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Generally true, but there are things to keep in mind (because your body will fight nail and tooth for its fat reserves): 1) You'll be losing muscle before you

by geoka9 10y ago

Generally true, but there are things to keep in mind (because your body will fight nail and tooth for its fat reserves): 1) You'll be losing muscle before you lose fat 2) You'll be lethargic which can result in no weigth loss because your calorie expenditure will match your (reduced) intake Overcoming these two issues is what most slimming/fitness regiments are about.

wdewind 10y ago
1. This can be heavily mitigated by going to the gym, or doing some kind of resistance exercise. Yes, human beings are required to eat the right amount of food and also exercise in order to maintain health. There is no magic bullet. 2. You would only really be lethargic for a small amount of time as your body adjusts to blood sugar levels. It's important to note that people who are losing weight are not low on energy because they are lacking calories. They have a ton of calories, they just aren't very good at using the fat to maintain blood sugar (yet). This should be roughly a 1-4 week transition, and again exercise will help a lot with it.
- geoka9 10y ago
  > This should be roughly a 1-4 week transition I wish it was that simple. From the studies I've read and personal experience, the human body stops using fat as its source of energy once it goes below certain percentage (the lower the percentage, the harder it is to make it use fat). It's pure muscle catabolism and low levels of energy from there on, unless you use tricks like intermittent fasting and macro cycling (and resistance training).
  - wdewind 10y ago
    Realistically you're talking about like 12% bodyfat for a male - which is something many of us would dream of. Sorry, but that's absolutely not what's happening with regular overweight people who lose weight, you're talking about micro-optimization for athletes. The deal is whenever you lose weight you lose muscle and fat. All you can do is shift the ratio. Resistance exercise helps shift that ratio. Proper diet (ie: enough protein) helps shift that ratio.
dlsym 10y ago
No it does not. Lost 50 kg doing CICO. To keep your muscle, watch your macros and exercise. Losing weight is actually pretty simple. But I won't argue that it is hard.
- geoka9 10y ago
  > Losing weight is actually pretty simple. But I won't argue that it is hard. It depends on the genetics, but yes, if you're really overweight, losing lots of weight is generally pretty simple. At some point, though, you'll hit a roadblock and that's when those nuances can become important.
MegaDeKay 10y ago
1) can certainly be influenced by giving your body a reason to hold on to that muscle e.g. weight training. 2) is one of the reasons that coffee exists on this earth :-)
greenhatman 10y ago
Yea, there are lots of studies actually looking at the effect of various foods have on fat burning and obesity. There is definitely more at play than simply calories in calories out. Yes, if you want to lose weight, you need to have a calorie deficit, but certain foods promote fat burning, while others do the opposite. Here are just 3 studies, but there are many many more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24065788 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24065788 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621801 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621801 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854401 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854401

by geoka9 10y ago

wdewind 10y ago

1. This can be heavily mitigated by going to the gym, or doing some kind of resistance exercise. Yes, human beings are required to eat the right amount of food and also exercise in order to maintain health. There is no magic bullet. 2. You would only really be lethargic for a small amount of time as your body adjusts to blood sugar levels. It's important to note that people who are losing weight are not low on energy because they are lacking calories. They have a ton of calories, they just aren't very good at using the fat to maintain blood sugar (yet). This should be roughly a 1-4 week transition, and again exercise will help a lot with it.

geoka9 10y ago
> This should be roughly a 1-4 week transition I wish it was that simple. From the studies I've read and personal experience, the human body stops using fat as its source of energy once it goes below certain percentage (the lower the percentage, the harder it is to make it use fat). It's pure muscle catabolism and low levels of energy from there on, unless you use tricks like intermittent fasting and macro cycling (and resistance training).
- wdewind 10y ago
  Realistically you're talking about like 12% bodyfat for a male - which is something many of us would dream of. Sorry, but that's absolutely not what's happening with regular overweight people who lose weight, you're talking about micro-optimization for athletes. The deal is whenever you lose weight you lose muscle and fat. All you can do is shift the ratio. Resistance exercise helps shift that ratio. Proper diet (ie: enough protein) helps shift that ratio.

dlsym 10y ago

No it does not. Lost 50 kg doing CICO. To keep your muscle, watch your macros and exercise. Losing weight is actually pretty simple. But I won't argue that it is hard.

geoka9 10y ago
> Losing weight is actually pretty simple. But I won't argue that it is hard. It depends on the genetics, but yes, if you're really overweight, losing lots of weight is generally pretty simple. At some point, though, you'll hit a roadblock and that's when those nuances can become important.

MegaDeKay 10y ago

1) can certainly be influenced by giving your body a reason to hold on to that muscle e.g. weight training. 2) is one of the reasons that coffee exists on this earth :-)

greenhatman 10y ago

Yea, there are lots of studies actually looking at the effect of various foods have on fat burning and obesity. There is definitely more at play than simply calories in calories out. Yes, if you want to lose weight, you need to have a calorie deficit, but certain foods promote fat burning, while others do the opposite. Here are just 3 studies, but there are many many more. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24065788 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24065788 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621801 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21621801 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854401 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22854401