April 12th--Metabolism Shmabolism...

OK today's post is part two of what I have learned about weight loss. And it goes like this…(can't help but think of a Maroon Five song when I wrote that…I got the moves like Jagger…sorry I hope that didn't give you an ear worm).

Some women find him hot…so I put the Maroon 5 guy on here for you...

Anyway…I have recently learned that when you go about dieting, like I have been doing, which is eating a lot less calories than I have been, you actually won't lose weight at a rapid pace. In fact, decreasing my calories to such an extant has caused fat storing hormones to be released and has not only increased my appetite, but it also has decreased the amount of calories I am burning. In other words, my metabolism is slowing down. It basically thinks my body is experiencing a famine.

When I googled the words "Famine" and "Humor" this is an image I got…probably needed a better searching technique (nothing is really funny about famine)

Moreover, not only am I causing my metabolism to be all "hey, we don't food have food in our area...we better hold onto our fat," but I am losing lean muscle mass. Considering lean muscle is what burns fat the best…well…my plan is probably not such a good idea…

Apparently one of the best ways to lose weight is to eat the same amount of food, but make sure 80% is healthy whole foods (meats, veggies, and fruit) and not processed foods, during my first week of dieting. This way my body is becoming conditioned to a new calorie intake instead of shocking the crap out of it. 

When I googled "shocking fat humor" this is what I got…she looks shocked…I dunno…It's Friday cut me a break...

Once I have finished the initial week I should cut calories down by about 500 calories  a week. I should continue to do this until I reach the amount of calories that is effective for my body. Mine is 1,100-1,200 calories a day.

I have also learned that my exercise habits have not been the best. I read that ellipticals and treadmills can make you lose lean muscle mass, especially if you are doing it for a long period of time. Since this kind of cardio won't build muscle, I need to think/do (probably going to just end up me thinking about) more weight training exercises. Why, again, muscle burns FAT!  

The increase in lean muscle mass will also speed up my metabolism. YAYYYYY!! So my new plan of exercise action is to do shorter workouts, around twenty minutes, and do interval training. Basically, this means exercises that are 30 seconds on and then 15 seconds off. Most of these exercises will use my own body weight (like calisthenics) instead of machines. 

I couldn't help myself…poor little gingerbread man…this is for all the short gals out there...