Cutting Calories

Is cutting calories a good way to lose fat? YES! But since not all calories act the same way when being processed by the body, we want to practice a few other good habits to get us the best results for weight loss in the LONG term. This is not a sprint, so... slow and steady wins the race. We want to be able to sustain our health, nutrition, and fitness for the long term! Let's talk about how to do this by incorporating helpful changes!

Cutting Calories for Fat Loss!

1. Cutting calories is the first of the important steps in the fat loss program suggested and recommended by Dr. Ellington Darden. He suggests only slightly different calorie counts for men and women, lets see what he has to say in his book A Flat Stomach ASAP: “Your reduction in calories should not be too low, or your body may pull nutrients from your muscles, and that's not desirable. The majority of the people I've worked with achieve optimum results by adhering to daily calorie levels which range from 1,000 to 1,500 calories a day. Women respond best to 1,000 – 1,300 per day. Men require slightly more, approximately 1,200 – 1,500 calories per day.”

There are a lot more suggestions that Dr. Ellington Darden also makes, lets look at all of his suggestions that go along with his effective means of cutting calories and losing weight.

Cutting Calories and Mini Meals!

2. Dr. Darden suggests also that we don't eat overwhelmingly large meals, in fact, he recommends that we eat five tiny mini-meals a day instead of the larger meals that might make us feel tired. He gives a fantastic reason - “Large meals of several thousand calories stimulate excessive insulin production, and you should recall that insulin is your body's most powerful fat storing hormone. Small meals bring on small insulin responses.”

Experimenting on myself, I've validated that Ellington Darden's system of fat loss is effective, a couple years ago I gained about 12 pounds over Christmas holiday and lost it all in a few months using all of these techniques, so I strongly suggest to give it a try :)

Cutting Calories and Cold Water!

3. Another BIG help like cutting calories: This may seem excessive BUT it's very effective - Drink a gallon of ice cold water every day. My clients have likely seen me freezing water and drinking ice cold water all day. I have a great reason for this, for every one gallon of freezing water we drink we burn an extra 123 calories! This may not seem like a lot at first glance but it all adds up, and takes very little effort to drink lots of water.

We will also find that our skin is the largest organ in our bodies. Dr. Ellington Darden suggests that we keep the temperature cold enough to also cool the body to raise the metabolism through the entire day!

Super Slow Strength Training

4. The VERY important base factor to lose fat fast: participate in strength training and build your strength and muscle mass. For every 1 pound of muscle we gain, we raise our resting metabolism to burn an extra 37.5 calories every day. Keeping this in mind, we get WAY more return long term from strength training exercise than any other form of fitness we could utilize.

Muscle maintaining exercise is THE factor that so many dieting always leave out of their program. So often we see clients do what is called “yo yo dieting”, the sad secret is that nutrition programs that tell you you can get skinny without exercise, they are lying to you. Dr. Darden's advice is also my best advice: Don't start a diet without getting involved in an effective form of strength training.

Adding muscle to the body is paramount for success in cutting calories for fat reduction. If we add only 9 pounds of muscle to our body we will burn over 300 extra calories every day without any extra exercise. This is why I recommend a safe strength training routine, and the best trainers I've found with The Perfect Workout, the most efficient and safe exercise!

Cutting calories can be successful, but add these important other factors that are suggested by Dr. Darden and get the fit body you want!