Patience and consistency is the key to fat loss. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories. To gain one pound of fat you have eaten a surplus of 3500 calories (Refer to the Daily Calorie Intake Calculator). In order to lose that pound of fat you must create a 3500 calorie deficit (Burn more than you eat).
The exception to this arithmetic occurs when you follow a Ketogenic diet (like Atkins or Protein Power) – very high in protein and very low in carbohydrate. Ketogenic diets produce and cause you to expel Ketone bodies (the result of incomplete metabolism of fat) that still contain calories. Therefore fat can be lost that is not accounted for in energy expenditure. Although Ketogenic diets are not really dangerous, there are nutritional imbalances requiring lots of supplements and these programs are difficult to follow, often produce temporary results and are usually accompanied by bad breath and body odor (Ketones don’t smell nice).
All of that said, fat loss is a simple process but you must be patient. The fat was not deposited overnight – do not expect it to disappear overnight. The entire issue deals with insulin control and lactic acid control. Insulin is the “storage hormone” produced in response to a rise in blood sugar and responsible for removing sugar (glucose- the digestive product of all carbohydrates) from the blood. If you don’t produce enough insulin – you die but if you over produce, you become obese or very resistant and other health problems arise like Type II Diabetes. Once the glycogen (storage form of sugar) levels in the muscles and liver are satisfied, the remainder is converted to fat and stored as tri-glycerides in the body fat.
If you are inactive, the glycogen stores tend to remain full so fat storage become prevalent. Chronic high carbohydrate consumption leads to chronically elevated levels of insulin. While insulin is elevated you CANNOT burn fat, you will be hungry, the liver will produce more cholesterol, tri-glycerides will be high and you risk many inflammatory conditions like asthma, arthritis, psoriasis, and migraines. So if you wish to feel healthy and lose fat, you need to control the insulin. Under normal circumstances of sitting, standing and walking, unless you just ate or drank some carbohydrates, up to 85% of your energy is coming from fat. Fat is the energy source of choice in a resting body. Even during a marathon 50% of you energy comes from fat.
The more you exercise the more fat you burn. The more you control your insulin, the less fat you store. However, the 3500 calorie deficit rule still applies. If you followed a 1,000 calorie diet, creating a 200-500 calorie/day deficit, it would take 7 –17 days to lose a pound of fat. If you added 400 calories of daily exercise (Refer to the Activity Calorie Calculator) you could lose one more pound per week. It is advised that exercise be at “conversational” intensity to avoid producing lactic acid. Lactic acid, a product of high intensity exercise, also inhibits the mobilization of fat for energy.
So, you ask, how do people lose 20 pounds in one month or 300 pounds in one year (actual published testimonials)? The answer is – that most of such rapid weight loss is not fat. It is lean tissue – muscle (it take less that 1,000 Calories to burn a pound of muscle) and to a small degree it will be water weight loss and excess waste stored in the colon.
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