There could be a reason why you are struggling to shift some pounds when losing weight says one fitness expert – especially if you have reduced your calorie intake
Sometimes no matter how hard you try it can feel impossible to shed some pounds, especially if you are eating healthily. But according to one fitness expert there could be a specific reason why.
It can be increasingly frustrating dieting and not seeing the results, or increasing your steps and not shedding any pounds but personal trainer and nutrition and lifestyle coach Chloe Thomas explained there are reasons for this. One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to reduce your calorie intake and increase your exercise, but Chloe said if you are struggling to notice the effects of this, it could be down to “metabolic adaptation” which means that extended periods of calorie restriction start to take effect.
“Your metabolism slows down in response to decreased caloric intake. This adaptation can make it difficult to keep losing weight or maintain weight loss,” she told The Sun. She said we all have a weight “set point” and explained how our bodies may resist “veering too far” from it.
The expert added: “It represents the weight at which your body functions optimally and maintains physiological stability without the need for extreme dietary measures or excessive exercise. While your set-point weight can fluctuate slightly in response to changes in lifestyle habits or environmental factors, the body typically defends this weight range through mechanisms that regulate hunger, energy expenditure, and fat storage.” The body’s set point is influenced by different factors such as your body composition, your metabolic rate, appetite regulation and also genetics. The NHS said a healthy guide for calorie intake for an average man is 2,500kcal a day, while for a woman is 2,000kcal a day. However, this could be different when factors are taken into consideration such as:
- age
- weight
- height
- how much exercise you do
Another mistake people may make when trying to lose weight is prioritising cardio over weight training. For those looking to shed pounds, they may think cardio is the way to go. But while it is important to incorporate, it’s not the golden ticket to weight loss according to fitness experts. In fact, it’s now believed that weight training is much more beneficial to those looking to trim their waistline.
Fitness expert and online coach River Hardy said one of the biggest myths in the fitness industry is that cardio is better than weight training, when, in fact, lifting weights means your body will burn fat for longer. “Cardio has its place within a workout routine but it’s by far the least important out of the two,” he said. “Cardio is a great extra tool to burn some extra calories to send someone into a bigger deficit than what they currently are in with the nutrition alone. But the most important part of any workout routine is lifting weights.”
He added that weight training should be the “backbone” of your programme and advised that a great base to start from is three workouts lifting weights for 45 minutes followed by 15 minutes of cardio post session. “Get strong with the weights and you will still be burning calories just like you do with the cardio but as a benefit you will be changing the shape of your muscles and body. Something the cardio will not do.”
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