Avoid Starving Yourself To Lose Fat
It is very tempting for people who start a diet to just go hard with exercise and cut their calories to a ridiculous level of calories. Shortly you start feeling lethargic, sleepy, hungry, grumpy, tired, and confused. I've often had people ask me on the Weight Watchers Message Board, "I thought eating good and exercising hard was going to make me feel great. I just feel like crap and it's only week one!"
When you severely drop your calories it doesn't take but a few days for your body to rev DOWN the metabolism to conserve energy. The funny thing about the body is that it is designed to store fat, not burn it. The body wants to survive and that's why when you eat too much it packs on pounds and when you starve it conserves that fat to slowly burn off muscle and a tad fat.
The problem is that most people don't truly starve themselves like the people on Survivor. They cut calories down to 900-1200 calories. That is just enough to feel miserable, function, and keep going but not enough to lose fat. You essentially give the body just enough fuel to maintain itself by reducing the amount of energy it provides you. If you aren't careful, the body will learn how to function on those calories and then you have no room to drop your calories anymore.
The sweet spot is barely eating less than you need for the day and allowig the body to think it is OK with letting go of fat sources. It doesn't feel threatened so it thinks, "OK I can let go of a little of the fat I am storing for this."
Most women should eat in the 1500-1700 calorie range. There are loads of calorie calculators out there for you to figure your ranges. At PNP, we provide each person a book that shows them how to do it, great foods you can eat for activity, and information on meal timing. It's a nice resource for people who need a little education on how to eat for an active lifestyle.
______________________________________________
Workout Journal: Shoulders and Triceps
I workout with the trainer so I don't have my numbers. We typically focus on compound movements so we'll do overhead presses (DB or BB and supersetted with the isolation move of lateral raises), upright rows (ss with lat raises), rear delts, OH tricep extensions (I'll finish on own with burnouts on the rope pulldown).
Cardio will be 20-30 easy elliptical because I have a 10 mile run Saturday a.m.
Food Journal:
B - Egg Wrap and apple
S - Protein Shake
L - Grilled chicken salad or chili and baker plain from Wendy's. Taking my niece and so to the park.
S - SBD Bar
D - Splurge meal...don't know where we are going
S - none - going to bed early for the run