Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: Discover Why Your Scale May Be Your Worst Enemy

In your pursuit of a leaner body, you know doubt utilized a bathroom scale to chronicle your progress. However, you may have been doing yourself a grave disservice. As you know, a scale measures how much weight you have lost, but it will never tell you where this weight was lost from. This is where the problem lies. When dieting, your combined weight loss could potentially come from fat loss, water loss, or muscle loss. Obviously, the former is what we all want to achieve, and the latter two are what we need to try and avoid whenever dieting. Unfortunately, many of the fad diets claiming rapid weight loss are often achieving this at the expense of water loss and/or muscle loss. Generally speaking, if you are losing greater than two pounds per week you are likely losing muscle as well.

The best way to monitor your progress when embarking on a new diet is to measure your body fat percentage and your lean body mass. Lean body mass is your weight excluding fat. Lean body mass includes bone, muscle, and other fat free tissues with the majority of this being muscle. By measuring these two items, you will be able to determine how much fat you are losing and whether or not you are losing any muscle. The simplest way to measure your body fat percentage is through skinfold testing. If you know a personal trainer or other fitness professional in your area, they will likely be able to take these measurements for you. However, self skinfold testing is available with the use of the “Accu-Mesure”, which can by found easily online.

Once you have determined your body fat percentage, you are ready to calculate your fat weight and lean body mass. To calculate your fat weight, multiply your total weight by your body fat percentage. Remember to convert your body fat percentage to decimal form before multiplying. I.e. 11% body fat would be converted to .11 Once you have calculated your pounds of fat, subtract your pounds of fat from your total weight in pounds, which will give you your lean body mass.

Armed with these simple equations, you will be able to track your weight loss much more accurately than by simply using a scale alone. You will know exactly where your weight loss is coming from, so you can quickly make adjustments to your caloric intake to maximize your results. For example, if your lean body mass decreases and your body fat decreases, this should tell you there is to much of a calorie deficit and you should increase your daily calorie intake slightly to prevent the loss in lean body mass. Whenever you’re on a calorie restricted diet, some loss in lean body mass and therefore muscle is hard to avoid. However, this loss in lean body mass should be limited to a few tenths of a pound per week. Initially, when first starting a diet program, you will likely notice a larger drop in lean body mass due to water loss. Don’t get alarmed by this. An obvious downward trend in your lean body mass over time is definitely a concern.

It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss proper nutrition and how to calculate daily caloric needs for weight loss; however, I will mention a simple formula that can be utilized to get you in the ballpark if you have average or better body fat percentages. To calculate your total daily calories needed for fat loss, multiply your total weight by 12-13. This will give you a good starting point. I will also mention that spreading your calories out over 5-6 meals per day with each meal consisting of approximately 55% complex carbohydrate, 30% lean protein, and 15% fat will give you the best chance of permanent fat loss. Obviously, these percentages may not work for everyone, but they are a great place to start. If you want to maintain your hard earned muscle, it is also imperative you maintain a weight lifting routine, while dieting.

I hope this information will help you achieve all your weight loss goals and help you understand exactly how your nutrition and diet program is affecting your body. There is certainly still a place for the bathroom scale, but unless you’re also measuring the items above, you will never fully realize the affect of your diet program and reaching your full potential may be difficult. I wish you the best of luck.

Weight Loss With The Help Of Green Tea

Weight Loss - Green Tea Benefit

Over the past few years, green tea and its connection with weight loss has long been the center of various clinical studies. Positive effects of green tea on weight loss have been discovered in recent years.

Studies show that the relation between green tea and weight loss are substantially linked together through the plant’s thermogenic properties. Thermogenesis is the process by which the body produces heat by speeding up metabolism, burning calories, and breaking down fat. Certain substances in green tea are believed to help in the body’s thermogenesis, thus contributing to weight loss.

Weight Loss in Other Herbs

Other than green tea, there are other natural herbs that contribute to weight loss. Gugulipid for instance has been shown to augment the metabolic rate of the body and help with thermogenesis, thus leading to weight loss. Gugulipid has also been reported as a catalyst for lowering down cholesterol levels.

Another herb that aids in weight loss is Maitaki. Derived from a Japanese plant, Maitaki helps promote weight loss by targeting the liver, which is a major digestive part of the body.

Maximizing Weight Loss Benefits in Green Tea

A standardized weight loss herbal extract of pure green tea is needed in order to maximize the weight loss benefits of green tea. The market offers several green tea weight loss products that do not use standardized extract. These non-standardized green tea weight loss products are cheaper but do not contain enough active green tea substances to have any significant weight loss benefits.

Scientists and traditional herbalists believe that better weight loss results are achieved when green tea is used in conjunction with other weight loss herbs and with other nutrients. So before buying a green tea weight loss product, it is advisable that you choose a product that contains a rich blend of green tea herbs, minerals and nutrient that aid in weight loss.

Green tea when combined with ginger and olive leaf helps lower cholesterol and promotes weight loss. Green tea helps stop blood vessel constriction while CoQ 10 protects the heart and ensure blood pressure levels. By mixing green tea with CoQ 10, you will not only achieve maximum weight loss but you will also be able maintain the health of several body systems at one time.

The Ideal Green Tea Weight Loss Product

The first thing to make sure of when buying green tea products is to see if the manufacturer of the green tea extract follows strict GMP compliance, the manufacturing standard used throughout the world. Having GMP approval in green tea products assures you that you are getting a product of the highest quality.

Under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, herbal products such as green tea are considered dietary supplements. This means that the success or effectiveness of these products do not have any guarantees. Companies or manufacturers that claim 100% success in their green tea products are doing false advertising and should not be patronized.

For assurance that you’re getting your money’s worth when you buy a green tea product, find a product that is using standardized green tea extract. Look for strict GMP compliance and make sure that the manufacturer of the green tea product has all the proper credentials in product formulation.

Weight Loss Pills: Are They Safe?

In terms of diet pills, before asking about their effectiveness, it’s better to ask: are they safe? Let’s face it – a diet pill manufacturer is going to brag about how many pounds you’ll lose by taking their product, not how many side effects you’ll have. As a result, most customers are not given enough information about the safety of diet products and unfortunately might put their health at risk.

Phenylpropanolamine and caffeine

Most over-the-counter diet pills or as we generally say weight loss pills contain a combination of medications that have various benefits and harms. Usually they include phenylpropanolamine and caffeine, which suppress appetite. Phenlpropanolamine stimulates the central nervous system and has many effects on the body, in that it controls appetite. This is why it’s a key ingredient in most diet pills. Caffeine acts in a similar way and also causes a person to be alert and awake.

There is proof that diet pills can effectively reduce a person’s weight, but many health experts question the relevance of this. Recently, there have been findings that show phenylpropanolamine to cause serious side effects such as high blood pressure, nausea, restlessness, anxiety, insomnia, irritability and even hallucinations. Similarly, caffeine can affect a person’s blood circulation and its effects on blood pressure are unpredictable. Obese individuals are especially in danger of hypertension – which is ironic, as the heavier a person is, the more likely he or she will be to take a diet pill.

Laxatives and Diuretics

Some diet pills on the market contain laxatives and diuretics. These merely force a person’s body to eliminate vital body fluids. Specifically, a laxative stimulates a dieter’s large bowel to empty, but only after food and calories have been absorbed via the small intestines. So fluids are lost in the process and thus the body reacts by retaining water and consequentially, bloating occurs. This simply causes a person to feel they need to lose more weight. Basically, laxatives not only don’t work, but are counterproductive.

Prolonged use of laxatives also cause cramps, bloating, bulimia, anorexia, severe abdominal pain, dehydration, gas, nausea, vomiting, electrolyte disturbances, and chronic constipation and when laxative use finally ceases, a person can experience withdrawal symptoms. Laxatives should only be used to correct irregular bowel movement; otherwise they simply cause problems.

Likewise, diuretics are a very dangerous component of diet pills, since they cause heart arrhythmias and dizziness. They also lead to dehydration and ultimately, kidney and organ damage due to the subsequent imbalance of electrolytes within the body. In order to protect itself from further loss of water, the body will again, retain more water and cause an individual to feel even fatter than before.

Conclusion

So far, no pills or artificial diet supplements can adequately replace regular exercise and a nutritious diet. If you want to lose weight, your aim should be for a healthy body, not a damaged one. Don’t fall prey to misleading diet commercials and bear in mind that there is no such thing as a “quick fix” to weight loss.

Natural Diet Tips To Achieve Fast Weight Loss

Because of the countless diet products lining store shelves and being advertised on television, people forget that the most effective way to lose weight is simply to exercise and eat healthy. Natural diet products, however, can help a person get to their ideal weight and they include green tea and whey.

Whey is a complex milk-based ingredient made up of protein, lactose, fat and minerals. Protein is the best-known component and it is made up of smaller protein subfractions like beta-lactoglubulin, alpha-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins, glycomacropeptides, bovine serum albumin and minor peptides such as lactoperoxidases, lysozyme and lactoferrin. Some of these subfractions are found only in small amounts (less than 1% usually) of cow’s milk.

The benefits of whey have been known for centuries. In fact, in Florence, Italy, it is said that if you want to live healthy and actively, drink whey and dine early.

Whey in weight loss

Many studies conclude that whey plays a significant role in weight reduction. The results of these studies were so astounding that whey was dubbed an adequate weight loss supplement.

Whey has unique effects on food intake. Having whey before a workout helps a person gain and preserve lean body mass. Likewise, whey maintains betaoxidation (or fat burning) during exercise, compared to other foods. If you include whey in your diet, you can increase your muscle mass and decrease your body fat. This is all because whey rapidly delivers amino acids to your body during exercise.

Not only that, but whey has been found to improve blood sugar regulation – which is another factor in controlling appetite and metabolism.

The benefit of herbal green tea extract

Green tea is famous for its medicinal benefits. Most Asian countries use it and other places around the globe are following suit. Aside from its well-known benefits, green tea can also help a person reduce weight.

Drinking green tea is also a safe way to get rid of those pounds. Unlike other herbal products, it doesn’t contain ephedra (which increases heart rate and blood pressure).

Instead, green tea contains high concentrations of catechin polyphenols, which work with other chemicals to intensify fat oxidation and thermogensis (in which heat is created in the body to burn fuels like fat). Moreover, green tea causes the release of carbohydrates to slow down and thus, prevents sharp increases of insulin in the blood.

One cup of green tea a day, or a supplemental tea extract, can help you burn 78 extra calories – so imagine if you drink more tea than that! Not only that, but green tea controls leptin, which is a protein produced by fats and it plays a vital role in how the body manages fat storage via brain signals. A lower leptin level decreases a person’s appetite and helps them to eat in moderation.

Green tea is a safe and effective weight loss tool.