3. Do NOT change your diet or exercise level
without guidance from your medical
doctor, especially if you have health
problems or are on medication.
The information in this book is intended as
general information about diet and exercise.
It is NOT a substitute for professional
medical advice.
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5. In this section, we’re going to focus on how
much lean body muscle you retain and its
impact on calories. Muscle mass is related
to the way our body burns energy.
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6. Lean body mass is just another way of saying
muscle mass. Our Resting Metabolic Rate
(RMR), what you now know is the rate at
which we burn calories while we are at
rest, is largely determined by how much
muscle mass we have in our bodies. (This
is especially important when selecting a
weight loss program, because most diets
cause you to lose muscle mass as well as fat
mass.)
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7. Why is lean body mass so important? Muscle
burns more calories at rest than fat. This is
because muscle cells are much more active than
fat cells due to their basic functions. Muscle
cells are constantly burning energy to allow our
bodies to move, to repair themselves, to grow in
response to exercise, and to replenish energy
that they burns during activity. By sharp
contrast, the only real function of fat cells is to
store energy in the form of fat. This requires
very little energy.
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8. Muscle cells, even if they are inactive, burn
an average of 13 calories per kilogram per
day while fat cells burn an average of only
4.5 calories per kilogram per day (8). When
muscle cells become active they, of
course, burn even more than they do at rest.
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9. In other words, muscles burn about three
times as many calories as fat does when
they are at rest and when you are asleep.
Thus, it stands to reason that the more
muscle mass you have on your body and the
less fat mass, the more calories you will
burn at all times. This is confirmed by
studies that indicate that one of the most
important determinants of Resting Metabolic
Rate (RMR) is body composition.
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10. Given the importance of lean body mass in
burning calories, one of the important things to
deal with during weight loss is the loss of muscle
mass. In most diets, especially those in which
calorie intakes are very low, another problem
occurs besides the slowing of metabolism (that
was described in NATURAL FAT BURNING
STRATEGY #1). This consequence of dieting
makes it harder to lose weight.
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11. People losing weight too quickly also begin
to lose muscle mass. The problem with this
is that the loss of muscle mass eventually
leads to an overall slowing of metabolism
simply because your body has lost some of
the muscle mass that burns calories.
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12. Research indicates that strength training or
“resistance exercise” can help prevent some of
the loss of muscle mass that naturally occurs
during weight loss. For example, in the study
described earlier in which weight loss was
attempted through diet and exercise, it was
noted that the group that did strength training
did not lose a significant amount of muscle mass
while losing weight. Those who attempted to
lose weight by diet alone or by diet and aerobic
exercise did lose some muscle mass.
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13. The results are clear: doing “resistance
exercise” helps to prevent the loss of muscle
mass during weight loss. Resistance exercise is
designed to build up muscle strength and muscle
tone. If done properly, it helps you retain and
increase muscle mass so that you have more
cells that burn calories faster.
So if you want to help your body burn energy and
metabolize stored fat, you need to incorporate
resistance-training activities that tone your
body and build, or at least retain, muscle
mass.
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14. If nothing else, do simple, home-based
exercises that require strength such as push-
ups, sit-ups, or stair-stepping for starters.
Make strength training a part of your
life, and you can retain the muscle mass that
will help you burn calories faster and help
you lose weight while you sleep.
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15. (Remember to check with your doctor before
undertaking any new exercise program)
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16. Understand how keeping lean body mass helps
you burn calories. Lean body mass or muscle
mass burns calories at a rate three times faster
than fat mass or body fat. Thus, the more
muscle you retain, the better your chances at
long term weight loss.
Strength training or resistance exercise (such
as weight lifting, push-ups, sit-ups) are the
kind of exercises that will help you retain and
increase muscle mass. Ideally, strength training
should be done daily with a plan to work your
large muscle groups with increasing resistance.
However, if this is impractical, remember that
any exercise is better than no exercise.
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17. Remember to do warm-ups and stretching
before doing any exercise to prevent injury.
There are simple methods to prevent injury and
to maximize the value of your workout. There
are many good, simple books about strength
training and injury prevention that you could
read. Get one that suits your interests and
lifestyle and apply the principles you learn.
Join and use a health club: For those of you
who are able and have a health club nearby, or
even a YWCA or YMCA, with weight machines and
other equipment, now is a good time to consider
making this a part of your routine. The most
important thing is go regularly.
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18. If joining a club is not practical, consider
exercise equipment or some simple home
exercises at the very least. The basic idea is
to exercise your large muscle groups for
maximum effect. This includes your leg
muscles, abdominal muscles, chest
muscles, back muscles and upper arm
muscles. Try the following four simple
exercises and you’ll get a feel for exercises
that will help maintain muscle tone in all of
these groups.
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19. Tone your leg muscles with ‘stand ups.’ If you
are sitting in a chair, simply stand up right now
and sit back down ten times. This exercise tones
your thighs and gluteus maximus (buttock
muscles). If you do this until your legs begin to
feel a little burning sensation, you are doing
well.
Sit-ups are an old-fashioned but very effective
way to tone your abdominal muscles. If sit-ups
are too strenuous, you can do “crunches” by just
curling your body forward from a lying position
without completely sitting up.
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20. Push-ups are another old-fashioned, effective
way to tone up your chest muscles and triceps
(the muscles in the back of your upper arm). If
you can’t do full push-ups, start with knee push-
ups, that is, push-ups that start with your body
on its hands and knees rather than hands and
toes.
Arm curls are an exercise that requires some
kind of weights. Hand weights are ideal for this.
If you don’t have any hand weights and are not
very strong, simply use a can of soup in each
hand for weights.
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