You have finally made your mind up that you are going to loose weight. So you do some research and you find what you think is the perfect diet. Within a couple weeks you have dropped a few pounds, and you start feeling good about yourself. Then you hit that inevitable plateau, and the weight stops coming off. You punch it even harder at the gym, and still that mushy tushy won't go away. Eventually you get discourage, and give up.
Sounds familiar? The answer to this problem is more simpler than you think. The average diet states that if you reduce the calories the weight will come off. WRONG! Your body's natural instinct to preserve itself at all costs kicks in. Sensing a calorie deficit, your body shifts into starvation mode, shutting down all fat burning as it hoards calorie stores. The body simply adjust to your energy expenditure in order to revert to your previous weight, known as your "setpoint." The Laboratory of Human Behavior and Metabolism at Rockefeller University in New York conducted a study in 1995 which measured both obese and non-obese people who either increased or decreased their body weight 10 percent to 20 percent. In both cases, metabolism shifted--at a lower weight, the subjects began burning less energy throughout the day, while at a higher weight they burned more, an effort by their bodies to return to that "setpoint".
To combat the "setpoint" you must incorporate calorie-cylcing. In lay man's terms this means that when your body wants to return to your "setpoint", you jolt it with a surplus of calories (clean calories of course). From there, you cycle your eating patterns, daily if you choose, and this will restart your fat-burning furnace and help you forge a chiseled physique.
This is a technique that I have often used succesfully with my wife, Chikondi Mseka, when she competes in various Figure shows. If you would like to learn more about calorie-cycling don't hesitate to check us out at KooYah Fitness.
No comments:
Post a Comment