Nutrition

Here's what you need to know...

1. Weight loss plans from TV commercials and supposedly healthy foods leave women in the dark about healthy eating habits that can be maintained over the long term.
2. Women need to exercise and eat to support muscle growth. Muscles and metabolism are inextricably linked.
3. Going to extremes with carbohydrates or fats means avoiding one of these two nutrients like the plague and eating too much of the other. Athletic women need the right amounts of both.
4. Women often identify themselves by their food choices. They need to develop a better understanding of food in order to gain control over their eating habits.

1. using a diet program from television commercials

"Lose five pounds during the first week!" For any woman who wholeheartedly wants the weight on the scale to drop, such promises sound enticing.

You can even eat pizza, pancakes and cake! Simply eat your pre-packed meals or your quota of 'food points' and the pounds will melt away. No critical thinking required. Too bad these plans have a 97% failure rate in the long run.

Why these dismal results? Well, the low calorie approach that these diets must take to guarantee quick results causes women to quickly gain the weight back when the diet is over.

Following a very low calorie diet is a surefire way to lose muscle mass, slow down your metabolism and binge when you get too hungry.

And since these diets primarily target women who don't exercise with weights, these women will only gain fat if they put on a few extra pounds after the diet ends thanks to the loss of metabolically active weight we call muscle.

Sure, any woman who follows a points system or eats only through a predetermined selection of pre-made meals from TV commercials will be successful, but only as long as she is paid for and spoon-fed her diet. As soon as she starts thinking for herself in the kitchen, the same bad habits she struggled with before will become a problem again.

The celebrity ambassadors for these programs - who never seem to stay slim despite being paid to diet - are living proof of this.

Nor would these TV ad plans be profitable if women learned how to address the behaviors that caused them to become overweight in the first place. The marketers of these diets would certainly not continue to make profits if their clients became autonomous healthy eaters who built a little more muscle and fired up their metabolic blast furnace.

This would mean losing these people as clients.

Programs with point systems and measured foods leave women in the dark about permanent changes, and because these diets are designed for weight fluctuation and long-term failure, the likelihood that previous clients will come back whenever they need a quick fix for fat loss increases.

Last but not least, most of these plans are nutritionally inadequate and still warn against those "evil" saturated fats while including some very questionable ingredients like corn syrup in their "approved" foods or frozen meals.

The solution

Women will have better long-term results if they invest some of their time in making sure their own healthy meals are always ready and easy to prepare.

They need to take some responsibility, put in some legwork, learn about nutrition and stop depending on diet plans that not even D celebrities can stick to.

2. ignoring the obvious

Women will often look for an obscure missing component in their diet instead of focusing on the obvious behaviors that are causing the real problems.

Many would rather find out what Dr. Oz's secret fat loss formula is instead of ending their obvious poor food choices. No, it can't be the margarita night, the soft drinks or the ice cream! It has to be a lack of the Amazonian-sourced Koo-Koo berry juice!

It's easier for women to talk themselves into what they eat because they would rather believe that there is another way that will help them achieve their goals.

Happy weekends make them uninhibited about unhealthy foods. Constant snacking on sweets between meals, coffee drinks with lots of sweet syrup and sugar, and even too many semi-healthy snacks of dried fruits and nuts - these are all examples of dietary blunders that women overlook when they find themselves searching for the secret to instant weight loss.

Most of the time, women have no idea what their vices are, but without someone to tell them to "stop eating that", they will leave the junk in their diet and just reduce portion sizes. For some reason, women think they can achieve a lean body with small portions of junk.

The solution

Women need to take an honest look at their eating habits. A food diary can help them get a better overview.

They need to become aware of what and why they eat and how they feel after eating certain foods. They need to find out if they are unconsciously snacking throughout the day or eating leftovers from the children's meals.

A food diary can help them figure out which seemingly harmless snacks are actually triggers for overeating an hour later. It might even show them that healthy foods are more satisfying than junk food in the long run. No Koo-Koo berry juice needed.

3. the consumption of supposedly healthy foods

When health-conscious women hear that they need more protein or fiber, many of them will go to the supermarket and stock up on fortified packaged foods. In many - or most - cases, these are just supposedly healthy foods that are actually appetite-stimulating sugar bombs.

What many women don't realize is that sugar can go by a variety of different names on the label and they all do the same thing to the body. Even exotic and healthy sounding ingredients like coconut crystals and organic agave nectar syrup are no exception. Not to mention, fat-free, sugar-free, high-fiber, gluten-free and organic products can still make you fat.

And because these products seem healthy, it's easier to fool yourself into thinking you can eat them in abundance. I've worked with clients who found it hard to eat just a bowl of Kashi Go Lean cereal or just a Fiber One fiber bar. Why? Because these things generally create a craving for more instead of satisfying hunger and appetite.

They are insubstantial and they serve no purpose other than to give consumers the impression that they are good dieters because they are trading Schnickers for soy-containing candy.

Ensure, Boost, Slim Fast, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Special-K protein shakes and protein cereals, Kashi cereals and cookies, Kind Bars, Fiber One "protein" bars: these are the most insidious types of junk food because they masquerade as nutritious.

The solution

Women looking for protein at the supermarket need to stick with meat and eggs and then get their fiber from Mother Nature. If they want to supplement with protein or workout nutrition, then it would be wise to go to a place that doesn't also sell motor oil and toothpaste.

4. obsessive excessive fat loss and not eating for hypertrophy

Some women always seem to be on a diet. Which is odd because these same women always seem to be a little overweight. If they've been on six diets in 2 years, shouldn't they be lean?

Here's the problem: most women who continually make fat loss a priority don't realize that they would become more efficient at fat loss if they simply had more muscle.

Eating to weigh less will make women leaner and thinner, which means they need to eat less if they want to stay lean. Muscles have been broken down, metabolism has gone to sleep, calories have to be reduced again and again and this vicious cycle eventually gets out of control.

Soon these women will claim that dieting doesn't work.

Unless they are dangerously overweight, most women would be better off swapping the slimming and fat loss game for muscle growth and permanent leanness. Continuously chasing fat loss in unproductive ways will eat away at their muscles more than these women realize.

If they made hypertrophy a higher priority than fat loss, then weight loss would eventually happen - slowly at first, but continuously, in a healthy way, and permanently.

Sure, most fat loss strategies will work in the beginning. But then the body adapts, you reach a plateau and regression occurs as muscle is broken down. This is bad news - especially in the midst of a lot of strenuous exercise, as losing muscle only leads to a scrawny flabby body and a compromised metabolism.

So the best way for women to avoid adapting to fat loss strategies is to make their bodies more efficient at burning fat - and then if they have to use a diet, it will only take a small and temporary change to get back on track. Women who are incessantly playing the fat loss game are either doing something wrong or are emaciated.

The solution:

How can women get to a place where they don't need to diet? By building more muscle and eating like they want more muscle on their bodies. This doesn't mean eating nutritional junk, but rather providing energy for workouts so they can train harder, pump nutrients into the muscle cells and feel the muscles working.

Then when they go to the gym, they have to actually try to build muscle. How? By moving weights that are heavy enough to challenge them and by striving for the muscle pain and tension that is a sign that work is being done.

This is very different from simply going through the motions with pink lady dumbbells or trying to exercise with the energy of a 100 kcal breakfast. It takes focus and a real desire to build up.

It's true that it's harder to build muscle and lose body fat at the same time, but what women can do is build muscle so that their bodies ultimately become better at burning fat, even if they're not necessarily trying to do so.

5 - Emotional sagging and self-judgment

Women place more importance on food than men do. When most men engage in gluttony, they say "oops" and move on.

However, when a woman engages in gluttony, her identity and self-esteem go down the drain until she is able to punish herself and deeply regret what she has done. Then her out-of-balance instincts will tell her that she needs to compensate for this dietary misstep with further dietary restriction or excessive cardio, which will lead to gluttony again.

Women often find themselves in a constant cycle of gluttony and hyperrestriction. If they had just kept going at the beginning and left the self-condemnation behind, they would have been able to find more stability.

Their self-image is too attached to their diet and they often don't even realize it. During times when they eat less, they are more satisfied with themselves and more confident. When they eat more, they generally don't feel good about themselves.

And there is usually a reason why they overeat: Food is a tool for them to relieve stress, anxiety, sadness, frustration or other negative emotions.

The solution:

If women stopped attaching their self-worth to their eating habits and dealt with emotions in more productive ways than "frustration eating," they would be more inclined to eat appropriately.

A long walk will clear your head better than two cookies. A good punch to the punching bag will relieve stress better than a liter of ice cream. And going back to point number 4, gluttony wouldn't be such a big deal if they were aiming for hypertrophy instead of fat loss.

Hypertrophy is about growth, not restriction, and this change in perspective frees women from the constant cycle of trying to eat like a supermodel and going overboard again and again.

6. nightly binge eating

Women who eat like a bird in the morning, and especially those who have exercised in a fasted state, often cap their nights with thousands of extra calories because they wake up at night for what they didn't get earlier in the day.

Their bodies are crying out for food. And these hours of nutrient deprivation can lead to elevated cortisol levels for several hours. This combination of high cortisol levels, exhaustion after a day of inadequate energy intake, and any other incidental emotions can become a ticking time bomb for binge eating.

No person, male or female, wants to think about preparing food when they are famished. And few will stick to a specific quota of macronutrients or calories when their stomach feels like it's eating itself.

The solution:

If women ate enough during the earlier meals of the day and recharged with enough energy for their workouts, they wouldn't struggle so much with late-night hunger pangs and second helpings at dinner or dessert.

7. too little protein consumption

Many women - and even the health-conscious among them - have no idea that they're not getting enough protein.

Sure, they've probably heard that 2 grams per kilogram of body weight is a useful rule of thumb for strength athletes, but unless they're consciously monitoring their macronutrient intake, they won't know what that number looks like on their plate. And unless they're supplementing with protein, that intake will seem like a whole lot of meat.

If fat loss is their goal, then even more than the standard 2 grams per kilogram of body weight would be beneficial. Why? Because protein satiates, maintains muscle mass, helps build muscle and burns more calories when digested than carbohydrates and fat.

Protein has a stronger thermic effect than the other two macronutrients. But women prefer to choose those kiddie portions of meat so they have more room for cookies and chocolate-covered junk later. (This is also known as nutritional postponement).

They don't realize that protein not only keeps hunger away, but also protects against muscle atrophy. Women who try to lose fat by eating fewer total calories and doing extra workouts are at even higher risk for muscle loss - and muscle is the one thing that will make their bodies more efficient at burning fat.

The solution:

Women need to calculate their protein needs and monitor their protein intake for a while to make sure they're eating enough protein. If they are struggling with excess body fat, a higher protein approach could have a big impact on their appetite and waistline.

8. overdoing it with dietary fat

In recent years, most health-conscious women have overcome their fear of dietary fat. We've become avocado lovers, eat meat and butter from grass-fed cattle, love coconut and drink coffee with cream. But in trying to overcome fat phobia, many have let the pendulum swing too far.

No doubt, the old adage "fat makes you fat" is outdated. We know there are many more factors in weight loss. But many women are taught that nuts and full-fat cheese add up, and those who think their waistlines are immune to this because they don't spike their insulin levels with processed carbs are misguided.

There is a point where too much dietary fat makes a person look like they are eating too much dietary fat.

On the other end of the spectrum are the health-conscious women who still have an aversion to fat. Even though the nineties taught us that you can stay fat on a fat-free diet, some women still fear butter and egg yolks (but it is saturated after all!).

Many don't realize that without fat and dietary cholesterol, the body struggles to produce the hormones necessary for a naturally functioning metabolism and sex life.

A traditional bodybuilding diet that appears clean and pristine and includes plenty of vegetables, lean protein and oatmeal can still be inadequate without some cholesterol-containing animal fat. And our hormones flourish when we get enough of it.

These hormones can increase the amount of muscle women can build, increase the amount of energy they can expend, and increase the amount of "playtime" women want to have in the bedroom.

The solution:

Women need a variety of fats including some saturated fat and would benefit from prioritizing omega-3 fatty acids, which are most helpful when it comes to reducing inflammation and promoting fat loss.

Women also need to recognize that a craving for larger amounts of fat is a red flag that they are consuming insufficient amounts of one of the other macronutrients such as carbohydrates.

9. overdoing it with the carbohydrates

There's no doubt that our sedentary society would benefit from ditching white buns, cereals and the aforementioned obvious junk, but numerous low-carb followers who were initially successful end up hitting major plateaus.

The problem with low-carb plans is that many weight-training women end up getting fatter if they stick to them.

Athletic women who avoid starchy foods tend to have an insatiable appetite for fat. Since their carbohydrate needs are not being met, they seek satiety from fat-filled, calorie-dense foods. These high-fat foods, no matter how healthy they may be, are not as effective as carbohydrates when it comes to doing all the things their weight-training bodies need them to do.

Athletic women often don't realize the capacity for carbohydrate storage that a muscular body has. Many athletic women with depleted glycogen stores walk around with flat muscles and assume that they can't tolerate carbohydrates because every time they eat carbohydrates, their weight goes up on the scale.

The reality, however, is that when trained women eat carbohydrates, those carbohydrates will simply replenish the depleted glycogen stores in their flat muscles and, in turn, make those muscles look fuller and more effective at work.

The more muscle a body has, the greater the capacity for storing carbohydrates as glycogen. And when women deplete their glycogen stores, they are not actually burning fat, even though their bodies will appear leaner. They are simply depriving their muscles of usable energy and water.

Muscular women can significantly increase or decrease the weight on the scale within a few days by manipulating their carbohydrate intake. This does not mean they will gain or lose fat.

The solution:

Athletic women who want a lean and powerful body should give carbohydrates the space they need in their diet - especially around their workouts. It will make them more effective in the gym and better at building muscle. Sedentary women with little muscle would be better advised to curb their carbohydrate intake.

10. eating sweets to be sweet

Many women end up eating stuff they don't really want to eat because they haven't mastered the art of saying "no thanks". Women are often more sensitive to the feelings of others, so in their efforts to be polite, they will eat foods they don't want to eat - even if it won't help them get closer to their goals.

The solution:

This is not so simple. The solution depends on the situation.

Unless it's a special treat that someone has really worked hard for, she would benefit from being confident. A woman trying to change her eating patterns needs to get her friends used to hearing her say "not for me".

Even if the food being offered is a treat that someone has put a lot of effort into, she has some options.

She can say "thank you" and make the person happy that she enjoys it. She can say "thank you" and put the treat aside until she knows what to do with it. Or she can say "thank you" and say she'll eat a piece later.

But if my grandmother were to make something with, I would eat it and enjoy it. Weigh the options against each other and choose the option that will hurt the other person's feelings and your body development the least.

By Dani Shugart | 06/24/14

Source: https://www.t-nation.com/diet-fat-loss/10-mistakes-women-make-with-diets

Bodybuilders and active people often use short periods of fasting to lose body fat quickly. Unfortunately, fasting shuts down biochemical pathways - particularly the mTOR pathway - that promote muscle growth. During fasting, cells - especially muscle cells - atrophy and use their cell contents for energy.

A Japanese study conducted at Juntendo University School of Medicine in Tokyo on fasting mice found that exercise activated the mTOR pathway, which is responsible for protein synthesis, and slowed down pathways associated with fasting that are linked to atrophy.

People who use short-term fasting for weight loss should exercise to minimize the loss of muscle mass.

(Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 456: 519 - 526, 2015)

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