Muffin Top-Less

A lot of girls tell me their goal is to lose weight.  

The thing is, I assume most of you girls want to lose FAT, not just weight in general. Losing weight in general would mean also losing muscle. The reason I think you wouldn’t want to do that, is because if you lose muscle, you will wind up ‘skinny fat’ with little to no ‘tone’ and slow your metabolism so that it becomes FAR more likely you will gain back the weight PLUS more.
If you have ever met someone who has yo-yo dieted I’m sure they can vouch for this. Sure the weight comes off fast at first, but the reason for that is because these crash/yoyo/fad/starvation type diets cause a significant loss of water and muscle weight. Then once normal eating is resumed (as it is difficult to stay on those types of diets for a lifetime), the weight comes back.

Less muscle = slower metabolism = less calories burned in a day
More muscle = faster metabolism = more calories burned just by being ALIVE 

If you want to lose FAT, not just WEIGHT, the foods you choose are crucial. You can’t just eat chips and candy all day or you will just lose WEIGHT. Your body does not give up it’s fat stores so easily as they are your body’s safety blanket against starvation. You have to, in essence, TRICK your body into giving up the fat by feeding it the RIGHT foods. If you have noticed yourself losing weight, but that you are not ‘toning up’ this is probably partially the reason. These foods include lean proteins, complex carbs and healthy fats. 

Try to get a serving of lean protein at every meal. Complex carbs digest slowly, keeping insulin stable and giving you energy over a longer period of time. Healthy fats help you LOSE fat. Check out the grocery list and meal plan on my page for an example of these foods!

In addition to clean eating, it’s crucial that you start weight training if you haven’t already. Running will not make you ‘toned’, weight training WILL. And I’m not talking the baby beauty bells… I’m talking real weight that challenges you! =)