Body Blitz: 5 Simple Steps to Permanent Fat Loss. Joanna Hall
THE LOW-DOWN ON BODY FAT
So why do we have body fat and how can Body Blitz help us get rid of it? Whether we like it or not we all have fat in our bodies. Each one of us is born with 23 billion fat cells and each of these fat cells has the ability to get bigger and bigger, as well as smaller and smaller. A certain amount of fat is important for our bodies as it gives us shape, warmth and insulation – the problem comes when we start to store too much fat in the body from overeating and under activity.
It is inevitable as we get older we are going to lay down more body fat as our body’s metabolism changes. To combat this we need to establish nutritional and exercise strategies to minimize body fat gain and improve our overall health. Fat cells do not disappear but the actual amount of fat in the cells can decrease and increase dependent upon how well we eat and how much exercise we take. The Body Blitz Plan provides you with all the strategies you need to lose body fat and weight – and keep it off for good!
HOW CAN WE DECREASE THE SIZE OF OUR FAT CELLS?
Unfortunately, if we are consuming more calories than we are expending our fat cells will get bigger and bigger. Although fat cells do not generally divide and increase in numbers, if we eat excessively and gain a significant amount of weight (40–50 pounds) then our fat cells will get bigger and divide and it is likely that the body fat gained at this time will pose more of a problem to shift. While this may seem depressing it helps explain why sometimes we look at friends and they appear to have dropped the weight effortlessly, while our own efforts seem to require a lot more persistence. Appreciating this will allow you to approach your Body Blitz Plan with a realistic picture of what you can achieve long-term.
The most effective way to decrease the size of your fat cells is to reduce your weekly intake of calories. This can be achieved through a combination of sensible nutrition and physical activity (see Steps One to Five for specific strategies). For fat cells to get smaller we need to create a calorie deficit of 3,500 calories per week. At first sight this figure can appear alarming, however the trick to effective body fat loss is to ensure that the calorie deficit is achieved slowly and consistently. Spreading the 3,500 over seven days means you are aiming for a decrease of 500 calories each day from your normal daily calorie range. If you split these 500 calories between accumulated physical activities, structured exercise and the nutritional strategies in the Body Blitz Plan, the figure becomes a lot more manageable. As we go through the book you will see how you can achieve this calorie deficit effectively, while continuing to live your life to the full. Different lifestyle constraints will mean that more emphasis will be placed on the different strategies at different times.
WAYS TO SAVE 500 CALORIES A DAY
Accumulated physical activity: Walk to post office rather than drive, take the stairs at work, walk up the escalators. Saves you: 100 calories
Structured exercise: Power walk for one mile. Saves you: 100 calories
Nutrition: Operate starch curfew in evening meal. Replace a portion of pasta with two portions of extra vegetables. Saves you: 200 calories
Replace mid-afternoon snack of 2 slices of bread and jam with an apple. Saves you: 100 calories.
WHY DO WE GAIN WEIGHT FASTER AS WE GET OLDER?
As we get older we actually start to lay down more body fat. This is due to several factors:
1. METABOLIC RATE
After the age of 30 if we are inactive we actually start to lose muscle mass at a rate of 1/3–1/2 pound every two years. So if you weighed 10 stone at the age of 20 and you still weigh 10 stone at the age of 50, yet you have gone up two clothes sizes and you do not exercise – quite simply, you have lost muscle mass and gained body fat. As the body fat takes up more space, your clothes become tighter and your clothes size goes up. Muscle is metabolically active which means that it burns calories. So if we start to lose muscle mass we actually require less calories to do our everyday tasks. Long-term this means we can potentially be consuming the same number of calories at the age of 20 as at the age of 50 but when we are 50 these calories are not burnt off and we are more prone to laying down body fat. This puts our health at risk and we become frustrated with our shape and fitness.
2. HORMONES
As women start to approach the menopause we enter a stage known as peri menopause – at this time there is a change in our hormones, which may actually encourage our bodies to lay down more body fat.
3. STRESS
Yes, stress does make us fat! When we are experiencing long periods of chronic stress such as overwork, or emotional stresses such as a loss of a partner or moving home, there is a change in our metabolism that encourages increased secretion of the hormone cortisol. If this is left unchecked for long periods of time it encourages body fat to be laid down around our midriffs. Research has shown that storing body fat here actually puts us at a greater risk of heart disease.
Whilst this all may seem a little depressing, the best possible course of action you can take is also the most accessible and cheapest – get active! Taking structured exercise sessions and accumulating physical activity during the day has both a positive and immediate impact on your health and ability to control your weight. See Step Four for more about this.
WHY DO SOME PEOPLE LOSE BODY FAT FASTER THAN OTHERS?
Not everyone will lose weight and body fat at the same rate. We are all different, and there are several factors that can affect our rate of weight and body fat loss.
These include:
1 Your existing metabolic rate
2 Your dieting history
3 Your exercise history
4 Your existing eating patterns
5 Your existing activity patterns
1. YOUR EXISTING METABOLIC RATE
As we have just discussed, our muscle mass starts to decrease as we get older and our metabolic rate tends to slow down, which