Many exercisers are under the mistaken impression that fat is only burned at specific exercise intensities and hence weight loss will only occur if you always exercise at these moderate effort levels. Nothing could be further from the truth! Losing body fat and keeping it off permanently requires a carefully planned exercise program that features aerobic AND anaerobic workouts, as well as careful attention to diet and performance nutrition.
Fat is used for fuel during exercise at a variety of intensity levels. At rest and at moderate heart rates, your body's preferred fuel choice is fat. As exercise intensity increases, you burn progressively more glucose. At anaerobic threshold heart rates, you burn almost entirely glucose and very little fat.
How AEROBIC Workouts Promote Fat Loss
To achieve permanent weight management, you must TRAIN your body to prefer fat for fuel 24 hours a day. This is accomplished by building an aerobic base. Your body is like a computer: when you train it to burn fat during low intensity aerobic workouts, it learns to do this around the clock. You must also fuel your body with healthy, nutritious foods at the right times to prevent metabolism problems that result from exercise-induced caloric depletion. The main mistake people make is restricting calories at crucial times: before, during and after workouts. Restricting calories and training will NOT result in permanent fat loss - it will result in energy level fluctuations, poor recovery and increased stress response to workouts. When you eat healthy, supplement properly and build a strong aerobic base, you are ready to enjoy the fitness and weight loss benefits that anaerobic workouts provide.
How ANAEROBIC Workouts Promote Fat Loss
Even though you are not burning much fat during a high intensity workout, these workouts are still crucial to the success of your weight loss exercise goals. The intensity of anaerobic exercise stimulates an increased demand for calories and an elevated body temperature. These factors generate an increase in your metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories) that lasts for several hours after your workout. Since your preferred fuel choice at rest is fat, you will burn more fat around the clock because of your glucose-burning workout! However wonderful this sounds, many exercisers take shortcuts that sabotage the weight loss benefits of high intensity workouts.The round-the-clock increase in metabolism caused by an effective training program is the only true way to lose weight. Consider that during a vigorous hour of exercise, you burn between 500-800 calories. A tall glass of orange juice and a bran muffin get you nearly back to even. Many exercisers skip the aerobic base training and go right for the high intensity workouts. When you ignore base training OR engage in too many anaerobic workouts, your body learns to prefer sugar for fuel (like a computer, remember?) 24-hours a day. Excessive anaerobic training compromises your fat burning system and causes you to crave sugar, especially at night. Fat stays on your body and your brain tells you to consume sugar all day!
But what if you don’t consume sugar all day?
What if your will power can beat the sugar cravings?
Food Cravings and How to Beat Them
Cravings can be defined as the intense longing for a particular type of food and are something that more than 60% of the population have had. Are these “all in the head” or is there some explanation to why we crave?
Nutritional Reasons
It may be that some cravings are related to nutrition. This is certainly true when it comes to carbohydrates and low blood sugar. Low blood sugar can affect appetite fairly quickly, leaving you hungry and craving carbohydrate type foods. This doesn’t explain cravings for high fat sugary foods in place of carbohydrates such as pasta or potatoes.
It is likely that the craving for high fat, sugary foods is due to the palatability of these. Fat helps carry flavour, which is why high fat foods taste good. Sweetness is a flavour that humans were born liking, while other flavours are acquired.
Dieter’s Cravings
Food cravings are also common in dieters. Diets often focus on deprivation of certain foods and cravings for “forbidden” foods become strong, particularly because the food is labelled as “forbidden. When resistance to temptation gives way, guilt more than often follows. To avoid this situation, don’t label foods. Look for smart alternatives. For example, when craving fries, don’t go for fast food, buy a packet of oven bake low fat fries and have a small portion.
How to Beat Cravings
The trick is not to beat it, but to go with it in a more healthy way. Saying no when you really feel like something is likely to resolve in a binge later on. A good tip is to wait 20 minuets. If you’re still having a craving, allow yourself to have a small portion. For example, a mini candy bar rather than a giant one. This will give you a taste without going overboard on fat and calories. Another tip is to find a healthier alternative for your craving. Feel like something crunchy and salty? Instead of chips, go for a small handful of pretzels. Although these are still high in salt, they are low in fat.
Watching your portion size and swapping choices will allow a little taste without going overboard.
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