The Simple Fat Loss Fundamentals

It seems the expert’s take on fat loss fundamentals changes with what the latest fad diet is. At one point in time it was all about cutting fat. Then it was decided that fat was ok and carbohydrates were the cause of the world’s expanding waistline. Every time a new diet book comes out you can almost bet on the ‘experts’ agreeing with whatever it says, even if it is in direct contradiction to last month’s opinion. The reality is that calorie deficit is the key to fat loss.

What is ‘calorie deficit’?

It’s very simple, if you eat fewer calories than you use, you will lose weight. All the fad diets in the world will boil down to that at their most basic level. Think about it. Your body uses energy all the time and it has to get that energy from somewhere. The most readily available energy will be in food you have just consumed that is actively being broken down. If and when that supply runs out, your body will tap into stored fat for energy.

So I just don’t eat and I’ll lose weight?

Initially..sure you’ll lose weight. After a couple days of not eating though, not only will you be incredibly uncomfortable but your body will have effectively shut itself down to conserve energy. This is why starvation diets don’t work. The body goes into survival mode and burns minimal amounts of energy effectively stopping your weight loss. Then when you can’t take the hunger anymore and start eating, you get the double whammy. Your body doesn’t want to run out of energy again so it stores as much as it can and you will end up gaining back any weight you lost and then some. How’s that for a kick in the pants?

Is there a happy medium?

The idea situation would be to keep your body in ‘fat burning’ mode without letting it drop into ‘survival’ mode. There are many methods of achieving this balance. Most revolve around cycling your eating habits so your body continues to run at full power while dipping into fat stores. The generic term for this is intermittent fasting, but information can also be found under specific plan names.

Fat loss fundamentals boil down to eating fewer calories than you burn. The latest diet books will dress it up and call it different things but calorie deficit is the only way to really lose weight. How you go about creating that deficiency will become your diet plan and ultimately your new lifestyle if you mean to maintain your weight loss.

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