Skip to main content

Losing Fat, Not Muscle!

Losing weight can be tricky. One of the major hurdles to weight loss is to lose the fat, not the muscle. Crash diets can cause you to "waste" which means lose muscle mass, which is one the main reasons we do not generally recommend these type of diets. OK, so how do I go about ensuring that I am not losing excess muscle mass during my weight loss regimen? Well, here are some useful tips which could help you out along the way:

Get your proteins: Proteins are the building blocks of your
muscles and are therefore very important to maintaining your body's muscle mass. A good sources of protein may include fish, dairy, egg whites, cottage cheese, beans, meat and poultry. If you can't get enough proteins in your diet, then you may have to seek out supplemental sources. Your daily recommended protein intake will vary based on age and sex. Infants only need 10 grams/day, adult women need 46 grams/day and adult men need 56 grams/day. Oh, and if you are pregnant or lactating then you need over 70 grams/day!
Avoid Crash Diets: These type of diets, which require severe calorie restrictions or cut an essential dietary element from your diet can stress your body out and are difficult to maintain. It's best to stay away from them altogether. Very Low Calorie Diets (VLCD) deprive your body of many essential food groups, particularly carbohydrates, which could adversely effect your metabolism. Research has shown that VLCD may directly or indirectly lead to gallstone formation. You can achieve similar results with other diets in just a little more time. Rebound rates are quite high with VLCD programs and many dieters regain their lost weight. To avoid regaining the weight, usually a regimen of dietary counseling and exercise regimen is recommended.
Get Your Exercise On: Inactivity leads to muscle loss, plain and simple. It is best to incorporate both cardiovascular and strength training exercises in order to best maintain your muscle mass. The strength training makes sure you increase your lean muscle mass. The cardiovascular aspect helps improve your heart function and promotes weight loss.
Eat and Live Healthy: Don't skip breakfast. Do not skip your regular meals. And drink plenty of water.
Get Some Rest - By this we mean not over-exercising, but more importantly getting enough sleep. In fact, if you can get at least 8 hours of sleep a night, your body will have more time to rebuild and repair your muscles.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8171745

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Best Reasons to Eat Healthy

Most people's reasons to eat healthy center around losing weight. This makes perfect sense when over ½ of us are classified as overweight or obese and 6 out of 10 Americans want to lose weight. Although obesity has become a huge problem within our society it is just one of many reasons to eat healthy. Objectively, when eating healthy you are filling your body with vital nutrients, natural ingredients and fewer calories. Ultimately this will lead to weight loss. But the reasons for eating healthy shouldn't just be about weight loss, even if that's your quintessential goal. There are tons of reasons to eat healthy starting with the fact that your body will thank you for it. The body was not meant to consume, absorb
Post a Comment
Read more

Tips to Keep You Motivated on Your Weight Loss Plan

Weight loss can be a struggle for some. There's the usual " I can't do it ", " It's not for me ", " It's not working ", " Too busy for this " excuses that a lot of people have. However, while some people are interested enough to lose the extra pounds, another concern they may be facing is the waning interest or lack of motivation. So, if you're one of those who want to shed the excess weight but not motivated enough to act on it, here are some tips that may be able to help you. Realize your original motivators. When and why did you decide to lose
Post a Comment
Read more

Weight Loss Using the Mind Magic of NLP

Much is written on the physical effects of weight gain but my concentration here is on the emotional weight carried around by many of you who are looking to resolve this problem. The side effects of poor self esteem, negativity and lack of
Post a Comment
Read more