Role of Exercise in Fat Loss

Part 1 of 6: Discriminated Weight Loss

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but if you are overweight, it’s not because you consume too many carbs, too much fat, or too much protein; (warning – bummer alert!) it’s because you consume more food than your body needs – period.

Impossible you say? OK, show me your food diary and calorie count!

If one of your goals is reduce body fat in order to improve your health outlook and your appearance, let’s start by getting real.

A good fat-loss program will include a modest, negative-net caloric intake, plus strength training for exercise. Exercise plays an important and necessary role in FAT loss, but with all the unfortunate advice and misinformation regarding diet and ‘calorie-burning’ exercise we’ve all been raised on, it may surprise you to learn the real value of exercise with respect to fat loss in part 2 of our series.

We don’t want to lose weight indiscriminitely, right? No one has ever asked me, “Thom, I’m feeling fat, how can I lose some of my bone weight and organ tissue?”

If they did ask how to lose bone and organ tissue, I would recommend they first have their head examined, and then that they reduce their calories and avoid exercise; this way they would lose weight indiscriminately – coming from muscle, bone, organs, and fat. And get this, if the calorie reduction is drastic (less than 800/day), their body will cross over to the dark side (starvation mode – great if you’re actually starving, not so great if you’re trying to look and feel good) and will actually preserve body fat. That’s right, if their calorie consumption is too low, initially they will lose everything except fat!

Our best solution for discriminated fat loss is to modestly reduce our caloric intake in combination with strength training exercise. If you’re reading this, then you are likely already on the right track with your SuperSlow strength training exercise program. Next time, we will explore the value of exercise in relation to fat loss. (Spoiler) When your goal is to reduce body fat, ‘cardio’ may not be the friend you thought it was.

In his book The Cardio-Free Diet. Jim Karas writes, “Cardio kills your weight-loss plan, your joints, your immune system, your body composition, your time, and most of all, your motivation to stay committed to losing weight. But there’s one thing cardio doesn’t kill: your appetite.”

In fact, cardio for exercise can be counter-productive when trying to lose body fat and preserve your hard-earned muscles.

Here are some popular diet modification programs. You will find success if you stick any of these eating plans. The best one is the one that works best for YOU, so choose the program that best fits your lifestyle. Or, you can do what I do when I want to lose weight – eat less food and exercise once or twice a week.