One of the biggest problems in the fitness industry is the number of people who can't lose weight on a low calorie diet regardless of what they do in the gym. If you fall into this category, you are certainly not by yourself.
The first thing to do is forget about pushing past this issue without changing anything. Your lack of results is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong in either your workout regime or your eating plan.
There is a major issue with all individuals who reach this sticking point. They share two things in common:
1. They eat less than 1000 calories per day.
2. They have a tendency to do hours of cardiovascular exercise.
If you see yourself in either of those two situations, there is a very clear reason why you can not achieve the results you are trying to achieve on the gym floor. The combination of overly performing cardiovascular exercise and eating too few calories per day is an absolute show stopper when it comes to curbing your weight loss efforts.
If you have ever tried restricting calories and cutting out your most enjoyable foods for a week you will already know the problems this approach yields - yet it remains a commonly made dieting mistake. By restricting your favorite snacks your diet becomes the enemy, which is never good for long-term progress, and by restricting calories you run the very real danger of pushing your body straight into starvation mode, which is renowned for elevated fat storage.
Your body begins to slow down your metabolic rate in a bid to prevent you from burning off the fuels it needs to survive, i.e. your fat and carbohydrate stores. So despite the fact that you are pushing yourself through grueling 2 hour cardiovascular sessions doesn't make a jot of difference to your actual progress!
Furthermore, long steady state cardio workouts have been well documented for their ability to cause muscle breakdown. That's right, not only are you burning less fat in the gym but you are also losing lean muscle tissue. Endless hours on the treadmill is not necessary to drop some weight.
If you have done this in the past, or are doing it right now, you need to change your approach if you are to see any upturn in the results you hope to achieve. Start by dismissing the notion of starving yourself and try to consume a calorie intake of roughly 12 times your goal body weight in pounds. If that is a massive jump from where you are at right now, then simply go up in stages week by week instead of a big sudden jump.
Likewise, your cardio routine needs a nudge in the right direction and that can be attained with the use of high intensity interval training, which will provide you with shorter and more enjoyable sessions as well as a more difficult workout overall. HIIT and weights are proven to be more effective for both burning body fat and building lean muscle tissue.
If you dream of owning a lean, defined physique typical of the type of body you would see on the cover of a fitness magazine or beauty magazine, you need to get your training and your diet in check first. If you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet the trick is to stop doing the things which are already not working for you. Change your approach, eat more food and exercise for less overall time but at a higher intensity level. This will fire up your body's metabolism and improve your fitness massively.
The first thing to do is forget about pushing past this issue without changing anything. Your lack of results is your body's way of telling you that something is wrong in either your workout regime or your eating plan.
There is a major issue with all individuals who reach this sticking point. They share two things in common:
1. They eat less than 1000 calories per day.
2. They have a tendency to do hours of cardiovascular exercise.
If you see yourself in either of those two situations, there is a very clear reason why you can not achieve the results you are trying to achieve on the gym floor. The combination of overly performing cardiovascular exercise and eating too few calories per day is an absolute show stopper when it comes to curbing your weight loss efforts.
If you have ever tried restricting calories and cutting out your most enjoyable foods for a week you will already know the problems this approach yields - yet it remains a commonly made dieting mistake. By restricting your favorite snacks your diet becomes the enemy, which is never good for long-term progress, and by restricting calories you run the very real danger of pushing your body straight into starvation mode, which is renowned for elevated fat storage.
Your body begins to slow down your metabolic rate in a bid to prevent you from burning off the fuels it needs to survive, i.e. your fat and carbohydrate stores. So despite the fact that you are pushing yourself through grueling 2 hour cardiovascular sessions doesn't make a jot of difference to your actual progress!
Furthermore, long steady state cardio workouts have been well documented for their ability to cause muscle breakdown. That's right, not only are you burning less fat in the gym but you are also losing lean muscle tissue. Endless hours on the treadmill is not necessary to drop some weight.
If you have done this in the past, or are doing it right now, you need to change your approach if you are to see any upturn in the results you hope to achieve. Start by dismissing the notion of starving yourself and try to consume a calorie intake of roughly 12 times your goal body weight in pounds. If that is a massive jump from where you are at right now, then simply go up in stages week by week instead of a big sudden jump.
Likewise, your cardio routine needs a nudge in the right direction and that can be attained with the use of high intensity interval training, which will provide you with shorter and more enjoyable sessions as well as a more difficult workout overall. HIIT and weights are proven to be more effective for both burning body fat and building lean muscle tissue.
If you dream of owning a lean, defined physique typical of the type of body you would see on the cover of a fitness magazine or beauty magazine, you need to get your training and your diet in check first. If you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet the trick is to stop doing the things which are already not working for you. Change your approach, eat more food and exercise for less overall time but at a higher intensity level. This will fire up your body's metabolism and improve your fitness massively.
About the Author:
Today's coach: Established online personal trainer Russ Howe PTI teaches effective weight loss tips on his website every day. If you feel like you can't lose weight on a low calorie diet he will teach you the facts.
