Weight loss is a touchy and tricky subject to discuss with even your closest friends. I have definitely gotten in to my fair share of arguments about the subject. It simply comes from everyone having their own opinions, preferences and ideas about nutrition and how to get somewhere with it. It also depends on who you surround yourself with or what news sources you’re getting your information from.

If you’re still taking in information that stems from the 1970’s, I am sorry but science has caught up with it. Fats are not the enemy, carbs are not the enemy, protein is most definitely not the enemy, sitting on the couch and consuming sugar IS the enemy. I am sorry to be blunt here, but it’s a simple fact, the 2 main reasons why our world-wide population is gaining so much weight is because of sugar consumption and not being active throughout the day. The combination of the 2 is obviously a recipe to gain weight.

So, what do you do if you want to lose weight? You do the complete opposite of someone who is gaining weight. You start by being active, work out and eat less sugar and other processed foods. Since I have already written multiple blogs on weight loss in combination with nutrition, we’ll focus on the active/workout side of things in this one. Let’s start.

Zone 2 training

Zone 2 training has been proven to burn more fat. Since zone 2 training is focused on longer time durations and is very low on the intensity scale your body adapts by using fat as its slower fuel source. Your body will turn to carbohydrates first during most of your workouts because of the ”ready-energy” it provides, but with zone 2 training that’s not the case as much.

Weight training

Yes, you read that right, weight training. Why? Did you know that every ounce and pound of muscle mass burns an extra number of calories each day? It is believed that your muscles burn roughly 10 calories per kilo of muscle mass each day. Let’s say your body has 50 kilos of lean muscle mass, that means your muscles will burn around 500 calories per day, 3500 calories a week and 15000 calories per month. Now let’s add just 5 kilos of muscle mass on top of that. The numbers will increase to 550 calories a day, 3850 calorie per week, 16500 per month.

This difference might not sound super impactful when you look at a single day, but keep in mind that most people who’re trying to lose weight are only maintaining about a 200-calorie deficit each day. Over time, adding muscle mass will create a full deficit without having to do much for it (besides working out and eating well).

Do anything!

I am not kidding here, literally anthing. So many people are focused on creating a calorie deficit by eating less. Why not create a deficit by doing more, whatever that more is. It could be a 30- minute walk, a yoga class, a mountain bike session, playing with the kids, I don’t care what it is but do something that gets the blood flow going, gets your heart rate up a little bit and preferably challenges your body one way or the other.

Obviously, just doing the bare minimum of moving for 30 minutes a day won’t show the same results as doing a high intensity workout for an hour a day, but at least it’s a start.

Everyone can workout one way or another. In the wise words of Joe Rogan ”If you can walk to the fridge, you can workout”.

Summary

I wanted to point out the first 2 options since they’re surrounded by quite a bit of controversy. But in reality, you can work out or be active anyway you want to. There’s no physical activity that won’t help you get to where you want to go, unless your nutrition is not up to par.

6 nutrition rules to follow, part 2

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6 Nutrition rules to follow, part 1

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