Facts:
- Fat cell number is set soon after birth and increase during childhood and adolescent probably the rest of our life.
- Fat cell number once increased can never be decreased only the size.
Low Carbohydrate/High Protein Diet
I am sure everyone had heard of high protein diet which i myself a fan of it. I thought that high protein diet could maintain lean tissue and minimising fat and more satiating (well, it is definitely more satiating than carb and fat). The low carb diet, which claimed to reduce insulin and increase lipolysis (breaking down of fat to provide energy for the body) thus more fat is burned.
In short term, you do lost weight from these fad diet, but it is mainly from glycogen (glucose/carbohydrate stored in muscle and liver) and water. But in long term, you would be losing more muscle mass leads to lower body metabolic rate (the minimum energy your body needed to function).
Before: B calories, B weight
Dieting : C calories, C weight
After: C calories, B weight
This is where i wanted to stress on. People always complained that they gained the weight back instantly because of the loss of lean body mass leads to decrease of body metabolic rate even though you are eating the same amount of calories when u r dieting. This is the common MISTAKE & PROBLEM made by everyone. I was once the prey of it.
I remembered early this year when i tried to gain weight and mass but loss it like within a month is the result of such mistake i made.
From what i had learned from my lecturer, our body need atleast certain amount of carbohydrate in order to prevent the breaking down of protein.
FAT
Why i am not talking about fat is because fat is the least satiating, easiest to be digested and directly stored as fat in our body.
Eating too much of it = body fat
Eating too little of it = minimal fat gain
Best to consume olive, canola, seeds and nuts and fish oil. All these provide the essential fatty acids our body needed. In MODERATION please.
In a nutshell, it is not advised to follow a low carb or high protein diet and eat just enough fat.
EXERCISE!!!
To avoid the lean mass from being stripped off from your body, exercise is needed.
Strength training + aerobic exercises + Dieting = Perfect weight loss for the short and long term
Ladies: you won't gain muscle like the guys cause you don't have the amount of testerone to stimulate such muscle growth but enough to keep you fit and slim.
