How Do You Actually Burn Fat?

 

Alot of people think that burning calories is what weight loss is all about. Many believe that you gotta use portion control so you don't eat too much. After all, the less calories you take in and the more active you are is the key to burn fat right? -No! 8 hours on the treadmill in the morning, fasted will get me lean, won't it? No! There are a zillion money making schemes out there telling you to do this or don't eat that and it's a 33 billion dollar a year industry. But everyone is still fat and getting fatter. Today we'll talk about human biology 101 in simple caveman speak so I understand it. The human body only works one way - the way God made it to work. And no matter how much the weight loss scammer dude tells you to do this or don't eat that, your body still works the same way regardless of which crack pipe you smoke. So how do you actually oxidize (burn) fat? The body does it one way and one way only. Let me preach on it! I ain't no scholar or medical wizard but when I read my biology 101 book from college -hehe I did make it through the 3rd grade, it tells me one way that stuff happens. So lets take a casual look at it, minimizing the big words, that I can't pronunciate no how. 

You have zillions of fat (adipose) cells also known as adipocytes which are like flexible mini-water containers. The fat cells don't go anywhere-it's the stuff inside the fat cells that comes and goes. The stuff inside the fat cells are triaglycerol which are broken down into free fatty acids. The free fatty acids are transported through the blood stream to the muscles where oxidation occurs in the mitochondria. When the fat cells are emptied they collapse like a water blivet drained of water. So when the fat cells deflate, you become leaner and the underlying muscle is easier to see and you magically become "toned". There is allot of hormonal stuff that goes on behind the scenes, to get things rolling from point A to point B but if your eating right, this stuff should happen without a hitch. You normally don't keep gaining fat cells after puberty unless you become grossly obese. So it's about emptying the fat cells that you have to present a leaner look.

Toned is one of my favorite fitness myth words. People made allot of money back in the '80's with body sculpting and toning non-sense. It's called burning fat and building muscle. Anyhow, you have to make this process occur by doing things a certain way. That's why in the targeted fat loss protocol from the Warp Speed Fat Loss program, that I use for my clients, it breaks it down pretty good, so you can decipher the madness. You have to mobilize, transport and oxidize free fatty acids in sequence in order to maximize the amount of free fatty acids burned (oxidized) by the muscles.

The combination of metabolism boosting nutrition, targeted fat loss cardio, metabolic resistance training (tabata) and heavy strength training are the reality & science based components of my program that burn fat and build muscle. Muscle and the mitochondria in the muscle are the actual furnaces that burn the fat as fuel. There is no other human way to burn fat. So muscle is the key to fat loss. No muscle, no fat loss. That's why skinny fat bitches are weak, gelatin fat coated skeletons that will die tomorrow. So stop with the madness, learn what it takes to do the stuff we talked about here and then get on it with a vengeance. There is no secret - you just gotta go do it.

Eric
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness

Seasonal Eating Was Good For The Caveman But Is It Good For You?

I'm a big fan of paleo and primal nutrition principles and that's what makes up the foundation of my nutrition plan. I'd say I agree with about 90% of the paleo and primal nutrition concepts. Seasonal eating is a hot topic in certain circles. And it ties into the paleo and primal train of thought.

What is seasonal eating? Basically it means that you try to eat what was most prevalent during each season back in the caveman days. Keeping in mind that this concept of eating is based upon old school caveman times. It changed dramatically depending on your location. A cave dude in Alaska would be eating different stuff than a cave dude in Florida. You get the idea.

So I'm going to base my overview of seasonal eating on Georgia / Alabama cause that's where I roam year round with my cave in Alabama.

In the summertime you’d eat more plant and vegetation type food like fruits and vegetables. Meat, fat and fish would also be available. Vegetables and plant based foods would be more plentiful so your macronutrient ratio would contain more fibrous carbs. And you would have plenty of protein and fats available.

During the autumn season (say beginning in later September), the vegetation and plants start to change and die off so your carb supply starts to change or dwindle. As a result you’d eat whatever was available in your region. Game meat, fish, fowl, apples, cantaloupes, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, lima beans, okra, peas, pecans, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, tomatoes and watermelon would be some of the types of food available depending on where you were at.

When winter hits around December 21st, the food choices are yet again changing and different. You would hunt for meat whenever you got a chance, fishing would be limited, fowl and poultry type birds would be limited, allot of the big game would be going into hibernation but several types may be available to hunt, and your carb supply would be very limited. Apples, cabbage, carrots and pecans would be some types of food temporarily available depending on your location. Days would be shorter and colder and you would probably sleep more while trying to stay warm. As a result your calorie intake would probably be less. And you would probably have put on some fat from the decrease in activity and heavier carb intake of the summer and autumn seasons. 6 pack abs were not cool to have year round back in the cave dude days. Staying alive was the mission.

Then would come spring around March 20th. Days would get a little longer and warmer. You would start venturing out more and your activity level would increase. Carbs would slowly become more prevalent so once again your macronutrient level would change again. You would transition from a heavier protein / fat intake to a more balanced intake with the increased carbs available.

And so it would continue, season to season, with your macronutrient intake changing as your activity level also changed. It makes sense because it really couldn't be any other way. You ate that way or died. Pretty simple huh? So the advocates of seasonal eating recommend going back to that way of eating. It has many healthy points and it's definitely raw, organic and as green earthy as you get.

My take on it is like this: there are many (if not most) parts of the seasonal / paleo / primal eating ways that are awesome for you and we should follow it to a point. But as everything goes - we have evolved for better or worse into a different lifestyle. We don't live like cave dude did. We do things year round now. Our activity levels can be a constant while some people naturally still follow seasonal changes. I do the same stuff year round. I work the same amount, I exercise the same amount, I sleep the same amount so I need to have a sustainable plan for me. Some people put on weight in the winter, stay home more, eat differently and then in the spring and summer lose weight, become more active, spend more time outside etc...

So you need to eat according to your lifestyle and incorporate applicable seasonal / paleo / primal foods and principles into your meal plan. One size does not fit all in this regard. Use seasonal / paleo / primal concepts and foods as much as you can while applying it so it makes sense and works for you. No two meal plans will be the same but the nutritional concepts hold true and steady. Eat healthy and exercise regularly while leading an active life and apply these concepts as they fit in. Use the common sense rule to everything you do. The nutrition plan is always the hardest part so keep at it one step at a time. It's a long journey, not a race. I know you can do it cause you are simply awesome. Eat some fresh, raw, organic food and have a great day. :-)

Eric
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness 

Bootcampers Strive For The Core Of Iron And Abs Of Steel

Bootcampers tonight did a fabulous job with a demanding core workout consisting of planks, side planks, inchworms, wheel barrow walks, cement bucket farmers walks, sandbag overhead carry, rotational tire pushups, a variety of ab exercises and plank bounces on the tire. This was followed up with 4 x 30 second sprints. It was a good showing and they did great.

Eric
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness

How Much Weight Do You Really Need To Lose?

The days of watching the scale rise and fall every 30 seconds are over - at least for people who make progress. Body Weight has no bearing on Body Composition without actually assessing composition. To lose 10lbs or more is a pretty common fitness goal common for zillions of people. But what do you want to lose 10lbs of?

Body weight is comprised of lean body mass (LBM) and fat mass (FM). Everything in your body that is not actual fat is part of lean body mass. Organ tissue, connective tissue, muscle, fluids, hair, bone & bone density are all part of lean body mass. Fat mass is comprised of essential fat and storage fat on / in the body.
Essential body fat is necessary to maintain life and reproductive functions. The percentage for women is greater than that for men, due to the demands of childbearing and other hormonal functions. Essential fat is 1-3% in men, and 8–12% in women. So out of all of these things, storage fat is the actual stuff that you want to lose.

The density of mammalian skeletal muscle tissue is about 1.06 kg/liter. This can be contrasted with the density of adipose tissue (fat), which is 0.9196 kg/liter. This makes muscle tissue approximately 15% denser than fat tissue. That being said, 1 lb of fat and 1 lb of muscle are still only 1 lb. It's by volume that muscle is denser than fat not by weight. That old saying that muscle is heavier than fat is technically not true - muscle is denser than fat and therefore weighs more by liter. A pound of fat will take up about 18% more space then a pound of muscle. If squeezed into cans, you would need a can 18% bigger to contain the pound of fat. But both cans would still only weigh 1lb. Make sense? 

So back to that 10lbs that you want to lose - Out of the 10lbs, how much of that will be fat? You would probably say all of it right? But how do you know? There are calculations that can be done to actually determine approximately how much storage fat that you have on your body. The numbers rarely come out to the number that you say you need to lose. Let's do an example. Mrs. Jones weighs 173lbs. She says she wants to lose 30lbs. Her bodyfat measurement came out to 17.5%. 

Body Fat in lbs. = (Total Bodyweight) (Body Fat Percentage (in decimal form))

Lean Body Mass = Total Bodyweight - Body Fat in lbs.

So someone who weighs 173 pounds with a body fat percentage of 17.5% would calculate as follows:

(173)(.175) =	30.3 lbs. of body fat
173 - 30.3 =	142.7 LBM

Mrs. Jones has 30.3 lbs of body fat so she was correct wanting to lose 30lbs right? Let's continue and see. So now we have to break down the essential fat and storage fat. Let's say that she wants to get down to the leanest state she can without assuming medical risk. This means like totally ripped with no storage fat. So we will multiply .12 (12% essential fat) times her body fat weight of 30.3lbs which equals 3.636. Fat weight of 30.3 lbs - 3.636 lbs = 26.6lbs. So to get safely and totally rid of approximately all storage fat, Mrs. Jones would have to lose 26.6lbs of pure storage fat.

The issue is that's not very realistic and would be hard as hell to maintain year round assuming she is a normal working mom. But we now know the max she can safely lose is 26.6lbs. What would she look like at that weight? Maybe not what she was hoping for. Keeping in mind that the scale is till of no use during this process other than to check for LBM loss. As you add muscle to your frame and lose fat, the scale will only show the net change. If you gained 3lbs of muscle and lost 5lbs of fat, you would only be down 2lbs on the scale but you would look completely different in a good way.

A more realistic approach is to lose bodyfat while building muscle until you look good in the mirror as opposed to reaching a number. Set a smaller realistic goal and see how you look, perform and feel at that point. Then, if you desire to lose more, keep going with another small goal until you give yourself a thumbs up in the mirror.

Eric

Dempsey's Resolution Fitness

Bootcamp Team Building

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Tonight Bootcampers worked together moving a heavy load on a poleless litter up and down the long dirty road. It was followed up with sprints. They did a great job and worked really hard.

Eric
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness

Kettlebells While You Work

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So today, while at work out at RSLC, I took a break from working on a new IED class that I'm putting together and went outside with the 55lb kettlebell I did a quick workout with windmills, clean to squat to overhead press, snatches and high pulls. It was just heavy enough to make it enjoyable (painful).

Eric
Dempsey's Resolution Fitness

Intensity In Your Workouts

In order to achieve your fitness goals, you must pay your dues. Long, slow cardio, light weights and going easy gets you nowhere and wastes your time. There is an intensity level in the 90% plus range of exertion that I call the Red Zone. To achieve the maximum benefit from your workouts, you must operate in this red zone. Many people want the results without doing the required work. There is no healthy, easy way. 

Over the past 4 years, I have trained people who have worked hard and achieved amazing results following my program. And then I have trained people who did the bare minimum and broke even or even got worse off. It is easy to tell whether you have worked out hard or not. If oxygen is a priority, your arms and legs feel like heavy lead blocks, the puke bucket may be an option and moving at all, is challenging, then you probably worked out hard. If you feel fine and it wasn't so bad and you are ready to go tackle the day then you probably didn't do much. 

Many advocate doing submaximal work. They say there are safety issues concerning maximal output. If you are worried about dying, if you push yourself hard, then you need to see your cardiologist instead of your Bootcamp trainer. If you are healthy and medically cleared to workout, you should be able to exert yourself. 

So it's all relative. If you have medical concerns, then naturally you don't need to be doing HIIT and tabata drills. But if your good to go, then put out the effort and strive to excel. You only compete against yourself.  

How many burpees did you get on the last tabata drill? How fast did you sprint? How much weight could you lift? If your not keeping track and trying to do better each day, you won't do better. I have seen people do full 20 minute tabata drills and be destroyed from maximal output and I have seen people walk away without looking like they did anything. Who do you think made progress at the end of the month?

To become lean, strong and fast, you must push yourself far outside your comfort zone and give maximal effort in all that you do. You earn results through hard work and with that -the satisfaction of knowing that you worked hard and gave it your all. High intensity interval training, targeted fat loss cardio, tabata drills, heavy resistance training and proper nutrition are the keys to your fitness success. If you skip away from your workouts, without breaking a sweat and exerting yourself, then you have missed an opportunity to excel and cheated yourself. You get out of it what you put into it. Push yourself and work hard, outside of your comfort zone and you'll achieve results. Lift heavy, run fast and push yourself to do better each day. The little green man,Yoda, says it best: "Do or Do Not - There Is No Try". 

Eric

Dempsey's Resolution Fitness