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If you search the internet for fat and weight loss information, you’ll find literally millions of pages of information; much of which is contradictory and, in many cases, just plain wrong. Rather than waste your time wading through page after page of potentially incorrect weight loss information, simply follow these three tips to optimize your diet for weight loss. 1.Increase your meal frequency When trying to lose weight many people will skip one or more meals each day. Sadly, in many cases, this means because of hunger they end up overeating at some point to “catch up” on the food they have missed! Needless to say this is not a very effective weight loss strategy... It actually better sense to eat more and not less frequently. Why? Eating, digesting, absorbing and processing food takes energy and the more often you eat, the more often you have to rev up your metabolism to deal with the food you are eating. This phenomenon is known as the thermal effect of food or TEF for short. TEF can account for 6-10% of your daily energy expenditure so eating more often means this figure will increase. So, rather than try and diet by eating less often, eat the same total amount of food each day but spread over smaller and more frequent meals. Think of each meal as a mini-workout for your digestive system. 2.Base your meals around protein Eating elevates your metabolism, as discussed above, but eating protein-rich foods like chicken fish and eggs raises your metabolism more than carbohydrates and fats. Basing your meals around protein means that your body has to work harder than normal to digest your food and, as a result, you should experience greater weight loss. In addition to elevating your metabolism more than carbohydrates and fat, protein is also very filling and also stops your blood glucose from rising and then falling. Stable blood glucose levels are commonly associated with decreased insulin production. As high levels of insulin can interfere with fat burning, this is nothing but good news when you are on a weight loss diet. 1.Don’t starve yourself In an effort to lose weight, many people on a diet reduce their food intake way too much. While such dedication is admirable such a strategy can prove frustratingly ineffective. When you eat too little, your body goes into defensive mode and does everything it can to preserve your fat levels. This is called the starvation response. The starvation response is a throwback to our early evolution and was how your body responded to periods of famine. Your body is a marvelous and miraculous thing but in evolutionary terms it hasn’t changed much in the last 10,000 years or so. Subsequently it doesn’t know you are voluntarily eating a lot less. Instead it makes the assumption that food is scarce and take steps to ensure you survive. It does this by slowing down your metabolism (the rate at which you burn energy), using muscle tissue for energy and also increases levels of lipoprotein lipase which is a fat-storing enzyme. In a nutshell, a very restrictive diet can actually make you fatter and not thinner. How ironic! To avoid triggering the starvation response and making sure you don’t regain the fat you have worked so hard to lose, you should try to limit fat loss to around one pound per week and avoid over exercising or overly restricting your diet. Moderation is the key to a successful diet. Many people make the mistake of trying to lose weight too fast despite the fact it has taken them years to become overweight. Instead, be patient and aim to lose weight at a more sedate pace. While you might not experience overnight results, you are much more likely to keep the weight off and avoid triggering the dreaded starvation response. Use these fast fat loss tips and you’ll soon start seeing progress in your weight loss efforts! Mark Darco is a best personal fitness trainer with 15 years experience and has worked with hundreds of clients. He has successfully completed multiple certifications and continues to provide fitness training to clients of all ages in the NYC area.
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