Avoid this Killer Weight Regain
Mistake
5 Secrets
to Keeping the Weight Off for Good!
Tom
Venuto
If you want to burn off fat and keep it off
permanently, there are a few things you absolutely must
do, and a new study from Wake Forest University has just
uncovered another one…
Previous research has concluded without a
shred of doubt that high levels of exercise are one of the keys
to keeping fat off and maintaining your ideal weight. In this
new study just published in the October 2008 issue of Medicine
and Science in Sports and Exercise, researchers found for the
first time, proof that the drop in physical activity that
happens automatically during calorie restriction is directly
correlated to weight regain.
We’ve known for some time that when you restrict calories, your
level of non exercise physical activity (non exercise activity
thermogenesis or NEAT), drops spontaneously, even if you don’t
realize it’s happening.
Your physical activity energy expenditure (PAEE) also tends to
drop when you restrict calories.
Basically, when you cut calories, you get sluggish, you move
your body less, you don’t feel like exercising and if you do
exercise, you do it with with less “gusto.”
This means that unless you intentionally counter this tendency
by pushing yourself to keep active and keep up the intensity,
despite your low calorie intake, your weight loss will slow
down automatically as you continue with caloric restriction.
(can you say, “fat loss plateau?”)
The new twist to this story is that in this latest study the
researchers followed up on the subjects through the maintenance
period - with 6 month and 12 month checkups.
This is significant, because most fat loss “success stories”
are reported immediately after the weight loss phase, but you
never know what happened to them afterwards.
Not surprisingly, it wasn’t much of a “maintanence” period…
almost everyone regained most of the weight.
The surprise was WHY they regained back the weight and WHO
regained the most…
The drop in physical activity during the diet was directly
related to the weight regain after the diet!
The researchers wrote,
“The greater the decrease in physical
activity energy expenditure (PAEE) during the energy deficit,
the greater the weight gain during the follow
up.”
“That won’t happen to me,” you say? Think
again. That drop in activity usually happens unconsciously.
It’s part of the “starvation response” (or “weight-regulating
mechanism” if you prefer). Your body tricks you in countless
ways, in order to restore energy balance and stabilize your
weight.
If you believe that diet alone is the answer or that you can
skimp on the training, you are shooting yourself in the foot
and thinking short-term.
When you extend out your time frame to a year or longer, you
get a whole new perspective.
For years, I have been imploring my readers and subscribers to
“burn the fat”
with higher levels of exercise - strength training AND cardio
training - while “feeding the muscle” with a higher intake of
clean food, instead of simply “starving the fat” with low
calorie diets and little or no exercise.
“Eat More, Burn More”… “BURN The fat FEED the muscle.” those
are the mottos you want to remember.
Can you lose weight without exercise? Of course. Just be sure
you have a dietary-induced calorie deficit. Is it the best way?
Not by a long shot.
Bottom line: If you want to MAXIMIZE your
fat loss, and keep fat off permanently, it is imperative not
only to keep up a high level of energy expenditure (BURN
calories not just cut them), but also to make a conscious
effort to make sure your activity level does not drop as you
lose weight during the calorie deficit.
If you’d like to learn more about this
effective and proven approach to fat loss: “eat more, burn
more,” then please visit my “Burn The Fat” website at
www.BurnTheFat.com
Train hard and expect success,
Tom Venuto
Fat Loss Coach
www.BurnTheFat.com
About the Author:
Tom Venuto is an NSCA-certified personal
trainer, lifetime natural bodybuilder, certified strength &
conditioning specialist (CSCS), and author of the #1 best
selling diet e-book, "Burn The Fat,
Feed The Muscle." Tom has written hundreds of articles and
has been featured in IRONMAN, Natural Bodybuilding, Muscular
Development, Exercise for Men and Men's Exercise. To contact
Tom or get information on his e-book, visit www.BurnTheFat.com
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