Hi,
One of the problems with just dieting is that not only do
you lose weight, but you lose muscle weight also. Usually,
this isn’t measured or paid attention to very much.
But, it is important, especially as you get older.
Most people just concentrate on their weight loss and don’t
concern themselves with what the weight loss consists of.
Much of the weight loss when you first go on a diet consists
of water loss. Then you start getting into the body fat and
muscle stores.
The ideal goal would be to not lose any muscle and – after
the water loss – lose only body fat.
Your body mass also consists of bones, ligaments, tendons,
organs, etc, but these will all stay the same weight, so you
don’t have to be concerned about those.
A study in the journal Medicine and Science in Sports
and Exercise a few years ago showed that in a controlled
environment the weight loss on a diet can match the weight
loss on a diet with exercise.
However, there is still a big difference. In the people who
only did the diet, the non fat loss (ie. muscle) was almost
twice as much as the group that did exercise.
In other words the group that exercised while dieting,
lost only 1/2 the muscle weight that the diet only group
lost.
This is one of the reasons that people that only go on a diet
can lose a lot of weight but not be as strong or really look
any better.
If you chose to exercise, you will be keeping your muscles
and losing more body fat. This will make you look a lot better
and feel a lot better.
It will also help you keep the weight off easier. Muscle
helps you burn more calories throughout the day and this
is what you want to keep the weight off.
So, if you are thinking about going on a diet, make sure to
include some exercise along with it so that your diet does
not equal muscle loss.
You don’t need to do hours a day. Just a few minutes at
a time is all you need. Stay tuned for details.
Thanks,
Mike Val
