Weight Loss Woes
Today we are going to get into, what I would consider, one of the biggest industries that commercializes the body, and that is the weight loss industry. A lot of this industry encompasses eating and supplements and my expertise is exercise and biomechanics, but it ties in greatly especially when ads for weight loss say “you don’t even need to exercise” – then it becomes my business.
Ok, weight loss. Really fat loss. This needs to be the discussion – FAT LOSS! Weight is just a number on the scale, and yes, while it is motivating to see the number decrease, you MUST understand the reality in how the body works for your safety and long term success.
When you are losing weight, WHAT are you losing? That is the question! You do not want to lose muscle mass and water content in excess. So if you ‘diet’ alone, and do no exercise, you will lose precious muscle mass. And here’s the thing everyone, the muscle is what contains a wonderful structure called the mitochondria. And IN the mitochondria is where the processes takes place to burn fat as fuel. So, if you lose muscle mass, you lose, LOSE, the capacity to burn fat and THAT is the “weight” you want to be losing.
So when you exercise, both cardio and weight training, you can increase the amount of mitochondria and the size of the mitochondria – the place where fat is burned. When you exercise at a certain capacity for a certain amount of time, you ignite this fat burning process. Essentially, as exercise commences, say walking, there is a point in this effort where fat make it’s way to the mitochondria and the result is to change that element into energy to burn and the other side of the fat burning equation is carbon dioxide, water, and energy. So, essentially you are breathing out fat – not urinating it out, or smashing it away with some tool. No. Fat is what you want to lose and mostly excess visceral fat in the torso region.
When I see ads like “lose 21 pounds in 21days” – I cringe – that is nuts, just nuts. You would be losing so much muscle mass and water content. And even if someone started a weight training program right at that point, it would not be enough of an influence on the body to preserve lean muscle tissue. This is a disaster idea and dangerous. I am fed UP to NO end with all this! There simply are no shortcuts, and the body needs to be respected.
