The 7 Biggest Mistakes People Make When They Want To Lose Body Fat Fast !
Tags: fatloss, fat loss, lose fat, loose fat, weightloss, weight loss, lose weight, loose weight, burn fat, fat
It seems that losing weight and fat is now the fashionable thing to do. It appears on TV in newspapers and magazines. The problem is the path to losing bodyfat is filled with ‘land mines’ all designed to destroy your motivation to reach your destination.
In this article we will cover some of the most common mistakes people make when they want to lose bodyfat.
1. Skip Meals.
This is the most common action people take when they want to lose body fat. They do this under the assumption that if they eat less they must lose fat. Whilst this belief is partially true, skipping meals is certainly not the best way to eat less. Skipping meals invokes the body’s ‘Starvation Mechanism’, which causes a drop in metabolism, a loss of muscle (due to cortisol release), an increase in the activity of fat-storing enzymes and an increase in appetite.
A far more effective approach is to eat 5 or 6 small meals/ snacks (these terms are used interchangeably) each day. Doing so will keep your metabolism elevated, stop your body from going into a catabolic state (breaking down muscle tissue), limit the activity of those pesky fat-storing enzymes, fatty acid synthase and lipoprotein lipase and of course help to suppress your appetite.
When people are recommended to have 5 or 6 meals a day they often respond with, ‘How could I possibly fit in 5 or 6 meals a day! I have kids to look after, I work full time and I’m busy during the day!’ Admittedly, these objections are totally justified and we need to find an easy way to have the 5 or 6 meals a day. The easiest way is to use meal replacements, in the form of powders or bars. Meal replacements are a quick, easy, convenient and cheap way to ensure you get the required number of meals each day. Plus, they make it easy to control your portion sizes of carbohydrate, protein and fat as well as providing your body with the highest quality protein source available, which is whey protein.
You certainly shouldn’t use meal replacements for every meal because it is essential to eat whole foods but perhaps 2 or 3 meals a day could be in the form of meal replacements; usually the mid-morning, mid-afternoon and supper meals.
2. Try to Lose Body Fat Too Fast.
Many people who want to lose body fat try to lose it too fast. Let’s face it, it has taken many years to put it on in the first place and it certainly isn’t going to come off quickly. It is actually a physiological impossibility to lose fat quickly; your body simply won’t allow it. If we are ever faced with a famine situation we will be able to survive for a long period of time due to the fact that we have a good source of energy to draw from if we need it.
Mind you, people read the headlines on magazine covers and in newspapers about how to drop 12 kilos in 12 weeks or drop a dress size in a fortnight and they believe that it must be possible. Plus, there are hundreds of testimonials from people stating how much weight they have lost by following a certain diet. Of course, that is an important point - ‘It is easy to lose weight fast but you can’t lose fat fast!’ Losing more than half a kilo a week is likely to be losses of muscle, water and stored carbohydrate in addition to some fat. It is certainly not going to be entirely from fat.
When weight is lost faster than around half a kilo a week the body is likely to ‘rebound’. This means you will put the weight back on very quickly because the body has been placed under a high degree of stress in order to lose it in the first place.
3. Don’t Use a Multi-Directional Approach.
When someone makes a decision to lose body fat they generally make changes to their nutritional habits. Unfortunately, only making changes to your eating habits is bound to fail simply because your body will always find a way to adapt to a reduction in your food intake. It does this by invoking the ‘starvation mechanism’ as mentioned earlier.
A far better approach is to attack body fat from a number of different directions rather than just one. In my book, ‘Look good, feel great!’ I discuss 4 Lifestyle Factors: Nutrition, Supplementation, Aerobic exercise and Resistance training. By focusing on each of these areas and incorporating the various principles that relate to them into your lifestyle, you will be amazed at how quickly you will lose body fat and how easy it will be to keep it off.
4. Try Another Diet.
It is amazing how many people go on diets, starve, suffer, and put themselves through pain. Then, when they lose weight they celebrate and welcome the fact that they can now go back to eating ‘normally’ again. Of course, the moment they do, the weight piles back on and usually with reinforcements! Then they decide that the diet they followed didn’t work so they try another one, again, with the same results.
The definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. This definition is perfect for dieting. I compare dieting to trying to defy the law of gravity by jumping off a different building each time- eventually you’re going to get hurt!
The best way to lose body fat is to never go on a diet again, they simply do not work. Decide to make some minor changes to your current eating habits that are sustainable for the rest of your life. If you can’t maintain the changes then it is guaranteed that the weight-loss results you achieve will be short-lived.
5. Avoid Lifting Weights.
When people want to lose body fat, weight training, or resistance training, is never considered as an option. The reason is that many people have the mistaken belief that lifting weights will ‘bulk them up’, cause them to grow facial hair, make women look like men or cause their voice to lower 3 octaves!
Despite this, resistance training is probably the most under-estimated way to lose body fat fast! If a mild, calorie-restricted nutritional plan is followed, it is virtually impossible to increase your muscle mass because there are no extra calories to use for building muscle. Lifting weights under these circumstances will simply force the body to maintain its existing muscle mass, which results in maintenance of your metabolism and therefore your body’s fat-burning ability.
6. Don’t Make Permanent Lifestyle Changes.
Once people achieve the fat loss they desire rarely do they maintain the lifestyle that helped them achieve the result. Often they will say that it is too difficult to maintain so they return to previous lifestyle habits- the habits that caused them to put on fat in the first place! This is known as relapse.
In order to maintain the result it is absolutely essential that you maintain the habits that helped you achieve it. Of course, you can modify them slightly and still maintain the result. For example, you can decrease the frequency of your exercise program so instead of exercising every day you can now exercise every second day or instead of only having one ‘Treat Meal’ a week you can allow yourself two. Therefore, you are still maintaining the exercise and healthy eating habits but have modified them to make them more sustainable for you. Remember these habits must be maintained for the rest of your life.
7. Get Advice From the Wrong People.
Once people make a decision to lose body fat they will often start asking people close to them how they think they should do it. These people are usually family members or friends who have probably never studied anatomy or physiology and who likely know absolutely nothing about what it takes to lose body fat and get in great shape. As a result, they get incorrect information that at best won’t help them achieve their goals or at worst may be harmful to their health!
Perhaps they might decide to follow a diet that they read in their favourite magazine and more often than not, the diet is advertised to do one thing and one thing only- sell magazines! It is not used to arm people with correct information so they can make informed decisions or tell them the truth about losing body fat, it is simply designed to sell magazines.
The best thing to do is to speak with someone who has achieved the result you desire and who has managed to keep the fat off. Then, model their actions. Find out what they eat every day, what exercise they do and what supplements they take and then simply do exactly the same.
Alternatively, employ the services of a professional who has been successful in achieving fat-loss goals for their clients. Personal trainers are your best option. Their job is to help people achieve whatever body composition changes they desire.
About the Author
Author: Stephen James Smith | Total views: 145
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Stephen has been involved in the fitness industry for over 16 years and writes articles for various health and fitness magazines throughout Australia. For more information on his book, 'Look Good, Feel Great' as well as many weight-loss articles, visit: http://www.fatburningsite.com
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