What? This concept is a monumental shift for most people as usually, when someone is trying to lose weight, they buy into the idea that they have to restrict calories and exercise their brains out if they want to shed the FLUB. Ok, let me give you an extreme example that will truly put this into perspective for you. I had a client a few years ago that was very frustrated that she had been gaining weight for 1 year. She thought she was doing everything perfectly, yet she still gained 10 pounds in 1 year. What was she doing? Well, she exercised for an hour or more per day 6-7 days a week and ate under 1,000 calories a day! WOW, I sometimes eat that much in one sitting. Anyways, I'm sure the average person would be stunned that she GAINED weight doing this. Not me! I knew what her body was up to. What do you think was happening in her body? You have to keep in mind that our bodies are designed with incredible complexity. They are pretty smart too! You see, when our bodies sense that we are not eating enough calories to "fuel the fire," it goes on preserve mode. It turns down heat and uses significantly less "fuel" for the fire. Essentially, it holds onto fat like a bear hibernating in the winter. It realizes that if it keeps burning fat, there will eventually be nothing left of it because of the minimal amount of calories coming in. Some people may lose weight initially, but you can't get away with tricking your body forever. That is why DIEts never work long-term. People, you can only trick your body so long before it realizes what you are doing to it.
Now, regarding exercise, we are basically looking at the same idea...especially considering there is the combo of a lot of exercise and a little amount of calories. My client's body was like one of those little economical cars on cruise control when she exercised. Her body was in preservation mode and was burning minimal fuel as she exercised. She was burning about as many calories as a bear does while snoring in hibernation. To make a long story short, as soon as we started to bump up her calories and shorten her exercise duration and add in an extra rest day, her body began burning fat like an old muscle car burns fuel in a wide open throttle. You may not be this extreme, but many people fall somewhere into the category of not eating enough and exercising too much or too long.
You don't necessarily need to become a calorie counter, but you do need to understand how much food you should be eating everyday to unlock your metabolic furnace. And it is not just any calories, but the right calories and combination of protein, carbs and fats. That is for another day though. So, a good place to start is take your bodyweight and multiply it by 10. You should at least be eating around that number of calories per day. Then, you can add on 10-25% depending on your activity level. If you are trying to gain weight, that is a whole different story. Then, you should do your best to break this number into 4-7 equal portions. How many times you eat depends on your age, gender, activity level and your daily schedule. Remember, it takes calories to burn calories. You can't burn fat if you're running on fumes.
When it comes to exercise, the intensity is more important than the duration. It is also critical that you take rest days so your body can recover and progress. Unless you are training for a long distance sport or event, more than 60 minutes can have adverse effects on your body. As a matter of fact, I reccomend 30-45 minutes of higher intensity exercise most days of the week taking 1-2 days off for rest as needed. You burn just as many, if not more calories in less time and get your metabolism charged up more post-exercise. Steady state exercise, especially for 60 min or more can cause cortisol release in your body which can cause your body to hold onto fat while you exercise and burn muscle. It can also cause your body to go on cruise control and conserve calories burned during exercise. I reccomend interval training (H.I.I.T.) for most of your cardio days, and on your resistance training days, you should minimize rest time inbetween sets. String the exercises together and keep moving. Get the job done in 30-45 minutes. You will spend less time and get better results.
So yes, I am telling you to exercise less (but more intense) and eat more (of good quality foods) to unlock the fat burning furnace in your body. I am proof that it works. There you go, I have just given you one of my secrets to staying lean and fit! Now, go rev up that muscle car engine!
