Summer is around the
corner, and what better time is there to be serious about
getting lean and looking your best? Regardless of where you are starting, if you
start now you could be trim, lean, confident, and in the best shape of your life by
summer. However, you'll need to go beyond the overly
simplistic "eat less and exercise more" advice. That's
equivalent to saying get rich by spending less and making more
money. Sure it makes sense on the surface, but you need a
detailed plan that works for your financial metabolism. The
reality is, you have it within your biology to be
healthy
and lean, and it's not as hard as you might think.
Here's how to reprogram your body's metabolism.
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Americans Continue To Get
Fatter
First, let's take stock of the current
status quo. Obesity rates have continued to climb for the last
few decades. The latest statistics indicate that 72 percent
of adult men and 64 percent of adult women are overweight, as defined as
body mass index equal to or more than 25 kg/m2, and approximately
one-third are obese with a BMI equal to or more than 30 kg/m2.
Besides low energy and the negative psychological aspects associated
with being overweight, obesity is linked to the risk of type 2 diabetes,
heart disease, cancer and increased morbidity. The
unremitting high prevalence of obesity in the United States coupled with
limited success of traditional counter-measures (i.e., eat less,
exercise more) has led to considerable frustration among many
individuals and healthcare professionals.
Why Exercise Alone is Not the
Answer
Let's start right off dispelling one of the
most common myths about the positive effects of exercise on weight
loss. The truth is exercise is a rather lousy weight loss
tool, but it is a great wellness tool. The strongest evidence
showing weak effects of exercise comes from studies done in identical
twins under highly controlled conditions where all food was provided and
exercise carefully monitored. In one experiment twins were
fed a caloric level to maintain body weight. Then on top of
that they were required to exercise for 2 hours per day for 3
months. This created a daily energy deficit of over 600 kcal
for each person in the study. That equals an energy deficit of
more than 58,000 kcal total. If it takes a deficit of 3500
kcal to lose one pound of fat, these subjects should have lost more than
16 pounds. The most striking finding was the wide discrepancy
in weight loss among the twins ranging from 2 to 18
pounds. Think about how disappointing it would be to lose only 2
pounds after diligently exercising for 2 hours per day. Even
more striking was the discovery that the weight loss within twin pairs
was very similar. Since identical twins share the same DNA,
this study clearly shows that your genetics plays a huge role in your
weight loss response to exercise.
If Exercise is Not the Answer for
Everyone, What Is?
The previous example is not
meant to downplay the importance of exercise, since exercise does
promote many positive health effects and resistance training is
necessary to build muscle. But it does highlight the fact that
exercise has weak effects in promoting weight loss and underscores the
importance of paying attention to diet composition. Many
experts will say all you need to do is eat less than you expend to lose
body weight. This is exactly the wrong way to look at the
situation. If you are trying to
lose
weight, what you really need to do is
lose
body fat. Although you may view that fat as
unhealthy and unsightly, it actually represents your body's largest fuel
tank. And that fuel can be used in a positive way.
Wouldn't it be a neat trick to mobilize that fat and convert it into a
reliable and
consistent
form of energy your body used all day long? That's
currently not the case since access to that fuel tank is being blocked
by eating the wrong foods. The trick to unlock the flow of fat
from your fat stores is to keep the hormone insulin in check.
Keeping Insulin
Low
Insulin has many functions in the body, most
notably increasing blood sugar uptake into cells, but here are three
additional functions of insulin that emphasize why you will benefit from
keeping this storage hormone low.
First,
of all the various mediators that regulate fat breakdown, insulin is the
most important. Fat, or more specifically fatty acids, are
primarily stored as triglycerides in fat cells (i.e.,
adipocytes). A triglyceride is simply three fatty acids
attached to a single glycerol molecule. In order to access
those fatty acids you have to release them from glycerol. This
process of fat breakdown is called lipolysis. Insulin
potently blocks lipolysis. In other words insulin prevents
fatty acids from being released from fat cells. The
relationship between insulin and fat breakdown is not linear.
Small increases in insulin cause a major inhibition of fat
breakdown.
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Thus, when you raise insulin levels by consuming fast acting forms of
carbs, it puts the breaks on fat breakdown both at rest and after
exercise.
A second factor relates to
oxidation (i.e., burning) of fat which occurs mainly in
muscles. More specifically, fat oxidation occurs in
specialized energy-producing structures called mitochondria.
Once a fatty acid enters the mitochondria it is committed to being
burned and therefore this is the rate limiting step in burning
fat. Fatty acids can only enter mitochondria by a specific
transporter. Like fat breakdown, this mitochondria transporter
is under tight control by insulin. Insulin potently inhibits
this fatty acid transporter and thereby blocks fat
burning. Thus, when you spike insulin
levels, it inhibits both fat breakdown and fat burning.
Third, insulin's effects are not limited
to suppressing fat breakdown and oxidation; it also promotes storage of
fat. The insulin response to a high carbohydrate meal
functionally blocks access to fat for fuel and at the same time promotes
conversion of carbohydrate into either glycogen or fat.
Insulin does this by increasing the activity of key enzymes that control
synthesis of fat in the liver and uptake of fat into fat
cells. Therefore, over time repeatedly spiking insulin
contributes to accumulation of body fat.
Bottom
line, keeping insulin low is the key to shifting your body's metabolism
toward burring fat as the body's primary fuel. Finding the
level of dietary restriction of sugars and fast acting starches required
to enable the preferential burning of body fat is the essence of a
successful weight loss program.
Diet from an Evolutionary Perspective
If
restricting carbohydrates seems unbalanced or even extreme, consider
the fact that as humans we are well suited to respond in a positive way
to carbohydrate restriction as in high energy levels, better satiety,
and enhanced ability to lose body fat and maintain health.
This stems from more than 2 million years of evolution when most of us
were exposed to very little carbohydrate. Therefore, this
favorable response to low carbohydrate intake is a highly conversed
trait. Now that most of us are exposed to a lot of carbs, many
of us struggle to maintain a healthy weight and show signs of metabolic
dysfunction. The ability to respond favorably to increasing
amounts of carbohydrate is a trait that fewer and fewer people possess
(i.e., it's a less conserved trait). In other words, if you
try a low fat/high-carbohydrate diet, there is a good chance you may not
respond in a positive way, no matter how much drive and determination
you put into it. This is not your fault. It's not a
problem with you; rather it's the wrong diet for your body's
metabolism. Chances are if you have failed on a high
carbohydrate diet, the right diet for you is one lower in carbohydrate.
What if your weight loss stalls?
Many people get frustrated after losing some
weight and then hitting a plateau. Don't panic--here are four
possible reasons why this may be happening. First, it's
important to understand that body weight fluctuates a lot from day to
day mainly because of changes in hydration status. Since our
bodies are more than half water, any changes in water balance, even a
few percent, can translate into several pounds on the scale.
Thus it's best to average your weight over several days and not get hung
up on any one measurement. Exercise can also cause muscle
injury and swelling which is associated with gain in water
weight.
Another reason the scale weight
may not reflect true fat loss is because fat takes up more space than an
equal amount of muscle due to its lower density. If you are adding muscle while
losing
body fat, your weight gain will also slow. Thus,
you should evaluate your progress by inches lost and how your clothes
fit.
It's also important to realize that
like most physiologic processes weight loss is not linear.
Rather, your body tends to alternate between rapid and slow
phases. In general as you get closer to your target weight,
your body starts to defend against further weight loss. If you
have 50 pounds to lose, the first 30 or 40 will tend to come off
relatively easily because you're further away from your goal weight.
That last 10 to 20 pounds will usually take longer, and require more
discipline, as the body senses the approach of its natural weight.
Practically
Speaking
The level of dietary carbohydrate
restriction required to maximize fat loss varies from person to person,
but most people will find they get the best results when carbohydrates
are kept below 50 grams per day. You might think this
translates to an exceedingly boring diet, but the truth is just the
opposite. Consider the two example meal plans at the
end of the article. Each meal plan provides 2500 kcal and
less than 50 grams carbohydrate per day. Here's just a
sampling of the many foods you can eat copious amounts of while keeping
carb below 50 grams per day. I think you'll agree this is
hardly unappetizing or
boring.
- Avocado
- Bacon
- Broth
- Butter (consider
buying Irish butter)
- Cheese
(hard)
- Cream (heavy or
whipping)
- Eggs
- Fish (salmon,
tuna, sardines, and
herring)
- Fruits (berries, olives, tomatoes,
lemons, limes)
- Mayonnaise (made with olive or canola
oil, not soybean oil)
- Meats (beef, chicken, pork)
- Nuts and seeds
- Oils (olive,
canola, coconut, high oleic safflower)
- Pork
rinds
- Salami
- Salmon
- Sausage
- Sour
cream
- Vegetables
- Yogurt (Greek,
whole milk)
A Few More Helpful
Pointers
It's important to get enough protein, but
not too much, because excessive protein can hamper the fat burning
process. There is no need to exceed 2 grams per kilogram body
weight.
Also, you need to get over any
fear of fat. When carbohydrates are low, fat
becomes an important component of the diet for fuel and
satisfaction. It's important to emphasize monounsaturated and
saturated fats, as they are the best fuels. There's no need to
fear any harmful effects of fat, even saturated fat. We have
shown the body preferentially uses saturated fat for energy on a low
carbohydrate diet. Thus, it doesn't accumulate in your body.
Low Carb Friendly
Supplements
ProSource's Vectron is ideal for women who are looking to cut back on carbs (and carb cravings), while also supporting the muscle tissue essential for turning stored fat into energy. Vectron contains Prolibra, a weight-management system that has been validated in
independent clinical testing. Indeed, in a randomized, double-blind,
12-week clinical trial published in the
Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism,
test subjects showed significant improvements in the ratio of lean mass
to fat while taking just 24.4 grams of Prolibra per day compared to a
control group taking an isocaloric placebo.. The subjects taking
Prolibra retained twice as much lean muscle with 79% fat loss compared
to the control group at 51% fat loss. That's an outcome that will have you well on your way to achieving your perfect figure!
Another dietary addition to keep
in mind is a good source of omega 3 fats, specifically EPA and
DHA. These fatty acids have received enormous attention over
the last couple decades, owing to a myriad of health benefits associated
with their intake. Most Americans eat significantly more
omega 6 fats relative to omega 3, and this imbalance may set them up for
greater inflammation and health problems.
In addition to promoting general health, omega 3
fats in combination with exercise enhance insulin sensitivity and
maximize fat loss. The minimum dose to start is 500 mg of EPA
plus DHA per day, which is equivalent to about one serving of fatty fish
every other day. A more optimal dose for most people may be
closer to 1 gram per day of EPA and DHA. If you are at high risk of
heart disease, stroke or inflammatory condition, then 2 grams per day
may result in better effects.
ProSource
Omega Fusion is a perfect solution, as it contains purified
omega 3 fatty acids along with antioxidants. This important
but often neglected detail is key to achieving optimal potency because
omega 3 fats are highly prone to degradation. The synergy provided by
this protection translates into greater net anti-inflammatory and
bioactivity per unit dose administered.
ProSource's Omega-1250 and
ProSource's
Flax Fusion are two more great sources of healthy fatty
acids.
The Time is Now
You can achieve a slim, lean body by summer and
it's as easy as avoiding the foods that block your access to body fat
while feeding your body with plenty of delicious low-insulin-stimulating
foods and supplements that keep you in fat burning mode all day
long. I'm confident you'll enjoy the process and be so
impressed with the results that you'll want to continue this lifestyle
so you can feel and look good year
around.
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Meal Plan
#1
Breakfast (Cheese Omelet and Canadian
Bacon)
Scrambled eggs 2 large + 1/4 cup
Egg Beaters + 1.5 Tbsp Butter
Shredded Cheddar Cheese 1
oz
Grilled Canadian Bacon 2 oz
Snack
Oil-Roasted
Almonds 1/8 cup (20 g)
Oil-Roasted Sunflower Seeds 1/4 cup (34
g)
Strawberries .6 whole (72 g)
Lunch (Cheeseburger with sautéed mushrooms
and peppers)
Hamburger (70% lean/30% fat)..3 oz
(85 g)
American Cheese 1 oz
Iceberg Lettuce 1/2
cup
Red Tomato 2 slices (40 g)
Red Onions 3 slices (42
g)
Sauted Sweet Bell Peppers 1/4 cup, boiled (34 g) + Boiled
Mushrooms 1/4 cup (39 g) + 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Snack
Celery 2
stalks + 3 Tbsp cream cheese(43.5 g)
Hood Calorie
Countdown Milk 1.5 cup
Dinner (Pork chops and Cauliflower "mashed
potatoes")
Pork Chops 3 oz
String beans
1/2 cup, boiled (67.5 g) + 1.5 Tbsp Olive Oil
Cauliflower 1/2
cup, mashed + 1.5 Tbsp Butter
Shredded Cheddar Cheese 1/4
cup
Nutrient
Breakdown:
Protein: 131 g
Carbs: 47 g ,
Fiber 14 g
Fat: 204g
Meal Plan
#2
Breakfast (Fried eggs with cauliflower
hash browns)
Fried eggs 2
large
Cauliflower, chopped 1/4 C
green pepper chopped
1/4 C
Butter 0.5T
Palm oil .1T
Turkey Bacon .
2 slices
Snack
Cheddar Cheese 2
oz
Pork Rinds 1oz
Lunch - (Tuna Salad on bed of tomato and
cucumber slices)
Tuna, Light, canned in oil .3 ¼
oz
Celery .2 stalks diced
Mayo 2 T
Almonds,
slivered .1/8 C
Tomato 3 slices
Cucumber sliced 1/8
C
Afternoon
snack
Celery .2 stalks + Almond butter..2
T
Dinner
(Buffalo Style Chicken Salad with Creamy blueberry
dessert)
Roast Chicken breast 4 oz
Hot
sauce . 1 t + Butter .2 T
Blue cheese dressing 1.5
T
Romaine lettuce shredded 1.5 C
Tomato 2
slices
Almonds, slivered . 1/8 C
Dessert: cream cheese
1/3 C, heavy cream 3 T, lemon juice 1 t, frozen blueberries unsweetened
1/4 C
Nutrient Breakdown:
Protein: 128
g
Carbs: 44 g, 13 g fiber
Fat: 205
g
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