Siba Guzha
HELLO. When we join a gym or decide we want to lose some excess weight, we tend to want to do it in the fastest time possible. We go on yoyo diets and extreme exercise routines to lose the weight.
But as anxious as you may be to shed pounds rapidly, there is peril in falling for rapid weight-loss plans such as fasting diets or juicing schemes. Severely slashing calories may help you flush pounds fast in the beginning, but in the long run you compromise your health--and even your future weight.
Safe weight loss happens at the rate of 500grams to 1kg per week, according to Harvard Medical School, so dropping 5kgs should take between five and 10 weeks. Any plan that promises more is probably a bad decision, regardless of celebrity endorsements and other tricks.
So what’s the problem with rapid weight loss? Getting thinner should make you healthier, right? First of all, when you lose more than a couple of pounds per week you lose muscle and bone tissue along with fat. Bone mass is something you want to preserve or increase, not diminish, in order to keep your frame strong and avoid osteoporosis as you grow older.
Losing muscle mass is also problematic for multiple reasons. Obviously, your body grows weaker with less muscle, and everyday tasks may become more difficult to perform. Plus, muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, so the more muscle tissue you have, the faster your resting metabolism becomes. While losing muscle may lead to a temporary dip in the scale, it could slow your metabolism enough to make weight maintenance more difficult later on.
Beyond muscles, your metabolism is likely to wind down significantly with extreme weight loss. Your body enters starvation mode when deprived of adequate calories because it strives to conserve needed energy. As soon as you start to eat a normal diet again (and you will), the pounds will pile right back on. And you may end up weighing more than when you started dieting in the first place.
The healthiest way to lose the recommended weight per week is to eat about 1,500 calories per day if you’re female or about 2,000 calories per day if you’re male. This will help ensure adequate nutrition while still allowing you to easily burn more calories than you eat each day, which is how you lose weight. Even with a sensible eating plan, however, you may lose muscle mass without working out. Therefore, it’s especially important to perform cardiovascular exercise, which burns plenty of calories while toning muscles, and strength training, which builds new muscle as well as stronger bones. And ladies, don’t worry about adding too much bulk--women usually lack the hormones necessary to build massive brawn.
If you need more incentive to avoid deprivation diets and lose weight the healthy way, consider your sanity. You’ll be much happier on a reasonable diet and exercise plan than with an unsatisfying crash diet. Come in and speak to one of our professionals about a healthy diet plan for you. Remember this is not a quick fix but an overall lifestyle change to lead you to a healthier, happier YOU! Stay Fit!
Siba Guzha is a fitness trainer at Body Focus Gym Executive. 1st Floor Meikles Mutare. Contact him on : Cell: 0772 789 110: Tel 020 64712 ext 218 or send feedback to Email: bodyfocusgym@gmail.com.
HELLO. When we join a gym or decide we want to lose some excess weight, we tend to want to do it in the fastest time possible. We go on yoyo diets and extreme exercise routines to lose the weight.
But as anxious as you may be to shed pounds rapidly, there is peril in falling for rapid weight-loss plans such as fasting diets or juicing schemes. Severely slashing calories may help you flush pounds fast in the beginning, but in the long run you compromise your health--and even your future weight.
Safe weight loss happens at the rate of 500grams to 1kg per week, according to Harvard Medical School, so dropping 5kgs should take between five and 10 weeks. Any plan that promises more is probably a bad decision, regardless of celebrity endorsements and other tricks.
So what’s the problem with rapid weight loss? Getting thinner should make you healthier, right? First of all, when you lose more than a couple of pounds per week you lose muscle and bone tissue along with fat. Bone mass is something you want to preserve or increase, not diminish, in order to keep your frame strong and avoid osteoporosis as you grow older.
Losing muscle mass is also problematic for multiple reasons. Obviously, your body grows weaker with less muscle, and everyday tasks may become more difficult to perform. Plus, muscle burns calories 24 hours a day, so the more muscle tissue you have, the faster your resting metabolism becomes. While losing muscle may lead to a temporary dip in the scale, it could slow your metabolism enough to make weight maintenance more difficult later on.
Beyond muscles, your metabolism is likely to wind down significantly with extreme weight loss. Your body enters starvation mode when deprived of adequate calories because it strives to conserve needed energy. As soon as you start to eat a normal diet again (and you will), the pounds will pile right back on. And you may end up weighing more than when you started dieting in the first place.
The healthiest way to lose the recommended weight per week is to eat about 1,500 calories per day if you’re female or about 2,000 calories per day if you’re male. This will help ensure adequate nutrition while still allowing you to easily burn more calories than you eat each day, which is how you lose weight. Even with a sensible eating plan, however, you may lose muscle mass without working out. Therefore, it’s especially important to perform cardiovascular exercise, which burns plenty of calories while toning muscles, and strength training, which builds new muscle as well as stronger bones. And ladies, don’t worry about adding too much bulk--women usually lack the hormones necessary to build massive brawn.
If you need more incentive to avoid deprivation diets and lose weight the healthy way, consider your sanity. You’ll be much happier on a reasonable diet and exercise plan than with an unsatisfying crash diet. Come in and speak to one of our professionals about a healthy diet plan for you. Remember this is not a quick fix but an overall lifestyle change to lead you to a healthier, happier YOU! Stay Fit!
Siba Guzha is a fitness trainer at Body Focus Gym Executive. 1st Floor Meikles Mutare. Contact him on : Cell: 0772 789 110: Tel 020 64712 ext 218 or send feedback to Email: bodyfocusgym@gmail.com.
