The Way to Shred
• 29/04/2020
Nutrition for weight loss – can supplements help?
To lose weight you need to create a negative energy balance. This means, you must burn more calories than you eat on a daily basis.
Many diets promote cutting out entire food groups, particularly carbohydrates, dairy and fat. While these methods can result in a quick fix and immediate weight loss, diets like this are not sustainable and weight is often regained quickly and muscle mass lost.
Does muscle weigh more than fat?
The popular saying ‘muscle weighs more than fat’ is not entirely true. 1kg of muscle and 1kg of fat technically weigh the same (one kilo) but two things that weigh the same can also be very different in size. 1kg of feathers for example, is going to take up a lot more space than a dumbbell that weighs 1kg. This applies to muscle and body fat as well. Muscle is quite a bit harder and denser than body fat. They weigh the same, but their size is very different. To achieve a lean physique, you must focus on losing body fat and not muscle. So, when people say they would like to lose weight, they normally mean they would like to lose body fat.How can I achieve my weight loss goals?
There are many ways to achieve your body composition and weight loss goals. First of all, you need to get the foundations of your diet right. Here are a few of tips to get you started:- Avoid fad diets or diets that eliminate whole food groups.
- Bulk up your meals with a variety of vegetables or salad.
- Include protein at meal and snack times to suppress appetite and reduce muscle loss.
- Limit high-energy foods e.g. sugary drinks, chocolate, take-always, potato chips and alcohol.
- Use healthy foods to fuel and recover appropriately around training and be aware of non-hungry eating i.e. boredom eating or grazing from the fridge.