Okay folks.....let me run this by you. Let's say you make $1,000 per week and you spend $600 per week...where's the balance, is there more coming in then going out? Do your savings increase or are you in deficit? Okay, all jokes aside, the outcome is quite obvious.
Say it with me: CALORIES IN VS. CALORIES OUT. This is an inescapable truth. It may disguise itself, it may be hard to detect and at times it may not even seem to apply...but it's an absolute.
Next rule; while the body can adjust and slow the metabolism to account for a calorie deficit, it can NOT cover the spread. You want to see it in numbers? Fine: let's say your BMR is 2,100 and you go into a solid 500 calorie deficit...your body can not lower it's BMR to 1,600 and cover the 500 deficit. It can adjust, it can try to account, but in the end it's a small percentage relative to the deficit.
Body Fat Percentage...can be an elusive thing. There's subcutaneous body fat (what's under your skin) and there's visceral body fat (deeper inside your body). Body-fat calipers can only tell you what's happening just under your skin and only in those areas that you pinch. The scales that incorporate BF% in them simply run electricity through your body and rely on the fact that water-dense fat conducts electricity with less resistance then denser muscle tissue. Electricity will always seek the path of least resistance, so if your standing on the scale it's running through one leg, across your lower body and back down the leg, then it often runs the calculation against your weight....it's rather ignorant of other areas.
Getting right to it. It still baffles and astounds me how some people just tend to lose weight, stay lean and can eat a lot of food...while others (myself very much included) have to fight for every damn ounce of fat loss. It's just genetics, but it's our cards dealt and it is what it is. Accept that progress may be slow and at times almost seemingly impossible. I have my days where I'm just blown away with how much work the body can do AND how few calories we can eat. Again; it is what it is, so you just have to work with what you have. Been there, doing that.
Here are some tips:
It is VERY easy to eat more calories then you realize. Keep a food journal, the accountibility alone will lean your out 20% of your intake just because you now need to re-think every choice: do you really want to have to add that to your list of food today? When most dieters tell me they haven't really seen any loses lately, it's right around that same time when they stopped logging their food journal. It's not a pain-in-the-butt...it's, in one word, ACCOUNTIBILITY.
Weight-training. I've seen way too many people just going through the motions. I don't enjoy the pain like other guys do, but still...the last 3 or 5 reps should pretty much be unpleasant and you know you're doing it right when you finish and have to shake it off or curse a bit. No pain, no gain. Make it count, keep your form proper, get motivated and don't just go through the motions doing a princess workout. The weight-training will not only reduce loss of muscle (which can account for as much as 30% when dieting), but it'll increase muscle and stimulate metabolism. Do it and do it 2-3x per week for at least an hour.
Cardio. An hour, minimumm 3-5x per week. Heck, it takes 20 minutes just to burn-up enough blood sugars just to get the body to start dipping into the fat. I've read some studies that suggest that after an hour your body starts burning 7x more from fat as it tries to preserve glycogen storage. Lower your intensity if you need to and stay away from high-impact stuff...but get on that cardio. Wear a heart-rate monitor, a unit with a calorie-counter is fun....shoot for an HR of at least 130
Have you heard of set-point theory? The body tries to maintain homeostasis, it looks to maintain a certain weight. Seems that way: I can eat 2,000 to 3,800 calories and see no changes. By caloric economic theory (as I opened this post with) it makes no sense, but the body does seem to hover around a certain weight. What you want to do is lower that set-point...and FOR PEOPLE LIKE US it's not going to be done with a modest calorie deficit and moderate exercise...you need to push it and push it HARD. You need to take it outside your comfort zone and move that insurmountable & stubborn set-point. Easy? It wont' be easy...but if you're going to make an effort, then the only effort worth making is one that makes a difference...otherwise your just wasting your time.
Would you entirely build a house to just knock it down when your done? No, of course not...so in the same manner ask yourself if you're really ready & willing to make this happen...cause it's going to be a long & hard road, one that's incredibly worth taking, but one that won't come quickly, easily or without a lot of suffering, pain & determination. Do you think it's just a coincidence that the word DIE is in DIET?
So here's where you're at. You are not a freak of nature, you do not defy science or the laws of physics. If you are not seeing results there can only be two reasons: 1) Your not really putting in the effort and doing the program honesty/properly OR 2) Your not using means capable of detecting the changes you've made. Cause you can not eat less, exercise more and not see any results in a positive direction. It can only seem that way and granted I lost 40 pounds and never felt or saw any differences...but it happens slowly and over time.
Sharpen your pencil, up your game, increase the intensity and stay focused on the bigger picture. Feel free to complain, bitch, moan & groan...your entitled to that while enduring this process.
Say it with me: CALORIES IN VS. CALORIES OUT. This is an inescapable truth. It may disguise itself, it may be hard to detect and at times it may not even seem to apply...but it's an absolute.
Next rule; while the body can adjust and slow the metabolism to account for a calorie deficit, it can NOT cover the spread. You want to see it in numbers? Fine: let's say your BMR is 2,100 and you go into a solid 500 calorie deficit...your body can not lower it's BMR to 1,600 and cover the 500 deficit. It can adjust, it can try to account, but in the end it's a small percentage relative to the deficit.
Body Fat Percentage...can be an elusive thing. There's subcutaneous body fat (what's under your skin) and there's visceral body fat (deeper inside your body). Body-fat calipers can only tell you what's happening just under your skin and only in those areas that you pinch. The scales that incorporate BF% in them simply run electricity through your body and rely on the fact that water-dense fat conducts electricity with less resistance then denser muscle tissue. Electricity will always seek the path of least resistance, so if your standing on the scale it's running through one leg, across your lower body and back down the leg, then it often runs the calculation against your weight....it's rather ignorant of other areas.
Getting right to it. It still baffles and astounds me how some people just tend to lose weight, stay lean and can eat a lot of food...while others (myself very much included) have to fight for every damn ounce of fat loss. It's just genetics, but it's our cards dealt and it is what it is. Accept that progress may be slow and at times almost seemingly impossible. I have my days where I'm just blown away with how much work the body can do AND how few calories we can eat. Again; it is what it is, so you just have to work with what you have. Been there, doing that.
Here are some tips:
It is VERY easy to eat more calories then you realize. Keep a food journal, the accountibility alone will lean your out 20% of your intake just because you now need to re-think every choice: do you really want to have to add that to your list of food today? When most dieters tell me they haven't really seen any loses lately, it's right around that same time when they stopped logging their food journal. It's not a pain-in-the-butt...it's, in one word, ACCOUNTIBILITY.
Weight-training. I've seen way too many people just going through the motions. I don't enjoy the pain like other guys do, but still...the last 3 or 5 reps should pretty much be unpleasant and you know you're doing it right when you finish and have to shake it off or curse a bit. No pain, no gain. Make it count, keep your form proper, get motivated and don't just go through the motions doing a princess workout. The weight-training will not only reduce loss of muscle (which can account for as much as 30% when dieting), but it'll increase muscle and stimulate metabolism. Do it and do it 2-3x per week for at least an hour.
Cardio. An hour, minimumm 3-5x per week. Heck, it takes 20 minutes just to burn-up enough blood sugars just to get the body to start dipping into the fat. I've read some studies that suggest that after an hour your body starts burning 7x more from fat as it tries to preserve glycogen storage. Lower your intensity if you need to and stay away from high-impact stuff...but get on that cardio. Wear a heart-rate monitor, a unit with a calorie-counter is fun....shoot for an HR of at least 130
Have you heard of set-point theory? The body tries to maintain homeostasis, it looks to maintain a certain weight. Seems that way: I can eat 2,000 to 3,800 calories and see no changes. By caloric economic theory (as I opened this post with) it makes no sense, but the body does seem to hover around a certain weight. What you want to do is lower that set-point...and FOR PEOPLE LIKE US it's not going to be done with a modest calorie deficit and moderate exercise...you need to push it and push it HARD. You need to take it outside your comfort zone and move that insurmountable & stubborn set-point. Easy? It wont' be easy...but if you're going to make an effort, then the only effort worth making is one that makes a difference...otherwise your just wasting your time.
Would you entirely build a house to just knock it down when your done? No, of course not...so in the same manner ask yourself if you're really ready & willing to make this happen...cause it's going to be a long & hard road, one that's incredibly worth taking, but one that won't come quickly, easily or without a lot of suffering, pain & determination. Do you think it's just a coincidence that the word DIE is in DIET?
So here's where you're at. You are not a freak of nature, you do not defy science or the laws of physics. If you are not seeing results there can only be two reasons: 1) Your not really putting in the effort and doing the program honesty/properly OR 2) Your not using means capable of detecting the changes you've made. Cause you can not eat less, exercise more and not see any results in a positive direction. It can only seem that way and granted I lost 40 pounds and never felt or saw any differences...but it happens slowly and over time.
Sharpen your pencil, up your game, increase the intensity and stay focused on the bigger picture. Feel free to complain, bitch, moan & groan...your entitled to that while enduring this process.
