Client A has a metabolism of 3,000 calories per day (burns off 3,000 without exercise).
- Burns an additional 2,000 through painstaking exercise.
- Only consumes 1,000 calories.
So, the math is as follows;
- Burns 5,000 calories (metabolism + exercise) – 1,000 calories consumed.
- Net calories burned 4,000
At that pace, Client A would be losing 7 pounds per week. We all have tried that, and know people who have tried that, and it doesn’t work.
When I competed, I would make the same mistake. Because I usually let myself go and gain too much weight after each competition, I had to “rush” my weight loss because of a deadline for a show. I would get impatient. I would start out strength training 4x per week, no cardio, and eating good. Weight would start to come off, then I would try to work out more to make up for a couple of “cheat days”. Before I knew it, I was spending the last 4 weeks before the show doing 1 hour of cardio in the morning, strength training for an hour in the evening, followed by an additional hour of cardio after that!…..And I was doing all that while consuming next to nothing.
How much weight do you think I was losing doing all that work, while eating nothing?……1lb. per week. That’s it.
What happens is called a “sticking point”.
If the “Calculator” method worked, we could just lose weight consistently without interruption. Unfortunately, the human body doesn’t work that way.
Damn evolution! It is a natural protective mechanism that our bodies have developed over millions of years. It’s what kept our ancestors from starving when their next meal was never a guarantee.
We can call it “Adaptive Thermogenesis”. Whether you’re a bodybuilder, an athlete, or your average Jane or Joe trying to just lose some weight- you will be impacted by the metabolic compensation of the body.
One of the biggest mistakes is when this “sticking point” happens – many people tend to push harder, exercising more, and eating less. That will only make things worse. It may help for a week or two, but you will hit a wall and the weight loss will stop.
Smarter not harder. Think of your metabolism more of like a “Thermostat”. Your thyroid being like your furnace. You want that heat on as high as possible, all the time while trying to lose fat.
The thyroid releases hormones that play a major role in controlling your body’s temperature and the rate that your body burns calories. When your thyroid is working at its max, your metabolism will be sky-high. If your thyroid’s function is impaired, your metabolic rate slows down and leads to weight gain.
The key to keeping your thyroid working hard is “balance”. There is never any need to exercise 2-3 hours per day. Train smart. You should never starve yourself. Eat smart. Always eat balanced meals, no extreme measures (i.e., zero carb, zero fat, high fat, liquids, super-low calorie, etc.).
Studies have shown that diets that contain less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day can reduce thyroid function by 50%! You want to eat good carbs.,…. vegetables, starches, complex carbohydrates. Along with, healthy fats, and lean proteins.
I didn’t really learn from my mistakes until the end of my bodybuilding career, but at least I learned something. The key was, first and foremost, not let myself balloon up after each competition – needing to lose a large amount of weight is very tough to do when you have a short term deadline. I learned that if I kept my weight gain to under 20 pounds, I could lose that weight correctly. By not starving myself, letting my workouts do their job – I didn’t have to rush, and therefore my thyroid function was maximized and I was able to diet with higher calories, and didn’t have to do 2 hours of cardio per day! This approach left me with an actual leaner appearance, due to the fact I was able to retain/build more muscle as well as losing more bodyfat (higher thyroid function).
How do you make your “furnace” burn even higher? Muscle. The number one consumer of calories in your body is muscle. The more muscle mass that you have, the more your body works toward burning calories– even when you’re asleep! It’s extremely important to maintain (if not build) muscle during any weight loss endeavor. This way you will not only lose weight without hitting a “sticking point”, your metabolism will be faster and therefore more likely to keep the weight off when you are done.
If you find that you are starting your diet at a point where you need to lose more weight than is ideal. Just be patient. Trust in the process, do the work, and let your body do the rest.
