
The only way you will ever follow through on an... Read More
Everyone is looking for the secret to losing weight. Everyone... Read More
The Zone Diet as a weight loss program has been... Read More
Almost everyone has attempted to follow diets and weight loss... Read More
A very interesting story was reported recently by WebMD.com. A... Read More
Considering the US Center for Disease Control's advice is a... Read More
"I eat like a bird, why do I gain weight?"... Read More
For people that are obese, losing weight quickly can seem... Read More
Over the last twenty five years the most common questioned... Read More
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE NUMBERS!The health clubs are always racking... Read More
Do you know that while you work out the muscles... Read More
Choosing the right diet type is the most important decision... Read More
When you have started a diet in the past, how... Read More
Franchised Business Models and American Diets could be at odds.... Read More
Q: "I'm wondering if you can help me. I'm not... Read More
Weight Loss |