Eating less and less is
not the answer to looking lean, because it is not the best way to lose
body fat. Let’s not fall into the weight loss trap; dropping calories is
a mistake that accomplishes one goal-- weight loss. We can no longer
settle for weight loss as an acceptable measure of success, we need to
lose body fat, we need to become fit.
The problem with only
caring about weight loss is that we sacrifice our hard earned muscle.
With a decent calorie deficit we will begin to lose both fat and muscle.
As we lose muscle we begin to feel tired and our strength begins to
fade. Why is this? Our metabolism slows as we lose muscle. We start to
feel lazy and tired because our slower metabolism, not because we lack
the will power to keep pushing through our diet. The less muscle we have
the fewer calories we burn.
We need to rethink
eating less; let’s burn more and more. The key is muscle. The more
muscle we carry the more calories we burn in a given day. So how much
muscle do we need to really start noticing a difference? If we can add 3
pounds of muscle we will burn the equivalent of a mile’s jog worth of
calories every day. Think about that for a second. This is an extra mile
a day for the rest of your life. Add on 6 pounds of muscles and we are
at 2 miles a day for life! When we eat enough to support activity we can
build muscle, increase performance and burn fat. This is magic! We can
become: stronger, leaner, healthier and not starve all at the same
time.
So what is the catch? It
takes patience and hard work. Putting on 6 pounds of muscle takes 4 to 6
months of quality eating and exercising. The second downside is your
scale will no longer be a valuable resource. We want to gain muscle and
lose fat which means the number on the scale does not measure our goal
of body fat loss. What do we need to measure? Performance. When we put
on muscle and lose fat, performance goes through the roof - so start
measuring it!
-Ben Costigan
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