Are we practising safe fat loss?
There are many 'fads' out there that proimse big weight loss... but will this weight loss last?
When people start an eating regime with the purpose of losing weight often believe that less food is good for them because it will allow them to lose the weight more rapidly and get to the desired results more quickly. There are many ‘fads’ out there that promise big weight loss in no time. These regimes are often highly restrictive and can create more damage than we think. However, most of us now know how to spot a current trend. There is a lot of information being provided and people are becoming more and more knowledgeable and aware on nutrition and a healthy lifestyle.
The basic principles are well known to anyone with an interest in the subject: choose nutrient dense foods, eat 5/6 times a day to keep your metabolism up, incorporate the main macronutrients (carbohydrates, protein and fat) at each meal. Some of us have been very successful in transforming their lives, drop the weight and stay healthy; however, does this mean we are now immune to crash dieting?
Unfortunately I have been witnessing even the most knowledgeable of us fall prey of what I would call a crash diet. Losing more than 2lbs of fat per week is considered hazardous to our health and it will have repercussions to our system no matter how nutritious and clean our food is. We might have the illusion of feeling full of energy and happy with our new regime but if not enough food is consumed the body despite being fed highly nutritious food will go into survival mode and it will start protecting itself: It will automatically start burning fewer calories, our heart rate will slow down and our metabolism will stop functioning as it should.
It is physically possible to lose between 5- 10lbs per week but unfortunately that weight loss is not fat. We do have an illusion of fat loss but we are mainly losing water and sometimes muscle. The maximum amount of body fat a healthy person can lose is about 3-4 pounds per week. Typically, only obese people are likely to be able to burn this amount of fat.
How can we ensure that we are eating enough and that our regime is safe? Many of us are against counting calories but it is very important to have an awareness of the amount of energy we consume on a daily basis just to keep alive. This is called a Basal Metabolic Rate that varies from individual to individual depending on their age, height and weight. To our BMR we should add the approximate calories we consume for our daily activities and exercise and we will have what I call our Magic Number. This number is the amount of energy we need from food to perform at an optimal level. In order to burn 1.5lbs of body fat per week, we create a calorific deficit of approximately 700 kcal. In this way, we’ll ensure that we will lose the excess fat safely and most importantly permanently improving our system instead of impairing it.
Article by Flavia Trevisani
Diet and Nutrition Advisor and Nutritional Therapist
Follow her on Twitter: http://twitter.com/NWBWORLD
