Dieting.  Such a happy word!!  Cross that out….. Ugh….. doesn’t that word put a bad taste in your mouth right away??  Are you thinking ‘broccoli & fish’ for every meal?  I hate that word with a passion.
However, it’s the best word to describe changing your eating habits and it gets a bad rep thanks to fad diets.

Dieting to lose weight evokes a strong counteraction by the body to conserve energy.  When you start a diet, one of the means to weight loss involves eating fewer calories.  This acts as an alarm & signals the body t prepare for a future starvation state, something your body is extremely efficient at protecting against.  You will read some articles that contradict this thought process….. but I firmly believe it.

To counter the decrease in calorie intake & keep you alive, the body conserves energy by slowing down the resting metabolic rate or number in which your body burns calories throughout the day.  A slower metabolic rate results in fewer calories burned than normal, which conserved energy but also may allow more fat to be stored.  A drop in metabolic rate is one of the toughest obstacles for dieters to overcome.  Check out what happens… this may have happened to you:

• > Start a diet & eat fewer calories.
  > Lose a little weight… or maybe a lot pending your starting size.
  > The body starts to signal starvation & the metabolic rate slows and fewer calories are burned.
  > Energy is conserved and you don’t have the energy to power through a workout, maybe get tired more quickly, grumpy, and the body starts conserving fat.
  >  You gain some weight back.  OR….. eat normal for a couple of days and the # on the scale jumps up.

What does the body start to use for energy when starved?  PROTEIN.  What’s protein?  MUSCLE.  What burns more calories at rest in the body?  MUSCLE.  Do you want the body to burn muscle?  NOOOOOOO!!!!! Here are some tips to fight against a slower metabolic rate and preserve muscle.  Many ‘body builders’ have an uncanny way of building muscle & losing fat.  Through my Sports Nutrition course, I’ve learned that Body Builders have some of the BEST diets and discipline over other athletes/people.  Yes… they workout hard & hit the weights hard with little cardio…. more than likely they are doing explosive cardio vs. long sustained sweat sessions.
But…their ‘diets’ are spot on in regards to carbs/proteins/healthy fats.  Maybe we should make an effort to mimic more of their food plans than sprinkling magic dust on our food for weight loss.
Here’s some strategies they use that are very effective.

• Eat more protein.  Add a lean protein-source to each meal/snack.  Think: non-animal protein.  (beans, nuts, vegetarian burger, cottage cheese, cheese, milk, Greek yogurt, protein bars, protein shakes).
• Drink a protein shake in the afternoon between lunch and dinner…. which is usually the second longest fast of the day after sleeping.  (Shakeology is NOT marketed as a ‘protein shake’ but with 16+ grams of protein, pre/pro-biotics, digestive enzymes, and superfoods….. it makes a great snack and gives you energy to power through the afternoon.)
• Add resistive/strength training to your workout!!!!  Not sure how to do this or want a program to do at home?  Contact me at: Bashford.Lisa@yahoo.com

Don’t forget……. Muscles is a GREAT weapon in the fight to lose weight.  Don’t skimp on that part of your workout and don’t be a ‘cardio queen’ everyday!!  No sense in being hungry and running on a treadmill for an hour to lose weight when you don’t have to!  And… it doesn’t work anyways!!
Not wanting to leave the house on cold mornings & go to the gym?  Get an amazing workout at home…. I do every day!  Check out your options at www.beachbodycoach.com/LisaBashford

Lisa S. Bashford
Certified Specialist in Sports Nutrition
Owner of YourFitness-411.com