Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss

Written by Vernita Sherman


In order to lose weight, your body must burn more calories than it takes in, but keep in mind that your body needs calories for energy and when you exercise; your body needs even more calories. Before I talk about energy,repparttar first thing you must understand is that losing weight and losing fat is notrepparttar 131444 same thing. Just because you lose weight, does not mean you lose fat, and just because you lose fat, does not mean you lose weight. When people talk about losing weight, whatrepparttar 131445 really want to do is loserepparttar 131446 excess fat on their body and obtain an attractive figure. When you eat,repparttar 131447 body uses most ofrepparttar 131448 calories for energy. If you eat more calories thanrepparttar 131449 body uses, it will get stored as fat. If you do not consume enough calories per day you will lose weight, but you will also lose energy. When you do not consume enough energy (calories) for your body, it will start using up your energy stores to make up forrepparttar 131450 energy deficiency. Unfortunately,repparttar 131451 energy stores used is not your stored fat, but instead it’s protein and carbohydrates (carbs) that will supply most ofrepparttar 131452 energy (stored fat makes up a very small percentage). Your body will takerepparttar 131453 protein and carbohydrates from your muscle cells; causing your muscle mass to reduce (say good by to that toned attractive look) which forces your metabolism to decrease (a low metabolism = slow or no fat burning). When this happens your body requires less energy to maintain its new lower body weight (rememberrepparttar 131454 body weight is lower because you loss muscle), which is why your body conserves energy by slowing downrepparttar 131455 metabolism. In other words,repparttar 131456 body has adapted torepparttar 131457 new lower energy (calorie) intake which means that you will no longer continue to lose weight. Keep in mind thatrepparttar 131458 weight you had lost inrepparttar 131459 first place was mostly water weight and you will eventually gain it back inrepparttar 131460 form of fat, not muscle (in order to get your muscle mass back torepparttar 131461 way it was before, you have to work on rebuilding it). When carbohydrates and protein that are already in your body are used asrepparttar 131462 energy source, your body will lose water weight because both carbohydrates and protein hold water inrepparttar 131463 cells. In essence, you are dehydrating yourself to lose weight. So yesrepparttar 131464 scale will go down, but approximately 75% (if not more) of it is water instead of fat. And just so you know, exercising while consuming a small calorie intake just makesrepparttar 131465 situation worse. This is because when you exercise, you start burning off more energy andrepparttar 131466 more you workout,repparttar 131467 more energy your body needs. I already told you above where repparttar 131468 energy comes from, and if you do not give your bodyrepparttar 131469 energy it needs, it will just feed on your muscles even quicker now that you are exercising. So eat more food! In addition to this, when you cut down too much on your calorie intake, your body will start storing calories because it doesn’t know when you will eat again. The calories that are stored will be stored as fat. So in other words, when your body is storing energy, it’s basically storing more fat. To summarize my point: Not eating enough calories results in muscle loss, dehydration, slower fat burning, and your body will always adapt to a lower calorie intake.

Co-Dependency and Food: Trying to Fill the Void

Written by Zo Houseman


Nice girls don’t speak up. Nice girls take care of and support others. These are just a few ofrepparttar messages girls often receive as they are socialized. Often in adulthood, these ingrained messages turn into full-blown co-dependency. Years can go by. Unmet needs build up energy; they demand attention. But without learning skills in setting boundaries, letting others feel their own pain and making oneself a priority, food often becomesrepparttar 131442 hassle-free, soothing balm to takerepparttar 131443 edge off and release that pent up energy momentarily, that is untilrepparttar 131444 guilt sets in.

We are in one ofrepparttar 131445 following roles when we are co-dependent – victim, rescuer or persecutor. Following are a few examples of how these roles play out in our relationship with food:

Victim: You eat too much food. You gain weight and then can’t eat what you want. No matter what you do, what diet you try, you can’t lose weight. No matter how you eat, you seem to continue to gain weight, feeling worse and worse.

Rescuer: The dessert makes you feel better, especiallyrepparttar 131446 chocolate. It makes you feel loved. You feel comforted and nurtured when you eat certain foods. You reward yourself with food overrepparttar 131447 smallest perceived successes. Or someone may rescue you when you claim you can’t lose weight. “You’ve tried hard. It’s not working for you. Go ahead and eat it. You’re not losing weight anyway. You can try that new diet tomorrow.”

Persecutor: You’re great at beating up on yourself. No matter what you do, you can’t lose weight. Your tortured thoughts go something like this: “I’m never going to lose this weight; it’s too hard to lose weight. I hate myself because I can’t control my eating. I hate myself because I’m not following this diet perfectly. I’m fat. I’m ugly. I hate myself.”

How do you get out of your co-dependent relationship with food? First, pay attention to your thoughts – I mean really notice. What are you saying to yourself about food, your body, your weight, yourself? Likely you’ll find that you wouldn’t say those things to your worst enemy. Secondly, write those thoughts down. Ask yourself if any of your thoughts are really true about you or do they come from unconscious, past patterns. Next, ask yourself if you wish to continue to believe these thoughts. If not, forgive yourself for believing them and replace those thoughts withrepparttar 131448 ones you want.

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