Stress and Weight loss

For many people weight loss is a difficult task to undertake, sustain and achieve. Many factors can contibute to how effectively you are able to achieve your weight loss goals, such as diet strategy, work and sleep patterns and desire.

However one factor often over looked is stress.  Stress can bring your weight loss to a grinding stop, despite your best efforts to eat and exercie effectively.  Elevated stress levels can cause an increase in the hormone "Cortisol".

Cortisol, among other effects will cause increased stores of abodminal fat, and suppression of the immune system exposing you to greater risk of illness.

Reducing stress levels is an essential part of reducing Cortisol levels and so increaing your ability to burn fat.

So take a look at your life and identify what stresses exist in your life and can you make necessary changes;

• Increase amount of sleep
• Decreasing Work stress levels
• Overcoming Illness
• Introducing a low GI diet
• take time for meditation, or stress relieving physical activty.

Hopefully you are able to identify what is causing stress in your life, if not perhaps discuss it with someone and see if they can identify your sources of stress and how to ddeal or resolve it.

Always remember

"Well in Mind, Well in Body"

Till next time,

Darren.

Protein Rich Diet

For many years, coaches and trainers have been extolling the virtues of a higher protein diet, not only for muscle building, but also for weight loss. However, many people in the mainstream medical community have disputed its effectiveness. Now there's a really good piece of research that supports this notion 100%.


The Research

Researchers at the university of Illinois compared 2 calorie restricted diets- one, a protein rich diet designed to contain higher than normal levels of Leucine, an essential amino acid, the other a higher carbohydrate diet based on the food pyramid.

The findings?  Although both diets contained the same amount of calories, those on the higher-protein diet lost more weight.  Researchers called this the metabolic advantage of a protein-rich diet.

The study looked at 2 levels of exercise;

• Walking 2-3 times per week for a total of less than 100 minutes

• Walking 5 times per week for 30 minutes, plus 2 30 minute weightlifting sessions per week. 

While both groups lost weight, the protein rich, high exercise group not only lost more weight, but almost 100% of the weight loss was fat.  In the high carbohydrate, high exercise group, up to 25-30% of the weight lost was muscle.


How it Works

While both diets lowered total calories, the protein rich diet showed a greater drop in total carbohydrate calories.  By lowering carbohydrate calories the body will quickly turn to fat stores as a fuel source to provide energy.

By maintaining (or raising) protein levels the bodies muscle volume shows little or no drop, so maintaining a higher metabolism (the rate at which the body burns calories fro fuel).


Making it Work for you

Aim to consume 1g of protein per 1lb of bodyweight to maintain total muscle mass, and at the same time, reduce daily carb intake by 50-100g (200-400 kcal).  Maintain this for at least 4 weeks.  If weight loss stops decrease carbohydrate intake by a further 50g.

Ensuring You Progress

I am often approached by gym users telling me they have been training for 9 months but have made little or no progress in the last 6 months and are ready to walk away from the gym, "what am I doing wrong?"

My response is "what have you been doing for the last 9 months?"

 I will get a list of exercises and an outline of this persons diet.

my next question "what have you changed in the last 9 months?"

"Nothing-it worked for the first 3 months"

Is this you?  Have you fallen into this trap?

Taking this very scenario, if you have not previously exercised, any exercise program is going to have an effect on you, however there will be a point at which your body is no longer challenged by this exercise program.

As you are no longer challenged by this program, your body has no requirement to change in order to overcome it.

Time to set yourself some new challenges, do 5mins more on the treadmill, increase your RPM on the bike, add 5kg onto the bar, do an extra 5 reps-whatever it takes to challenge the body again.

Once you complete this new challenge, raise the levels again as soon as possible and never get trapped at the same level again.

The same can be applied to diet, if you are no longer losing fat/weight drop another 200-300 kcal from your daily intake for the next 3-4weeks and changes should begin to occur again.

Keep challenging yourself, keep progressing,

Darren.