How to Eat More Than Less to Lose Weight

The first thing that comes to mind when you want to lose weight is to go on a low-calorie diet.  As I have said before, diets don't work for long-term weight loss, in fact, they cause long-term weight gain. The main reason diets do not work is that up to 25 percent of the weight loss on a low-calorie diet is muscle tissue.  Muscle loss leads to a reduced resting metabolism, which greatly increases the difficulty of maintaining the weight loss.  Then, because of your lower body weight, reduced muscle mass, and slower metabolism, when you return to your normal eating patterns you find that the daily caloric intake that had previously maintained your body weight is now excessive and causes a weight gain that is mostly body fat.

Here's a different approach to help you lose weight and improve your body composition: Eat more, rather than less, especially when it comes to protein.  You naturally lose muscle as a part of the aging process, and when combined with muscle loss attributed to a low-calorie diet, the reduction in your resting metabolism is magnified.  Strength training is the most effective stimuli for increasing, and maintaining your muscle mass, but it requires protein building blocks to be most effective.  While 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight has been the normal recommendation for daily protein intake, new studies show that 1 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight may be more beneficial in building, maintaining, and reducing muscle loss, especially as you age.

Recent studies show that people from their 50s into their 80s who are strength training require at least 25 percent more protein than the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) level just to maintain their muscle mass, and to gain muscle tissue, they need to consume 50 percent more than the RDA.  Thus, to prevent muscle loss which leads to a lower resting metabolism, and consequently long-term weight gain, it's necessary to consume more protein in your diet.  So remember, eat more protein than less for long-term weight loss.

If you are over 50, strength training is best thing you can do to prevent muscle loss, and to improve your strength.  Check out my beginners through advanced strength training programs by clicking here: Forever Fit and Firm.