I eat a low-fat diet, full of whole grains, yet I can’t lose weight? Is it my metabolism?
A common misconception is that eating fat makes us fat and eating a low-fat diet will promote fat-loss. In reality, a low-fat diet, especially combined with processed carbohydrates such as grains, will actually promote fat-storage and weight-gain.
To understand this we need to learn which foods promote fat-burning and which foods promote fat-storage. For far too long our nutritional focus has been on “low-fat” and “low-calorie” diets, unfortunately these diets do not promote a fat-burning metabolism. As a result, many people are eating what they have been told is a healthy diet yet continue to put on the pounds and get progressively more unhealthy.
Our body’s two main fuel sources are sugar and fat. If we eat carbohydrates that elevate our blood sugar level our bodies are forced to burn sugar and store fat. Since elevated blood sugar is so damaging to our cells our bodies are efficient at turning sugar into fat and storing it away for later use. Unfortunately, by staying on a high-carb, low-fat diet we force the body into perpetual fat-storage mode.
If we center our meals on protein and fat, specifically avoiding processed carbohydrates (such as grains, rice, pasta, breads, cookies, cakes, candy, sodas) we control our blood sugar levels and encourage fat-burning metabolism. Paleo-type diets provide healthy proteins, fats and carbohydrates and greatly support fat-burning.
I exercise on the treadmill over one hour daily but my weight hasn’t changed. Should I increase to 90 minute exercise sessions?
You will get much better fat-loss results if you adjust your diet to promote fat-burning metabolism.
When we eat healthy protein, healthy fat and low-glycemic carbohydrates our bodies will stay in fat-burning metabolism throughout the day and night.
Remember, our bodies burn sugar when we need quick energy but otherwise prefer to burn fat. By focusing on your diet you will burn fat most of the time. After your diet is adjusted, we can add shorter-duration exercise to super-charge your fat-loss efforts.
We encourage exercise sessions that stimulate fat-burning metabolism. High-intensity, short-duration exercise sessions such as interval-training and resistance-training give us much better fat-burning results in significantly less time than obtained with long-duration, traditional cardio training.
The combination of Paleo-diets with interval-training is an efficient and effective way to reach your fat-loss goals. Paleo-diet and interval-training works synergistically to burn fat and support healthy body composition.
We find that 10 to 20 minute interval-training or resistance-training sessions, three or four times per week, give us great results.
Won’t I lose more weight if I cut more calories and exercise longer?
Although we read and hear this over and over again, the reality is this: creating a “calorie deficit” will not lead to fat-burning. If we don’t support fat-burning we won’t get fat-loss.
In addition, the combination of a low-calorie, deprivation-diet with excessive aerobic exercise often leads to muscle-loss instead of fat-loss. Ironically, the stress response generated by this approach can actually cause an increase in body fat.
Remember, the body’s fat-burning rate is impacted by our blood sugar levels and our intake of healthy protein and fat, not by the total number of calories consumed or the “calorie-deficit” created.
To burn fat you must eat proteins, fats and carbohydrates that support the body’s fat-burning metabolism and avoid processed carbohydrates and sugars that promote fat-storage.
I understand that I will lose more fat on a low-carbohydrate diet, but won’t I feel lousy?
The beauty of our approach is that we become fat-burners instead of sugar-burners. When we are fat-burners, our energy levels increase because our cells produce significantly more energy when burning fat than when burning sugar.
We stabilize our blood sugar levels so we no longer feel the roller-coaster effects of fluctuating blood sugar so often felt on a high-carbohydrate diet. When blood sugar is balanced we notice improved mental clarity and mood, and a dramatic reduction in sugar-cravings. When we have balance blood sugar levels we lower chronic inflammation in our bodies. Lowering chronic inflammation improves your health in numerous ways.
On this program you will have more energy, feel better, burn-fat efficiently, and lower inflammation for optimal health, longevity and body composition.
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