You Exercising To Lose Weight?

As a personal trainer, I’m often asked for advice on diet and exercise. Usually it is centered on exercise and losing weight, instead of health or longevity. To me, this indicates short term thinking. Losing weight is usually a short term goal.  The problem is, you weigh too much! So the thinking is all you need is exercise, to work off the fat!

For me, exercise is about health and longevity, improving function and rehabilitation. Exercise improves my skill for sports and recreation activities. To make me look and feel great! Not to lose weight!

Many people are shocked to learn that exercise has little to do with losing weight. It has some effect, but only in the sense of improving shape, movement and the general condition of your body.

Losing weight 90% food! And here’s why...

Whether you gain weight or lose weight depends on hormones and not exercise!  Hormones are   Influenced by what we eat and what we eat comes from three macronutrients: protein, carbohydrates and fat. You may be surprised to learn that of these three, only protein and fat are essential. Carbohydrates are nonessential, or optional. Inuit people are proof of that. In our modern world, the focus is on consuming carbohydrates, a far departure from what our ancestors ate. Let's look at these three macronutrients.

Fats and carbohydrates are our fuel, for energy.

Our energy comes from fuel comes in two forms: “ketones,” the energy units of fat, or “glucose,” and the energy from carbohydrates in the form of starches and sugars.

The difference between these two fuels is striking! Ketones, our primary fuel, burn slow and steady. Glucose, our secondary fuel, burns fast and is volatile. Ketones are stored in our bloodstreams, ready to be used as energy, and glucose is stored around our muscles, ready to be a secondary fuel (booster) in case of emergencies.

Protein rebuilds and repairs our muscles, organs, bones and other organs. If protein is over consumed, it can also be converted to glucose (fuel), just like carbohydrates, and with similar affect.

As hunter-gatherers, we prized fat for fuel, we burned fat all day; and when we needed it, because we were lifting something heavy, running after something, or being chased by something or someone, we burned glucose as a booster. 

Agriculture changed all that! Agriculture became the substitute for hunting and gathering. Slowly grass seeds (rice, wheat, rye, corn, etc) became more of a staple, instead of just emergency food, used only during hard times. We became carbohydrate consumers and through the years, we relied on these grains from grass seeds to become our staple food.

Our new agricultural diet changed us from fat burners to sugar burners.  Since the industrial revolution, our consumption of carbohydrates, in the form of processed food, has become epidemic.

Here is what happens when we consume carbohydrates as a staple. We get a spike of blood sugar, which triggers insulin to help equalize that blood sugar. The body becomes busy dealing with the rapid increase of glucose. We burn some and store the rest as fat. Insulin is always overproduced and also gets stored as fat along with the carbohydrates. This process continues until blood sugar is returned to normal, which rarely happens, because, as soon as the sugar drops, you become hungry again, as the fuel (glucose) is depleted and your body cannot return to using fat (ketones.) Now you are caught in a vicious circle of sugar spikes (energy) and drops (hunger.) These cycles are typically 2-4 hours.

The conventional way of losing weight, is to exercise it off and reduce calorie intake, but this is a real problem because when you eat the majority of your food as carbohydrates, you end up storing fat instead. The only way to burn fat at that point is to exercise for 45-60 minutes or more, to activate the fat burning response. Exercise for one hour burns about 500 calories. One pound of fat contains 3500 calories. You stop exercising and you return to burning glucose, storing fat again, get hungry again because your sugar drops again.You can see what a problem this is!

By eating as our ancestors did, we burn fat day and night.  When we need extra fuel, a boost to get away from predators or catch some food, then we switch to glucose for fuel, stored around our muscles. As you change your eating habits to mimic the food of our ancestors, your body begins to normalize and you consume less food, less calories and become satiated by the food.

So forget the mainstream way and research how our ancestors ate. You will discover a liberating way to live and eat!

I recommend reading a new book by Nora Gedgaudas called "Primal Fat Burner." She states:

“SWITCH ON A WELL-ADAPTED, FAT-BURNING STATE AND YOU LAY THE GROUNDWORK FOR:

• Easier weight loss, without excessive hunger or cravings, and long-lasting energy

• Reduced blood sugar issues, lower hemoglobin A1C and other metabolic markers associated with metabolic diseases such as obesity and diabetes

• An anti-inflammatory effect and a dampening of excess free radical activity (which causes harmful tissue damage and is a driver of disease and aging)

• Anti-aging effects, with improved cellular regeneration and repair mechanisms and healthier, younger-looking skin.

• Improved sleep.

• Improved immune function.

• Reduced blood pressure.

• Stabilized neurological functioning in the brain, which makes you less susceptible to migraines, panic attacks, mood swings, and seizures, and reduces your risk of neurodegenerative diseases . . . and more.”

“And all these benefits come from making a basic but consistent modification to your diet, eating moderate protein from clean, sustainable, and nutrient-enhancing sources, ample fibrous vegetables and greens, and as much fat as you need to satiate your hunger.”

Excerpt From: Gedgaudas, Nora. “Primal Fat Burner.” Atria Books. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright. Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itun.es/us/Sptb_.l

Always check with a medical professional before exercising or changing your diet.

Nico de Haan