The Fascinating Topic of Weight Loss

Happy Saturday Everyone!

SO since most of my questions from clients, bloggers, and others are about weight loss, let's talk about it!

I'm just gonna go for it...

How do you lose weight?

Weight loss occurs because the calories you take in is less than the calories you burn.

Calories burned by exercising, activities of daily life (walking, typing, taking a shower, etc etc) and also calories (energy) that your body will use (burn) in order to maintain life (digesting and absorbing food, producing energy, maintaining your body temperature, breathing...basically everything your body needs to do in order to maintain life).

The more lean body tissue you have *muscle* the more calories your body will burn naturally *even when you are sleeping*. Fat tissue is not that metabolically active so you want less fat (doesn't burn as many calories) and more muscle. Muscle is more metabolically active tissue meaning it requires more energy and will therefore use more energy.

OH and by the way, FAT TISSUE does not CONVERT to MUSCLE TISSUE. One does not turn into another.

You can lose fat and you can add muscle tissue...but they do not turn into the other. BIG myth.

To be completely honest, I do not count calories. I do not wear a heart rate monitor in order to track how many calories I burn. I have done so in the past and to be honest, nothing positive came out of it. I lost weight on the scale but it was muscle I was losing, a little fat, and a lot of my life. I was totally obsessed with working out, eating as least as possible, and in the end, totally messed up my metabolism (slowed it down). All bad.

So take my advice, get lean (decrease fat and work those muscles) and you will not have to worry about calories in and out...your body will burn more calories naturally and you will be eating healthy so that you really don't have to worry about a thing. I am finally getting to that spot...not all the way there by any means, but I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. My body fat has decrease significantly and I am stronger and more fit than I ever have been.

The goal is to get your body to a state where it is naturally burning a lot of energy on its' own so you don't have to stress about the calories you are putting in.

The number on the scale...

Is a representation of all things that make up your body (organs, water, muscle, fat, blood, etc etc). What you want to do is decrease fat...which honestly, a scale cannot tell you since it doesn't know fat from muscle from water or from a hole in the ground. SO that's why I say don't worry about the scale so much.

What you want to do is lose fat...not necessarily weight. If you are decreasing fat and making your muscle more dense and strong...who cares what the scales says. I've lost a significant amount of body fat and the scale hasn't really changed...maybe a pound or two but that isn't what I am pumped about...it's the fact that my clothes feel better, look better, I have more energy, you can see my muscles...they are more defined. ALL THAT is much better to me than seeing a lower number on the scale. I haven't turned into the Incredible Hulk either for those of you ladies who are terrified of getting "BULKY". BULKY and women do not go together...unless you have an obscene amount of testosterone/you are taking steriods.

You want to have someone measure your waist, hips, arms, thighs etc. Is the number decreasing? GOOD! That means you are losing fat and getting tighter...oh another thing...fat takes up more space than muscle...so if your clothes are fitting looser...than you most likely are losing fat! You can also have someone measure your body fat percentage...that's what I do with my clients using calipers. Any gym will have trainers who will do free assessments on you. Do an assessment every 6-12 weeks. OR just be aware of how your clothes are fitting...that's the best and least expensive option.

SO. LOSE FAT not MUSCLE. DO NOT DIET or eat less than 1200 calories for women and I think for men it's about 300-400 calories more than women (not completely sure). Just eat healthy food, lift weights, get active and check in with your clothes or assess yourself using the other ways that I mentioned.

You want to look (and feel)strong, healthy, and defined. See the muscles instead of them being hidden by fat. Fat is not really metabolically active tissue...MUSCLE IS!

ANY QUESTIONS?!

I could go on with this topic forever...more to come in the next post.

YOU CAN LOOK AND FEEL THE WAY YOU WANT! I WILL HELP YOU!