Guest Blog: Weight Loss - The Misleading Term
We welcome Rolandas Malinausakas, PT and British Natural Bodybuilding Vice-Champion, who takes a look at weight loss and how to approach this correctly…
Weight loss can almost be considered a trend. Certainly amongst my female friends, weight loss and dieting seem to be a constant factor for one or more of them at any given time. While there's no doubt that carrying extra weight is not good for our bodies, neither is it good how society and media pressurise people to try to achieve bodies they can't possibly genetically have. In this blog, I‘m going to explain why the term weight loss is misleading and how to correct it.
“Surely any self-respecting person will do the right thing and lose their extra weight quickly“
Isn't it true that so many of us judge others and ourselves when it comes to the issue of extra weight? Society seems to dictate that any self-respecting person should recognise when they need to lose weight and have the willpower to do so - and the quicker the better! Both ourselves and our society encourage weight loss, often in a way that makes the term itself misleading.
How many people do you know that approach weight loss with a well-educated, correctly assessed, patient approach? This means doing it over a longer time period with in-depth analysis and a more holistic approach as to how to carry the regime out correctly.
Many of us become so fed up with extra weight that when the time comes, the passion and willpower that we have can seem very positive. The combined effect of our own drive to lose weight with the plethora of quick fixes that appear to be available to us, tempt many people to go down the wrong route and even put their health in danger. Some people take diet pills and other types of potentially harmful concoctions, or try a typical quick fix weight loss regime like the one I describe next...
The Typical Quick Fix Weight Loss Regime - Annie & Dave
Let's take a typical couple, Annie and Dave. Feeling full of resolve to shed those unwanted pounds, they design their own quick fix weight loss regime. Basically, this means starving themselves as much as they can in order to lose the weight as quickly as possible, plus start jogging a few times a week because they know it makes sense to exercise. It doesn't matter that the first few jogs down the road are excruciating, it's all in a good cause, and after not exercising for three or more years, it's not a big surprise either.
Unexpected, Unwanted Feelings
As the challenging weeks go on, Annie and Dave manage to keep their resolve and the weight is falling off them each week, although at a certain stage they're both losing less and less weight.
Firstly, when they look in the mirror, they're both happy to see that they definitely look a lot skinnier, but can't understand why they have these areas of flabby fat around their waists. It looks totally out of place on their now much skinnier bodies, and kind of like something they'd expect to see on a person who is a good bit older than them.
They're both also struggling with their moods because their energy levels are unstable. On top of that, they are both struggling big time with unbearable cravings. But the only road forward appears to be to push the boundaries a bit more, with the same approach that up to now seems to have worked well. More starvation and some more jogging.
A Few Months Later...
A few months later Annie and Dave have both succumbed to Mr Unbearable Cravings. What starts off as a treat here and there seems to creep back into their lives again, and in no time at all both their weights have ballooned back up. Morale is at an all-time low. Misery, depression and lack of self worth are at an all-time high.
Does this sound familiar?
Whether it‘s yourself or others that you know, I'm sure you've seen this type of weight loss approach and how it has a yo-yo effect. The reality is that this is not only weight loss, but in so many cases it also means muscle loss.
Within a few months of jogging and severe dieting, you feel the battle was worthwhile to get such a successful “weight loss” result, until that nasty little monster - Mr. Unbearable Cravings - appears to lurk around every corner. There he is, just beside the cupboard door, telling you to open it and treat yourself to some chocolate and crisps. Even when your will power helps you to ignore him, when you leave the house, there he is again, at the entrance of the sweet shop. It doesn't matter where you go, he pops up in all the wrong places. Eventually it becomes too much for you, and the habits of before gradually creep back into your life.
Why The Terms Weight Loss Is Misleading
The term weight loss is misleading because all it does is encourage people to go down dangerous routes like this. Why not call it "Fat Loss, Muscle Retention" instead? Wouldn't you prefer to say goodbye to your stubborn fat, but develop sculpted, attractive muscles? So let's look at how to do this the healthy and long-term way.
How to correct the approach
There are three simple steps you need to follow for healthy weight loss. These are:
1. Understanding how your metabolism works
It's your metabolism's job for you to survive. This means that when you starve yourself, or eat a lot less than your system was previously used to, your metabolism will adjust accordingly. Once your metabolism understands that there is less food coming in to your system on a regular basis, it will try to hold on to as many calories as it possibly can.
The second thing to know is that muscles actually use energy, helping burn calories. The correct combination of food sources delivered to your body at the correct times ensures weight loss is healthy and long lasting. This approach both encourages metabolism, correct behaviour and can also help build muscle, along with the right type of training.
2. Practising a form of training that is correct for weight loss
Sometimes, because women feel that they don't want to build muscle because of what they have seen in the media, they go down the almost entirely cardio workout route. Some people train in an inefficient way, which is basically at a steady pace, doing low to moderate intensity cardio.
However in terms of burning calories this is far slower than for example weight training and lactic acid resistance training. A 45 minute workout of lactic acid resistance training can actually burn more than 1000 calories, while also stimulating the anti-fat growth hormone. In fact if you mix this up with some high-intensity cardio, then you can burn even more calories. Testosterone is especially stimulated by relatively heavy weight training of low to medium reps.
After weight training, muscles need to recuperate for a few days, or even more. This means that they use twice as many calories as resting muscles. If you've been concerned about building muscle previously, remember that muscle can be sculpted. So, with the right work and training, you could end up with the slender, yet toned body of a dancer.
3. Eating the correct amount of calories for weight loss
You will still need to change your diet if you want to lose weight. However the big difference is that doing this correctly, your daily calorific intake will be calculated according to your genetic type, age, lifestyle and lean body mass. In other words, it will be done scientifically and customised for you, if you speak to an expert. However, below I've included the basics as to how this is done.
The first step is to calculate your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Your BMR is a calculation of the amount of calories you would burn if you did nothing for 24 hours. This does not take into account any exercise, or normal outputs of energy that can happen during the day and night.
How to calculate your BMR:
Calculate your weight in kilos x 25. Then add on one of the following percentages depending on your lifestyle:
- Sedentary lifestyle + 20%
- Moderately active lifestyle + 50%
- Very active lifestyle + 100%