Sustainable Fat Loss is the key to obtaining a leaner body with low body fat composition. Everyone wants to be leaner for their own specific reasons. Some of us will try to “lean-out” for an upcoming event or build a fitness model figure, while others wish for a long term weight loss solution due to health reasons.
There are three factors that need to be considered and practiced in order to reach your desired physique. Nutrition, exercise and rest – all important and are of equal value. In this article, we will discuss nutrition and specifically why it needs to be a long-term commitment. Statistically, many of us that manage to loose weight, do so temporarily. Most want to loose weight and keep it off, but why do we gain it back? The truth is that we don’t think it’s possible to maintain our nutrition habits long-term but still crave the lean body. This is the reason we resort to Fads and Diets for our short-term weight loss efforts.
Let us assure you, 6-pack abs, flat stomach are possible year around! The only thing that stopping us from this personal fitness utopia is some information, planning and a little self-discipline.
FADS
Fad by definition means, “an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object’s qualities; a craze.” Basically, it’s the new and happening thing on the market. Most celebrities, likely your friends and co-workers are doing it. Fads can be trends in fashion, hairstyles or food. Food faddism is often short-term attempts to loose weight. The belief is, once you get the weight off it’ll be easy to maintain. The cabbage soup or liquid diet fall into this category. Very few of us can commit to this type of diet long-term but short-term – by way of calorie restrictions – will bring fourth weight loss. Here, we want to point out weight-loss is different from fat-loss. Often with fads we loose water first, then muscle and little fat along with it. The loss of water and muscle should be a concern to many and hard to justify by the little fat-loss that takes place on fad diets. Furthermore, the instant regular eating habits resume, up goes the weight.
DIETS
Diets over long-term don’t work. This is the conclusion of numerous research papers including the National Institute of Health. It is stated, regardless the type of diet, overtime people will slowly revert back to a lifestyle they are accustomed to. This makes sense, as most of us interpret the meaning of the word “diet” as short-term. When you continue a diet long-term it becomes habitual and thus a lifestyle. Diets fall into 3 main categories: calorie restricting, food-eliminations and macronutrient adjustments. All of these are complicated to maintain longterm. After a while instead of seeing an apple, you will likely see – 100 calories, non-organic, CARBS!!! This is the reason, people gain weight soon after they get off a point-counting diet, 6-pack Abs are only kept for the summer and people are eating gluten-free donuts, because they have been convinced gluten is the problem.
LIFESTYLE
The dictionary definition of lifestyle is, “… habits, attitudes, tastes…, that together constitute the mode of living of an individual or group.” We’ll expand a little further on this and say, it may even be an afterthought. We don’t think about our habits, attitudes and taste of foods we enjoy. It’s just the case. Lifestyle comes naturally. You probably know people, some that are always in shape and others jumping from diet to diet trying to lose the last 10-pounds. The people that are always in shape will follow food rules they do not break, i.e. no eating past 7pm. People that have a tough time losing the weight are often counting calories and checking their step meters. Changing your lifestyle is not easy by any means, but it is possible. With the right motivation, proper guidance and practice, a new lifestyle can emerge. Lifestyle changes in nutrition, will have a lasting effect on fat-loss and your overall body composition. You don’t have to give up gluten to lose fat, maybe substitute your white pasta with whole wheat pasta, add on homemade tomato sauce, smaller portion, without the garlic toast. With this new way of eating your are cutting calories by eliminating buttered toast, while ingesting less sugar and preservatives inside your homemade sauce. Added fiber from the whole wheat pasta will keep you full and will digest longer thus requiring a greater caloric effort. Furthermore, because you are still eating food that you love, but making sensible substitutions, you are less likely to feel deprived. As a result, you are likely to upkeep this new way of eating.
SUSTAINABLE FAT LOSS
We’ve argued above some reasons for fads and diets not being effective at maintaining fat-loss. Making sensible food choices while avoiding complicated calorie counting formulas, food elimination and macro ratios, will make it easier to upkeep good life-long nutritional habits.
Refer to our The No-Diet Book for a deeper discussion of the above mentioned topics. Furthermore, we will share with you our experience and food rules for keeping year long 6-pack abs, while enjoying our favourite foods (that does not have to be broccoli and chicken).
