Posts Tagged ‘starvation’

The Low Carb Craze and Other Dieting Mistakes

March 13th, 2008

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The Low Carb Craze and Other Dieting Mistakes

By: Bill Belfert

Dear BMTers,
Low carb this and low carb thatthats all you hear nowadays. Kinda reminds me of something that was the craze a few years agoThe Low or No Fat CrazeCan you remember where that got us? Still Fat!!!

Well my friends this Low Carb Craze is going to bring us to the same exact placeYepStill Fat!

Listen, anyone who tries Low carb dieting will experience some Short Term successbut its only short term.
I know some of you are tired of hearing me repeat myself but any diet or exercise machine in and of itself will not work!

A successful Fitness Program must incorporate 5 Strategies:
1. A Compelling Reason to Change

2. Proper Nutrition

3. Progressive Resistance Training

4. Moderate Aerobic Exercise

5. Consistency

If youre missing any one of these strategies you will not experience the success that you crave.

Why the Low Carb diets without Progressive Resistance Training will not work in the long run.

We need to build lean muscle on our bodies.

Why do we need to build lean muscle on our bodies? Building lean muscle will boost metabolism and that is what we want to achieve.

Youll even start burning more calories even while you rest.

Right now Im going to let you in on one of the biggest secrets on burning fat ever revealed:

Lean Muscle Burns Fat!

And, the more lean muscle you have, the more fat you will burn. That is a statement that you can take to the bank!

I guarantee it!

Listen, all these people that go on these Fad diets are really losing water and lean muscle weight.
They Are Not Losing Any Fat Whatsoever!

How can they be if I just got finished telling you that in order for us to lose any fat,(and I did mean any fat!) you must have lean muscle tissue for the fat to go be burned up in?

Our bodies are smart; our fat just cant go away it must be burned up in a muscle cell.

And if youre not doing any Progressive Weight Resistance Training, well then, youre not building any new lean muscle tissue.
Which means, you guessed ityou wont be burning fat any time soon!!!

Dont you see? The people that go on these Fad (starvation) diets turn into skinny fat people. Sure they lose weight, but they lose the wrong kind of weight.

Since these people usually dont perform any weight resistance training and are only probably taking diet pills, and doing hours of aerobic exercise,

they are losing water (from the low calorie, low carb diet) and lean muscle (from doing to much aerobic exercise and not having the right amount and the proper ratios of food in their bodies).

So what is left?

FAT!!!

They have no muscle tone whatsoever!
What these people should be doing is learning how to lift weights and get stronger progressively!

The only way to do that is

Get A Little Stronger Each And Every Workout

If youre not getting stronger each and every workout than you are doing something wrong!

Then all you have to do is add:

A Compelling Reason to Change, Proper Nutrition, Moderate Aerobic Exercise, and Consistency to be Successful

A great example of dieting the wrong way in my opinion is Anna Nicole Smiths recent weight loss.

From a distance she looks great! But get closer and clear the smoke and you will find that she transformed herself into what I explained before a skinny fat person.

Did you hear her interviewed lately on shows like Larry King Live and Regis and Kelly?

She says she takes Trim Spas Ephedra Free Diet Pills. And she eats like only once per day if shes lucky. And I would bet my life, kids, wife, and the house that she never ever does a workout with weights on a consistent basis!!!

So lets see what happened
Most people think that to lose excess body fat, they must stop eating altogether. This is where they are totally wrong.

Starvation(what else would you call not eating?) triggers a metabolic response where, your metabolism will actually slow down and become more efficient in order to preserve body tissue in the case of a shortage of future nutrition.

This is precisely what we dont want. Another way people think theyre eating right is having fruit & coffee for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and a bowl of pasta for dinner.

Nope, thats not the answer either. Some people dont eat anything the whole day and save themselves for a big huge dinner! Thats not the answer either.

To find the answer, you have to think back to caveman days. Back then, there were no supermarkets or convenience stores to easily get whatever you want and whenever you want it.

The caveman didnt know when his next meal was coming. He only ate when he made the big kill and would literally gorge and overstuff himself until he couldnt move! Why? Because he knew that he might not eat again for days or even worseweeks.

What this did was make our bodies very bad at processing our food. Since our bodies didnt know when we were going to eat next, they were forced to revert into something known as

Survival Mode

Whenever you eat, your digestive system converts most of your food(especially large amounts of carbohydrates) to glucose (blood sugar). Its a very complicated process but Ill do my best to sum it up in a nutshell

Anytime we eat while were in survival mode, because of the molasses-pace the metabolism is at, the body converts most of the glucosein conjunction with the hormone insulinto fat.

This is why people who constantly starve themselves can gain weight while eating only once a day!

Wed like to speed up our metabolism, but unfortunately over thousands and thousands of years our bodies havent changed much from the days of the cave man.

Every time we eat, our bodies are already automatically going to convert it to fateven if its fat free! Wheres the justice???

So how do we change our body from fat storer to fat burner? We have to learn to use proper nutrition.

So the question iswhat is proper nutrition? OK in a nutshell, my idea of proper nutrition is 4 to 5 portion-controlled, balanced meals about every 3 hours throughout the day.

By eating this way throughout the day, youll effortlessly speed up your metabolism.

Think of it this way. If you have a campfire burning and you dont add wood to the fire, eventually the campfire will burn out.

But if you add a little wood every few hours, the campfire will continue to burn, and burn nice and hot! So you see, the human metabolism is like the firenever or rarely feed it, and it will slow down.

Feed it every few hours and it has no choice but to speed up.

What Is A Portion-Controlled Meal You Ask?

A portion-controlled meal is sensible portion of a lean protein, a sensible portion of a starchy carbohydrate, and a sensible portion of a fibrous carbohydrate.

Lean protein foods:
- Skinless chicken breast
- Skinless turkey breast
- Tuna fish
- Most fish in general
- Egg whites
- Protein powder

Starchy carbohydrates:
- Sweet potato
- Potato
- Rice
- Pasta
- Oatmeal
- Whole grain wheat bread

Fibrous Carbohydrates:
- Corn
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Asparagus
- Peppers

Here are a few examples of a portion-controlled meal:

Chicken breast with corn & rice
Lean steak with potato & broccoli
Fish with rice & salad
Chicken pita sandwich
Egg white omelet with mushrooms & oatmeal or farina

A “typical” day of eating on Bare Minimum Training might be :

7:00am: egg white omelet and oatmeal
10:00am: yogurt with cottage cheese
1:00 pm: tuna pita sandwich
4:00 pm: mushroom turkey burger on a whole grain bun
7:00 pm: Salmon with rice
8 8-ounce glasses of spring water (throughout entire day)

So you see if Anna Nicole Smith does not start to implement Proper Nutrition and a sound fitness program like Bare Minimum Training

Shes setting yourself up for Failuresure she has short term success but eventually shell gain all the weight back!!!

I hope she doesnt gain the weight backbut she must change her ways if theres any hope for long term success.

Take care,
Bill Belfert

About the Author:

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Bill Belfert is the author of Bare Minimum Training

To learn more about the complete Bare Minimum Training system and find out what the exercise infomercials DON’T WANT YOU TO KNOW about losing weight, staying fit, and trimming down PERMANENTLY. Go to: www.Bare-Minimum-Training.com to see the stunning pictures and learn more. FREE AUDIO CD for a limited time. HURRY!
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Take Care, and Remember…Finally Get Your Life Back…
And Train Bare Minimally,

Bill Belfert
Body Transformation Specialist
Bare Minimum Training, LLC.
201-960-3824

http://www.Bare-Minimum-Training.com

Bill@Bare-Minimum-Training.com

Copyright 2004 – 2005. Bill Belfert, Managing Member Bare Minimum Training LLC. All rights reserved. No liability is assumed by Bare Minimum Training LLC., Nor the author for any information contained herein. This text does not provide medical advice. Specific medical advice should be obtained from a doctor. Bare Minimum Training LLC. advises all to consult a physician and gain medical clearance before you begin any new nutrition, exercise, or dietary supplement program.

About the Author

Bill Belfert, THE Worlds #1 No-B.S. Body Transformation Specialist, Shows Busy People How To Get EXTRAORDINARY Results FAST With His Breakthrough Weight Training Program & Total Fitness System By Only Going To The Gym Twice Per Week For 20 Minutes Or Less! AND, Whats More, You Only Need Moderate Cardio 3 Times Per Week For Only 18 Minutes!

http://www.Bare-Minimum-Training.com

Written By: Bill Belfert

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Atkins & Low-Carb – Part 5

August 16th, 2006

With the popularity of low-carb diets today, most of us have at one time or another considered cutting carbs. In this series of articles we have discussed ‘low-carbing’ and whether or not it’s right for everyone.

In this article we’re going to talk about carbohydrates and how they are stored in the body. Does a large supply of excess carbs make us fat?

Many people believe that only dietary fat will lead to body fat. False! Actually, eating more calories than your body needs to perform daily activities and daily metabolism is what causes body fat. It is as simple as putting 20 gallons of gas in a 15 gallon gas tank…..the excess must go somewhere. In the case of human nutrition, the excess is stored as fat.

Just as excess protein can be stored as body fat, excess carbohydrate can be stored as body fat. Unfortunately for the American public, our consumption of simple carbohydrates has skyrocketed over the last ten years! Too many of us took the popularity of the low-fat and fat-free diets as an excuse to fill up on empty carbo-calories. After all, it’s okay to eat the entire package of licorice since it’s all fat free….right? Again, False!

Carbohydrates that the body cannot use are stored as body fat, plain and simple. Carbohydrates usually are ingested in the forms of polysaccharides (starches), disaccharides (sucrose and lactose) and monosaccharides (glucose and fructose). Essentially what occurs in the digestive process is a breakdown of the polysaccharides and disaccharides to the monosaccharides. The primary site of digestion is the small intestine, where the monosaccharides are then absorbed into the blood. Of the three monosaccharides, glucose is of most importance to human physiology. This is called blood sugar. Fructose and galactose are converted to blood glucose either in the intestinal wall or the liver.

A high-carbohydrate meal will lead to a rapid increase in the blood sugar level, usually within an hour. Naturally, the higher the food is on the glycemic index (refined sugars), the higher the blood sugar level will rise. The maintenance of a normal blood sugar level is very important for proper metabolism. The human body regulates blood sugar levels by a hormone called insulin. The rises in blood sugar levels stimulate the pancreas to secrete the hormone insulin into the blood. Insulin then facilitates the uptake and utilization of blood sugar by various tissues in the body, most notably the muscles and adipose tissue.

The fate of blood sugar is dependent on many factors, with exercise being one of the most important.

1) Blood sugar may be used for energy, particularly by the brain and other parts of the nervous system.

2) Blood sugar may be converted to either liver or muscle glycogen. Liver glycogen may then be later converted to blood sugar. Muscle glycogen is, for the most part, locked into the muscle cell once it enters, where it is converted to energy.

3) Blood sugar may be converted to and stored as fat in the adipose tissue. This situation occurs when the dietary carbohydrate, in combination with caloric intake of other nutrients, exceeds the energy demands of the body, and the storage capacity of the liver and muscles for glycogen.

4) Some blood sugar also may be excreted in the urine if excessive amounts occur in the blood, because of rapid ingestion of simple sugars.

So, what happens if we don’t consume enough carbohydrates? Because the carbohydrate stores in the body are rather limited, and because blood sugar is normally essential for optimal functioning of the central nervous system, it is important to be able to produce blood sugar or glucose internally if the stores are depleted by starvation or a zero-carbohydrate diet. This process is called gluconeogenesis, meaning the formation of glucose. In this process, protein is converted to glucose, and fat is converted to glucose by breaking down glycerol in the liver. The by-products of carbohydrate metabolism, lactate and pyruvate, may also be converted back to glucose in the liver.

With this understanding of how carbohydrate is metabolized in the body, it is clear that low-carb or no-carb diets may lead to decreased levels of energy.

Low-carb diets, however, have been proven to take off the weight. In some cases, weight loss has been dramatic when the subjects abruptly switched to a no-carb diet. Such rapid weight loss is attributed to water loss. Low carbohydrate intake depletes liver and muscle glycogen (stored sugars) and water molecules linked to these sugars. This depletion triggers a drop in body weight.

Especially during the introduction phase of a low-carb diet (2 weeks), the dieter is encouraged to eliminate virtually all carbohydrates from the diet. Even a slight intake of high glycemic foods during this phase would cause immediate weight gain by rebuilding glycogen stores.

Because carbohydrate is the body’s preferred fuel source, this first phase of the diet would most certainly challenge exercise enthusiasts.

So, is the low-carb lifestyle right for you? Maybe. We hope that this series of articles has helped you understand low-carb diets and their potential impact on the body.

SOURCE: (International Sports Sciences Association; Frederick C. Hatfield, Ph.D.; 2001)

About the author:

Tracie Johanson is the founder of Pick Up The Pace, a 30-minute exercise studio for women, focusing on fitness, health and nutrition for maximum weight loss. Please visit http://www.letspickupthepace.com/ for more information.

Written By: Tracie Johanson

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