It may seem like to my readers that I disagree with a lot of 'things' out there in the fitness world, and that is true to be honest, because there is literally so much garbage out there. A lot of companies get set up with the one goal of taking money, and they do that because they know the 'fat loss' part of the industry is swamped with (and I mean no disrespect here) desperate people. So they 'prey' on those people, knowing that they will get a fairly high percentage of the people they reach, 'sign up!'. To me that's just wrong. They will of course deny that they do this, but the 'systems' that they have created are not sustainable, which means one thing - repeat business! and what does that mean? more cash in their pockets. I won't name any companies, but the ones I am primarily talking about are ones that use very low calorie 'diet plans', shake diets, having pre-pared 'healthy' meals delivered to your house and so on.
All of these ways of losing weight will work to some degree. Initially (first few weeks) you will lose weight, that is almost guaranteed. But the weight that you will lose won't all be fat, it will be mostly fluid, muscle tissue as well as some fat. Is that what you want? well some of you may think 'well I just want to lose weight!'. That is all well and good, but you don't lose the fat that you want to lose, your body won't be in 'good shape' and you simply losing mass. As soon as you stop one of those diets, the weight will come back on, and you will circle back to pay them more money to lose some more fluid!
Diets like these can give you a 'happy boost' early on because you see the number on the scales drop, but it doesn't last for very long. Its common for people to then get upset/depressed/annoyed, and you definitely don't want that.
So, what is the alternative?
"Slow and steady wins the race!"
You want to be patient when it comes to fat loss. If you do it right, it won't come back and bite you in the backside! You can burn fat without exercise if you eat correctly. Your body is designed to store fat but also to get rid of it. So if you have a diet that consists of lots of vegetables, lean proteins (chicken, turkey, fish), complex carbs (sweet potato/brown rice) water, some fruits, cutting out junk/processed foods/sugars/alcohol/fats - then your body will get rid of the fat. Obviously you can speed this process up by training, hard! High intensity interval training is probably the best way to go if you want to burn fat. By training as well as eating right, you will be 'sculpting' your body into a lean, fit machine! This will give you great shape in suits/dresses/bikini's/board shorts/summer wear, and so on. That is what people want, to not only look god in certain clothes, but also beachwear, and 'con diets' will NOT give you that.
How much weight you could lose safely, without it just being water weight and muscle tissue, all depends on how good you are with your diet and how often and hard you train in the gym. The thing you want to remember is that you want consistent fat loss - there will be weeks where you do plateau, but train through it, mix things up, and you will be fine. What you don't want to happen, is you start losing a lot of weight fast, and then it slows and and comes to a halt (just like 'con diets'). It may be annoying having to wait, but you will be forever thankful. I always say 'if you can't do it forever' don't do it at all'. So if you can't maintain a ludicrous 500 calorie a day diet, then don't even start!
So, to sum up - If you go for the quick fat loss route, you will be disappointed. You may well lose weight at the beginning, but it won't all be fat, and it will come back as soon as you stop the 'diet' that you started.
If you opt for the slow route, then it will take longer to see results, but if you give everything you have to eating healthy and training hard, the results will come, your body will be healthier, you won't be on a 'diet' that you will have to stop over paying a company for, so the weight won't come back on. Also, your body will look far, far better because you are actually training it and making it fitter.
Hope you liked this post, and please share!
Lee Gregory Fitness
