Biggest secret to results in fitness, diet, and weight loss
Posted by Brett Riesenhuber on Mon, Nov 21, 2011 @ 06:30 AM
One of the ladies out at San Jose Boot Camp and I were talking the other day and she shared her frustration with lack of results in her 10,000 different diet programs she has tried over the years.
Seems that right now she is eating a couple times per day, and not eating very much at all...and she is not losing weight.
"My calories are so low that I should be losing a ton of weight, but I am not! I was for a while, but now nothing."
Honestly, I can't tell you how many times I hear stuff like this...especially from my female clients (BTW, that's like 90% of who I work with!).
So this is what I told her...(let's call her "Jane" for the sake of having a name here)
BRETT: What is your primary goal out here at boot camp with me? Why are you up at 5:30AM and working out in the cold? (it was winter and we were outside in the park)
JANE: "I want to lose weight and have more energy so I can keep up with my kids and look and feel better."
BRETT: Awesome...I get that.
Here is the biggest secret to getting results in your body through an exercise and/or diet program...
It's not what you might think...and it is a secret because most of the fitness and weight loss "professionals" just don't get it...Not at the level of importance it deserves!
It's not how much you exercise....
It's not how much you eat...
It's not what you eat...
It is how often you eat.
You see, when you restrict calories and don't eat enough, your body goes into "survival mode." In survival mode your body will do a couple things that you don't want it to ever do:
- Slow down your metabolism to match your food intake
- Cannibalize muscle tissue for energy (that means burning muscle for energy)
You never want to lose muscle, you only want to gain more...
Wanna know why?
JANE: "Yes"
BRETT: Because muscle is active tissue and the more of it you have, the more claories (and fat) your body burns.
By the way...muscle takes up less space than fat too, so gaining muscle does not mean you are going to get BIG, you actually get smaller.
I got a smile there...that was cool!
Do you want your metabolism to slow down? (I knew the answer...wanted impact;-)
JANE: "No way! It is too slow now, I want to increase it as much as I can!"
BRETT: Cool! Then you have to eat more.
You should have seen the look on her face...actually just look in the mirror right now and you will probably be able to see the same look. (I think she thought I was insane...but whatever;-)
Every time you eat, you increase your metabolism. Every time you increase your metabolism, you can burn more fat without sacrificing valuable muscle tissue.
The value of eating frequently can actually outweigh some of the stuff you eat because you are burning more calories...
NOW that doesn't mean you can eat a bunch of crap and expect to look hot, but it does mean that you should be eating every 2-3 hours all day long.
I got another smile.
Figure that if you do not eat at least 6 times a day, you are not losing fat like you should be...if at all.
JANE: "So you want me to eat MORE?"
BRETT: Yep. If you eat 8 times a day, you will do even better than if you eat 6! Got it?
JANE: "Yes, I'll start working on it today."
BRETT: Awesome...you will start losing weight again too...actually it will be FAT weight!
