Be Beach Prepared- Eating Calories to Lose Calories

Be Beach prepared – Eating Calories to Lose Calories

 

Taking in more calories will help you to lose calories apparently – doesn’t sound right but could it be true? We are all very familiar with the idea of creating a negative energy balance to lose weight. This is where the amount of calories consumed is less than the body needs and so the surplus calories come from your energy stores ie fat cells. To enable this to happen individuals often restrict their calorie intake and consume a hypo-caloric diet –it is a common myth that this will enable you to lose body fat.. It’s not quite as simple as creating a large negative energy balance. Consuming the right amount of calories is more likely to achieve the results you want.

 

Hypo-caloric diets

 

Individuals reduce their calories because there is an assumption that the surplus energy will be taken from their fat stores, resulting in a reduction of body fat. However if the body is kept in a state of nutritional deficiency, what will really happen is that protein from muscle will also be broken down to provide energy. What you should be aiming for is a calorie deficit achieved through exercise together with a diet that gives adequate calorie intake (above basal metabolism levels). This will result in any losses coming from only fat stores and an increase in your energy output.

 

In addition, on a hypo-caloric diet carbohydrate stores are in a state of depletion. Fat cannot be broken down fully if carbohydrate is depleted or if you are de-hydrated as fat is hydrolysed in the presence of oxygen and water. Fat must therefore burn in a flame of carbohydrate and water. The breakdown of carbohydrate as an energy fuel is the first stage of fat breakdown. Carbohydrate in the presence of oxygen for energy ends in the product ‘pyruvic acid’ which can be broken down to the enzyme acetyl co-enzyme A which is the un-locker of fat in the energy cycle. Fat can then be used as an energy fuel in the mitochondria of muscle. If carbohydrate stores are too low much of the fat that is released from the fat stores will be taken to the liver instead, where it is broken down to ketones that provide energy for the brain in times of nutritional starvation – this is the state of ketosis. As ketones accumulate in the blood, they lower the pH balance and create a more acid environment. This will make you feel unwell and nausea and vomiting are common. If you are also de-hydrated, this will make you feel worse. The body can survive for many months in such a state but it is not healthy and can be potentially dangerous for an individual who is exercising.

 

Hypo-caloric diets give you a low energy intake which means that the body will adapt to a survival strategy, saving energy by lowering its metabolic rate (the rate of burning calories) and conserve its fuel stores. Fuel conservation is assisted by the action of the enzyme lipoprotein lipase (LPL). Produced in the capillary, it feeds the fat cell and helps promote the storage of fat.  The end of the equation will be an increase in the storage of fat, rather than the popular myth, fat being used from fat stores therefore reducing fat. The bottom line is that if you don’t take in sufficient calories the body will restrict the mobilisation of fat – the exact opposite effect to what you want to achieve on a fat loss programme.

 

Guidelines for successful long term weight management have been produced by the American College of Sports Medicine. They suggest that calorie reduction should not fall below 1,200 calories per day and that exercise should increase caloric expenditure by approximately 300 calories per day. If 300 more calories per day are expended over and above intake through food and drink, then approximately one pound of fat will be lost in 10-12 days (one pound of fat equals 3,500 calories).  

 

Addressing your fluid requirements

 

The key to fat loss is exercise, the right amount of calories and good hydration. So how do you go about addressing your fluid requirements while exercising? You need to make sure you get just enough carbohydrate calories to enable fat-burning during exercise but without getting too many to cause an excess. Lucozade Sport Hydro Active differs from conventional sports drinks in that it has been specifically designed to address the above needs. The addition of electrolytes (sodium) and a small amount of glucose provided by this drink aids effective hydration by not only increasing consumption but also by promoting absorption and retention. Hydro Active can be used effectively as part of your strategy for fat loss successfully!