Eat more to Lose Fat?

Anyone who has followed a low calorie diet will attest to the fact that it is extremely difficult to stay on, especially when your biochemistry seems to be working against you. Simply put: Low calories = lowered leptin = increased appetite and cravings

Keeping your thyroid revving

When we discuss metabolism and our ability to burn calories effectively, we must give credit where credit is due. In this case we must give special mention to that little gland that lies in the neck, just below the Adam’s apple–the thyroid gland. Your thyroid gland is responsible for controlling the bodies overall metabolism with the aid of its specialized hormones–thyroxin (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). Even though 93% of the hormone secreted by the thyroid is T4, the great majority of T4 must be converted to T3 (the metabolically active thyroid hormone) in order to enhance metabolism.

Leptin also has the ability to lower your metabolic rate by negatively affecting the conversion of your thyroid hormones when you skip meals or severely restrict your calories–the end result is you find it next to impossible to lose any more fat.

A human study presented in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, proved that the thyroid lowering effects brought on by declining leptin levels–through weight loss and dieting–could actually be reversed by administration of “replacement” doses of leptin. But before you go asking your family doctor for an injection of leptin, let me explain how you can naturally stimulate its production.

Don’t be deceived by the “fad diet promise” of losing tons of weight in minimal time. As mentioned, severe caloric deprivation will send leptin plummeting. Instead, teach yourself to eat smaller meals 5 – 6 times a day (two high-alpha whey protein shakes and three small well balanced meals) and whatever you do, don’t skip meals–this tactic leads to lower levels of leptin and negative changes in your thyroid hormones and the dreaded Why can’t I lose anymore weight syndrome!

Another little trick is to supplement with the mineral zinc. Zinc has been shown in studies to raise leptin levels. In fact, a study published in the journal Life Science showed that zinc was able to increase leptin production by a whopping 142%.

Take a good Multi-Vitamin like the Ultimate Multi – Repair – Replace – Replenish!

So remember…

n      Consume lean protein, fibrous carbs and essential fats with every meal

n      Eat smaller meals 5 – 6 times a day (2 as liquid shakes)

n      Never skip meals

- Add some weight-bearing exercises 2-4 times weekly

Low-calorie diets – detrimental to long-term fat loss?

Protein is the primary building block for muscle. While carbohydrates and fat can provide the energy necessary to create muscle, only dietary protein supplies the body with the actual building materials, in the form of 22 amino acids. To build muscle, therefore, you must consume high-quality protein at regular intervals throughout the day.

And muscle is a primary agent of fat loss. Muscle tissue is the body’s key metabolic engine, and is responsible to a large extent for regulating metabolic rate. In other words, the more muscle you have, the higher your metabolism, and the greater your ability to burn calories, even at rest.

An extreme example illustrates muscle’s calorie-burning role in the body. We all have certain images from television or the newspapers burned into our minds: those of starving people from famine-stricken countries. These severely malnourished people look nearly skeletal. But they don’t look this way because of a loss of body fat. Rather, their appearance is the result of a severe depletion of muscle. The last thing a body without a constant food source needs is the enhanced ability to burn calories that muscle provides. During times of famine, therefore, the body devises ways to conserve every calorie it can, and one calorie-conservation method is to break down muscle and use it for energy – literally eating it away. In fact, a starving body will often choose to break down muscle for energy before it will raid its fat stores.

In North America, thankfully, most of us have not experienced famine. Our problem is the opposite one – with a constant supply of food, much of it in the form of high-glycemic carbohydrates, obesity has become a serious health problem (not just in the industrialized world, but also in developing countries), one so vast that the World Health Organization has identified it as a serious threat. Ironically, over-fat people often try to lose weight by depriving themselves of calories, on so-called “starvation diets” that mimic famine by subjecting the body to extremely little food in order to lose weight. Instead of losing fat, however, extreme dieters lose muscle – and therefore one of their key allies in fat loss. While they may lose weight in the short term, they don’t lose fat. Extremely low-calorie diets, therefore, are incredibly detrimental to long-term fat loss.

If you’re fortunate enough to live in a land of plenty, where you have access to a constant supply of nutritious food, then consuming adequate amounts of high-quality protein is one of the best things you can do for your health. It’s also one of your best strategies for long-term fat loss