In a recent study, women burned over 350 calories more over a 24-hour period on days when they strength trained compared to days when they did not.

The Bottom Line…

In order to lose body fat you must expend more calories than you consume each day.  You therefore need to know:

• How many calories are you eating?
• How many calories are you expending?

The first part is fairly straight forward.  You can monitor the number of calories you consume each day by referring to the nutritional information labelling on food packs or by referring to calorie counting tables.  Calorie counting is a great turn off for any would be dieter, which is why most diet methods avoid it as if it were the kiss of death, preferring instead to colour code certain foods or allocate points to them rather than calories.  Yes at first you may find this a little tiresome but it will only take a couple of weeks before you have truly got to grips with it, especially if like most people you regularly eat the same types of food.

The other side of the equation requires you to know how many calories you expend each day.  To know this, you need to measure your “metabolic rate”.

How Many Calories do You Need?

Introducing the Metabolic Rate

You may well have heard people mention “metabolism” on many occasions when talking of their diet and body weight.  Some might say “I’m very lucky, I have a high metabolism so can eat what I want without putting on weight.”  Or some might say, “My metabolism is really slow, it’s impossible for me to lose weight, even when I diet!”  But what is metabolism?

It is not only during exercise that your body burns calories.  Even while you are resting or sleeping, your body is still performing many functions all of which require energy.  Your Basic Metabolic Rate (BMR) is the amount of energy you require (measured in calories) just to maintain your body.

As a guide your BMR is your weight in kilograms multiplied by twenty-two:

E.g. 70kg X 22=1540.  This is the number of calories a 70kg person would
need each day just to maintain their body as it is, while at complete rest.

In addition to this you will need more calories depending on your daily activity levels.

A fairly sedentary office worker may only require an additional 40%
(1,540 X 40% = 616)

Someone engaged in manual work may require an additional 80%
(1,540 X 80% = 1,232)

An “average person” could easily require 40% above their BMR so in this example 1540 X 40% = 616.

So our “average” 70kg person would have a daily calorie requirement of
1,540 + 616 =  2,156 calories.

How Quickly Can I Lose Weight?

Though it is possible to lose a lot of weight in a short space of time, any dramatic loses will involve loss of muscle tissue in addition to fat.

Losing muscle tissue is one of the worst things we could do and is the reason why “diets” can make you fatter, you will find out why in the next section.

Under the best possible conditions the most fat you can hope to lose is 2lb per week.  The most successful weight loss program would be based upon losing 1 to 2lb of fat per week.

How Can I Lose 1lb of Fat Each Week?

To lose 1lb of fat each week your daily calorie intake should be 500 calories less than your normal daily requirement.

So for our “average” 70kg person the total calorie intake should be:
2,156-500=1,656 per day.  This would produce the desired loss.

If you eat fewer calories the deficit will set the body into “famine mode” and it will find the energy by using your muscle for fuel in addition to any fat stores.  For this reason it is important that you do not make drastic calorie restrictions and to make really sure your body doesn’t feed on its own muscle YOU MUST FOLLOW A STRENGTH TRAINING PROGRAMME.    If you do this (and the calories you are eating come from a well balanced diet), the body will not want to burn the muscle for fuel so readily and the difference will come mostly from the fat store.

If you find it difficult to keep your calorie intake down, as cutting calories can be difficult and does require will power, then you can expend calories by following a cardio-vascular program in addition to the strength-training program.  A cardio-vascular program also has tremendous health benefits.

Why Crash Diets Do Not Work.

As mentioned dramatic weight losses are possible but this will include muscle loss.  So why is this a bad thing? And how may this lead to you becoming fatter?

All cells in your body require energy this includes muscle cells and fat cells.  1lb of muscle tissue requires up to 20 calories to sustain itself.  1lb of fat requires just 3 calories to sustain itself.  If you therefore lose say 3lb of muscle you decrease your daily energy requirement by 60 calories (3X20) per day.  So after crash dieting you will need to continue to keep your calories down otherwise those 60 calories wont be used to sustain 3lb of muscle they will be stored as fat.

Over the period a one year those extra 60 calories per day add
up to 60X365=21,900 calories which will stored as 6½lb of fat.
60 calories is the same as one single biscuit!

How Muscle Will Help You Lose Weight

Working along the same principles as the above lets suppose your current eating habits enable you to keep a stable body weight.  If by following a strength-training program you then add 3lb of muscle to your frame that muscle will need an additional 60 calories to sustain itself.  So if after gaining that muscle, you keep your eating habits the same, your body fat reserves will be used to sustain that muscle and you will lose 6½lb of body fat in the year.  You must continue strength training to help preserve the muscle mass, if you don’t the body will use it for fuel and the benefit will be lost.

As we age there is a tendency for the body to lose muscle mass so the metabolism naturally slows down and the weight slowly but surely creeps up.  This does not need to be the case if you follow a strength-training program.  Furthermore muscle tissue is denser than fat tissue so 3lb of muscle takes up a lot less volume than 3lb of fat.  Muscle is also laid down in a way, which improves the shape and tone of the body.  The weighing scales are not going to be the judge of your progress, for that you need to use the mirror and feel your clothes becoming looser.

No Ladies! You won’t get big muscles!

Firstly, and most significantly, women do not have the levels of the male hormone testosterone which men have, so by nature cannot develop overly muscular physiques without resorting to drugs.  Secondly, even men who do have the correct hormones in their bodies still have to work exceptionally hard for many years to develop a large muscular physique.  If you ever attend a regular gym and look at the people working out in there, how many do you see, male or female, who have a physique like Arnold Schwarzenegger, or even anything close?   You might see one or two, which represents much less than 1%.  Chances are you will see a dozen or so people you would describe as being in good to really good shape and these are the results you could hope to achieve.

Conclusions

Now you should realise that your muscle tissue is responsible for a significant number of calories you use each day and is why the body will use that muscle tissue for energy if it believes there is going to be a food shortage.  Less muscle tissue means less calorie requirements, perfect if there is a danger of starvation, but not something we should deliberately bring about.  Fat loss cannot be forced but must be gently coaxed.

A “diet” in the traditional sense refers to a short-term fix.  This is never going to provide a long-term solution and can make things worse.  You should not think of “going on a diet”, you will be more successful if you apply the above principles to form a healthier lifestyle with good nutrition and exercise habits.

Statistics show that following the latest “diet” fad can result in weight loss, but the vast majority of people will regain all the weight and then more!

Only by educating yourself as to what is a healthy diet and effective exercise program can you hope for long-term success.  You can then make informed choices in what you chose to eat, which can include all varieties of food, including some treats in moderation.  Though you should find the method simple, following it will still require some commitment, but the results you should expect will be your greatest motivation.  You will come to realise that it’s the gradual small changes that make the difference – big changes will backfire.  A few calories cut here and there and just a little more effort with your exercise program and the rewards will follow.  But an extra helping of chocolate desert or grabbing that mayonnaise loaded sandwich at lunch because you’re in a rush, can tip the scales the other way.