Burning Calories to Lose Weight

Quite a few have been asking me about burning calories and fat so I found this great easy to read article. Like I have said many many times, it is great that you are working out but you have to watch your meal plan! Exspecially when you want to lose the "belly"--it is the cardio + EATING HEALTHY and the CALORIES we expend and take in! You will lose inches either way but that scale is not going to move! You can do this! Eat healthy and workout! This is your life, make a change and STICK TO IT!!!


A Lesson in Fat Loss
Workouts are all about expending calories.
Posted by Dr. Mark Dedomenico on Thursday, August 27, 2009 5:14 PM

A lot of people think that when you’re in the gym, you’re there to burn fat. However, that’s not always true. The amount of fat you burn during a workout can be pretty small when you compare it to the amount that people typically lose in a week. If you expend 600 calories in a workout, you might burn around 30 grams of fat. That’s not much.

You’re probably thinking, “Oh, great, Dr. Mark, I guess I’m wasting my time going to the gym!” Well, not so fast. You see, it really doesn’t matter how much fat you burn during a workout. What matters is the amount of calories you expend. Even if you don’t burn any fat during a workout, you will still lose fat if you expend more calories than you eat. Why? Let’s say you burn 200 calories of carbohydrate during a workout. While you didn’t burn any fat, you created an energy deficit. Your body is going to make up for this deficit by taking the energy from your fat stores after you’re done working out. As long as you create that energy deficit, your body will get rid of the fat at some point during the day. It’s like digging a hole. It doesn’t matter whether you dig up dirt or gravel … you still have a hole!

So now you know: cardio is cardio whether you are burning fat or calories. Either way you are cutting that fat out of your midsection. Enjoy your workout today!

For those of you that are working out and not changing your eating habbits...

If you are overweight, you can't continue with your current eating habits.
It's not possible to reduce body fat while eating lots of food, cakes and sweets. This doesn't mean you can never have any treats, but you need to learn how to limit these foods to small quantities - say, for special occasions.

In terms of weight-loss, you can get your body to use up existing stores of fat by eating less and making healthier choices.

This doesn't mean crash diet (anything less than 1200 calories), which usually ends up with you either getting weaker or giving up in desperation. Quick-fix diets can lead to a yo-yoing effect of drastic weight loss followed by weight gain, resulting in a vicious cycle. There are no shortcuts to losing weight in a healthy and reasonable way. Follow my plan it you will lose weight!

If you plan on doing your own diet--try eating 300 to 500 calories less per day and this should help you lose maybe a pound a week. Know that fat contains the most amount of calories out of all the food types, so a good way to achieve this is to cut down on fatty foods and eat more "good" carbs, protein, fruit and vegetables.

Below are ways to reduce calorie intake without having to alter your diet significantly.

Replace fizzy drinks and fruit cordials with water.
Swap whole milk for semi-skimmed, or semi-skimmed for skimmed.
Eat less lunch than usual. For example, make your own sandwich and limit the use of margarine/butter and full-fat mayonnaise (store-bought sandwiches often contain both).
Stop taking sugar in tea and coffee.
Have smaller portions of the food you enjoy.
Avoid having a second helping at dinner.
Cut out unhealthy treats such as confectionery, sugary biscuits and crisps between meals.
Cut down on beer and alcohol.

All these things will influence your health in a positive way.

Finally, don't be tempted to skip breakfast – or any meal to lose weight. While skipping a meal will reduce your calorie intake for that hour, it will leave you much hungrier later on.
Not only are you likely to overeat to compensate, but you'll often make bad choices to fill the gap: a cereal bar is not as healthy as a bowl of cereal or as filling, leading you to 'need' something extra for lunch.

Irregular eating habits also disrupt your body's metabolism, which makes it harder to lose weight in the first place.

Have a GREAT day!