Our bodies have evolved over hundreds of thousands of years to perfect itself to balance energy input and output. The symphony of systems that run the human body suffer from major discord when we over indulge in food and don’t move enough to use the energy we are eating.
We have evolved through feast and famine; at times there was abundance and at times food scarcity. When we intake excess energy, our systems read that as a sign famine is on the horizon. We go into low energy mode, and the cycle continues. So how do we break it once it has started? We create caloric deficit through nutrition and exercise – eat enough calories to keep the systems running, but fewer than expended (through exercise).
Your Basal Metabolic rate (BMR) is the amount of heat energy, or calories, required to keep you alive – the energy your organ systems use while your heart is at rest. Without any moving, this is the number of calories you burn in one day. Age, gender and body composition affect BMR. The only way you can influence your BMR is to build more muscle mass. The more muscle mass you have, the higher your BMR.
A person high muscle and low fat mass will have a high BMR as muscle requires a lot of calories to maintain. A person with high fat and low muscle will also have a high BRM, but for a different reason. When this is the case, the heart must work much harder to deliver nutrition to the systems. This is why obesity is a BIG health risk factor.
As fat is lost, BMR changes. The best analogy for this: like tube of toothpaste, squeezing out the first few pumps gives ample paste, but as time goes, you have to squeeze more and you get less out.
The body does not like to be in caloric deficit. Essentially, we are not built to store a whole lot of extra of fat. Humans are built to use carbohydrates as our main energy source.
I explain fat loss math in this video should you want to learn more about BMR.
If fat loss is your goal…
1) Calculate your BMR HERE.
2) Catalog your calories HERE. You will also see your macronutrient totals which goes back to my last post about protein.
3) Set up a body composition with me at the gym and i will send you an email with a read out and feedback.*
If you carry a fair amount of extra fat and your resting heart rate is over 80, visit your doctor before starting an exercise program. It is important not to weigh yourself more than once every 2-4 weeks. Day to day fluctuations of weight are normal; it can be detrimental to your psyche to work hard and not see daily progress. This process can not be rushed. Healthy, sustainable fat loss is 1-2 pounds of fat per week.
We lose fat in the kitchen and we build muscle in the gym. If you feel you are hitting a plateau, try the steps i outlined above for one month and definitely watch the fat loss math video to clarify what you need to do to reach your healthiest you.
All the love,
M
* free for all Gumsaba Custom Fitness clients and 2023 New Year challengers – $45 fee for everyone else.