The NPO Diet

Does a low carb diet cause you to lose muscle? If so, what is the most effective way to lose body fat?

I’m currently doing cardio 3 times a week coupled with power strength training twice a week. I used to eat good carbs (like multi grain bread, wheat and granola cereal, etc) and have lost 15kg in the past 6 months with about 10% of body fat down. Recently one health instructor I met told me that going on low carb is even better and I’ll lose weight even faster. I have since then (for about a week now) been on a low carb and it feels weird to be on a low carb, high fat & protein diet since I’ve been on a low fat diet for some time. I’ve also been researching and it seems low carb diets are unhealthy. Is this true? Pls advise. Thanks.

Are You Desperate to Start Losing Weight Fast?

Losing weight fast in today’s society seems to be a widespread problem. Have you currently been trying to lose weight fast? So many dieters seem to have the answers to your dieting needs, but do they really work? A healthy dieting plan does help you to lose weight fast, but it does need to be a well-balanced approach, in order to become effective. You need to control your weight loss issues, eating patterns, and calorie consumption which all pertain to your BMR (basal metabolic rate.)

Your BMR is the amount of calories burned on a daily bases. It is very important on determining how much weight you will lose, and essentially how fast you lose it. Your BMR is determined by your gender, age, the proportion of muscle you have compared to body fat, and the amount of activity you perform during a daily bases.

As a general rule of thumb, if you absorb more energy than you can consume by your body’s BMR you will increase your weight. Having stated that, you need a healthy balance between calories consumed and energy needed by your body. It can be tricky losing weight fast, but if you know these tips you can supercharge your metabolism.

Tip 1: Incorporate Aerobic Exercise Into Your Daily Routine

Daily exercise is the most proficient way to increase your metabolism. It is true that the number of calories you will burn will be small while performing these various exercises. It is important to note that exercise increases your metabolism prior to physical activity. For example if you jog (or some other form of exercise) each morning your metabolism will become accelerated for 6 hours prior to your exercise.

A vital tip for multiplying your metabolism effect is to exercise 30 minutes in the morning and additionally 30 more minutes in the nighttime. This will provide your body with a double whammy, which will keep your metabolism, elevated all day long which can aid you in losing weight fast.

Tip 2: Build Muscle/Strength Training

Building and maintaining muscle requires energy. Energy is an important factor to adjusting your BMR (basal metabolic rate.) The more muscle you have the more calories you will burn daily. This essentially means you will burn more calories even while you are resting or sleeping. Resistance training is a great way to build muscle. Resistance training has two different, sometimes complicating definitions, a more broad meaning that relates to any training that utilizes a resistance to the force of muscular contractions. (often referred to as strength training) The second meaning, is elastic and hydraulic resistance, which relates to a specific type of strength training that utilizes elastic or hydraulic tension to provide the resistance.

Tip 3: Don’t Avoid Meals

Losing weight fast doesn’t require you to starve your body in order to lose weight. This is the least efficient way to jump-start your metabolism. It signals your body to go into “starvation mode,” and will actually decrease your metabolism. Along with staving your body, you are depriving your body of important nutrients. What is considered to be “severe calorie restriction,” depends on each individual person.

Remember to eat small meals, but more frequent meals to help losing weight faster. I would recommend that you eat every three hour if you can, but remember to eat small portions. This allows your blood sugar to stabilize, provides an appropriate amount of energy, and keeps your metabolism ascend since your body has to work to break down the food you consume. Losing weight fast requires you to know how to control your basal metabolic rate.

Tip 4: Breakfast Is The Most Important Meal

Incorporate breakfast into your daily lifestyle. When you sleep your metabolic generally slows down. Prior to waking up your body is “fasting” and is in starvation mode which slows down your metabolism. Countless studies have been conducted over the importance of breakfast. Most, 78% reported eating breakfast on a daily bases, and almost 90% reported consuming breakfast at a minimum of five days a week, which suggest that breakfast is the most important meal aiding people at losing weight fast. This has been proven by James O. Hill, PhD, The Registry’s co-founder and director of the Center for Human Nutrition at The University of Colorado Health Science Center. Furthermore, two studies in the Journal of American Dietetic Association backed up these findings.

Tip 5: Consume Protein Regularly

The breaking down of food requires energy; that’s why eating will slightly boost your metabolism after a meal. Protein is a big factor in adjusting your metabolism, because it requires more energy to break down the protein. However, this does not give you the green light to consume countless amounts of protein because this will damage your kidneys. The most efficient amount of protein consumption is as follows; 8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day.

Tip 6: Water Is Important

Generally, adults have around 60% body mass due to water. Males tend to have slightly more water than females because of the higher percent of fat that they have. Newborns and young children have more than 80% of water according to their body mass index. Water is essential to speed up your metabolism, as well as a necessity of life. The Institute of Medicine advises males to consume 3 liters (about 13 cups) a day, whereas, females should consume 2.2 liters (about 9 cups) on a daily.

Tip 7: Avoid A High Sugar Intake

This ever so pronounced rush that you acquire do to sugar-saturated foods and beverages actually has a negative effect on your metabolism. It nearly requires little or no energy to digest sugar. This causes a rapid increase of your blood sugar. As a result you put your body into “fat storage mode.”

balanced diet?

I am trying to change my lifestyle and incoporated vegetables and fruits daily in my diet. i am not sure i am doing this right.

for breakfast i have total fibe cereral with bananna or strawberry.

usually no lunch but dinner a meat rice and two servings of veggies.

it is easier for me to drink 100 percent juices during the day than eating fruits at times.

i would like an example of a balanced meal for a 26 year old female that gives the body everything it needs on a daily basis to be healthy