About "fast weight loss"

But let's talk a little bit again about "quick weight loss". A coach whose clients have a “faster” result is often mistaken for a good trainer - so many trainers “put” their clients on a strict 500-1000 Kcal diet + add a lot to prove their ability to be a good trainer and a good nutritionist. physical activity. Of course, in the beginning the result will be shocking (which, of course, most customers want - to get the desired result as soon as possible).

However, I would recommend not to rush because "In a hurry" fat burns very badlybut you want to lose fat - right?

Such hasty action in pursuit of a quick and effective result can be ineffective. Physiologist, nutritionist and author of many books, Lail McDonald, talks about this in his article "Why High Calorie Deficiency and Excessive Exercise Can Prevent Fat Reduction."

Lails cites as an example one of his clients, who, chasing a faster result, reduced his daily caloric intake to 600 Kcal per day (according to the client's own words, but we already know how people tend to fool themselves), and included 2h cardio workouts 7x week. However, this did not give her the expected result.

The woman then went on a holiday trip, where she had much less time for physical activity and followed her menu less closely. But as a result lost weight by 2kg.

Lails also talks about his own experience and great efforts to "burn" fat too fast, which in the end did not give any lasting results. The author says: Dissatisfied with the fact that weight loss is stuck (I had been on such a strict kcal-restricting diet for too long), I started training even more and cut my calories even more. All this, together with terrible, truly horrible "carbohydrate charges" (in Latvian - swallowing…) days, led to the weight loss stopped "thrown".

At the same time, he talks about a study in which, while women were on an extremely low-calorie diet, 6 hours of aerobic exercise were added to the training process. As a result, the metabolic rate slowed further.

Why doesn't this fasting + exercise scheme work?

The hormone is all to blame - cortisol, which develops in the body in stressful situations. The role of this hormone is to regulate metabolic processes, maintaining immune and brain function, and ultimately protect the body from the negative effects of stress. Although this hormone is considered "catabolic", that is, it destroys muscle tissue, in some moments the production of this hormone is beneficial to the body - it helps to mobilize adipose tissue during increased strength training. During strength training, the development of episodic cortisol promotes muscle hypertrophy and their ability to adapt during exercise. It also prevents the sugar level from falling to a critical level.

However! During prolonged physical and psychological stress, the development of this hormone can unfortunately contribute to the opposite effect - the deposition of visceral fat, water retention, and other hormones - leptin resistance, which is one of the regulators of metabolic processes in the body. Prolonged exposure to elevated cortisol may promote amenorrhoea, sleep disturbances, the first signs of diabetes. Such an extreme pursuit of weight loss can lead to the body's constant stress, and all of the above effects.

What to do?

This can be combated by periodically returning to a more favorable state of comfort - raising calories to a weight-bearing regimen, reducing physical activity and allowing the body to rest and recover. This will help to normalize cortisol levels and help get rid of excess fluid in the body.

If such a drastic method of slimming proves its ineffectiveness, it is worth trying a little more environmentally friendly methods. This would be especially suitable for those who are more nervous and want to get a faster result, and in the long run it is much more effective. The slower the more stable.

So - you lose weight if you spend more than you take. But if the kcal deficiency is too great and you will be in such a deficiency for a long time, the body will start to resist and accumulate grams at grams at every opportunity. Respectively - relax a little and everything will happen -