It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that when you try to shed unwanted body fat by severely restricting your food intake your body quickly “panics” and goes into a fat-protection “survival mode.” As a result, your metabolism slows down and you start using muscle as fuel (muscle actually utilize fat as an energy source, so we don’t want to lose this precious tissue), and restricting your food intake too much will leave you feeling irritable, hungry, and grouchy. (Surely we’ve all been there before!) And because the body is in “survival mode,” very powerful signals are sent from your brain, telling you to eat, eat, and eat!

Unfortunately, millions of people every year resolve to loss fat by severely restricting their daily food intake. My hunch is that’s why Americans are, in general, in worse shape now than ever before! Restricting foods is the absolute worst way to lose fat and will only decrease your metabolism.

The key then with diet is to work with your body, not against it; to eat smart, not less. Fortunately, it’s not all that difficult to do. You see, if you eat the “right” foods, in the “right” proportions at various times throughout the day, your metabolism will increase. Here’s what the latest science has shown.

Whenever you’re considering the types of food to eat, remember this: all calories are not created equal. Fat requires only 2 percent of your body’s energy to use it up, carbohydrates require roughly 10 percent energy to burn them, whereas protein requires an astonishing 20 percent of your body’s energy to utilize it. Thus, by consuming more protein, you’re actually revving up your metabolism. Research shows that right around one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is adequate and safe for enhancing the metabolic rate, as well as helping the body grow and maintain new muscle tissue.

It’s easy to see why the common adage “fat is more fattening than carbohydrates or protein” came into being. So it’s smart to take in no more than 15 to 20 percent dietary fat any given day whenever you’re attempting to lose fat. (These fats will likely occur naturally in most whole-foods proteins, so don’t worry about adding any “extra” fat). 

Finally, carbohydrates should be consumed in the range of no more than 40 to 45 percent of your daily intake, avoiding simple carbs and completely eliminating refined (sugary) types of carbs and incorporating plenty of fibrous-types of carbs. You see, scientific evidence has shown that when consuming too many carbs (especially simplesugar carbs at one sitting), our bodies respond by stimulating a surge of insulin to be released in the body. Insulin is a hormone that encourages fat stores to become larger, more easily “transporting” fat to be stored and sealing the fat stores shut, preventing fat cells from breaking down. Fortunately, adding more protein to each meal in your diet “buffers” this insulin secretion by slowing the rate of absorption of carbohydrates. And, the addition of dietary protein also kicks up another hormone called glucagon (insulin’s opposing hormone), which can offset the fat-storing ability of insulin by dragging it down and helping dispose of it before it stores more fat. New studies offer evidence that glucagon’s release in the body (as a result of increased protein consumption) may further stimulate fat burning by encouraging fat to be liberated and used more easily. The final part of inhibiting fat storage and increasing the breakdown of fat is meal frequency. By spreading your meals more evenly throughout the day, in five or six smaller meals, rather than two or three large meals, you can maximize the food’s absorption (so your body can use more of it) and supply your body a more stable (non-spiking) level of insulin-levels you can adequately manage. So, never go more than a few hours while you’re awake without eating a meal.

Yours in Health,

Willie B. Ray, Physical Trainer, No Limits