Something like this may have been already posted and I may have overlooked it, but here goes my 2 cents!
As I’ve read around here, I’ve noticed that a lot of you are NOT consuming enough calories to reduce body fat properly………The first thing that needs to be understood is that losing weight and losing fat is NOT the same thing. (A lot of people get confused with this.)
Just because you lose weight, does not mean you lose fat, and just because you lose fat, does not mean you lose weight.When most people talk about losing weight, what they are talking about is to lose the excess fat on their body and obtain an attractive figure.
In order to lose weight, your body must burn more calories than it takes in, but keep in mind that your body needs calories for energy and when you exercise; your body needs even MORE calories.
If you do not consume enough calories per day you will lose weight, but you will also lose energy and when you do not consume enough energy (calories) for your body, it will begin using up your energy stores to make up for the energy deficiency.
Your body will take protein and carbohydrates from your muscle cells-- causing your muscle mass to reduce... therefore you can kiss that toned attractive look goodbye. It also forces your metabolism to decrease … and we all know that a low metabolism = slow or no fat burning.
If you do not give your body the energy it needs, it will just feed on your muscles even quicker now that you are exercising. So consuming more calories is a must!

A lot of people do not understand that when you cut down too much on your calorie intake, your body will start storing calories because it doesn’t know when you will eat again. The calories that are stored will be stored as fat. So in other words, when your body is storing energy, it’s basically storing more fat.
Point being----Not eating enough calories results in muscle loss, dehydration and slower fat burning.
To properly reduce your bodyfat, you must increase your metabolism (weight training)- and your need for oxygen (cardio) -while eating enough calories each day (proper nutrition)- to give you energy and maintain the protein in your muscles because protein helps build muscles, which indirectly burns fat.

Make sure that you focus on fat loss NOT weight loss. Your goal should be to lose weight by burning fat, not losing water from your muscles.

I hope you all understand my point here…as I do not want to offend anyone.
Eat well, train hard and be healthy! Good luck to you all and happy training!

Hey there fellow newfie chick. Where do you reside? I"m originally from Newfieland and am currently living in Nova Scotia. Send me a PM if you want to chat. I'm related to Paynes on Fogo Island and I have alot of family in other parts of the island.

Thanks for your input on this post!

Sandy

Great post Newfie, Such a meaningful statment on a forum such as this one!

Agreed 100%

You know, I was going to type up something like this... but changed my mind. The reason I did this was because as I started looking at people's journals and weight loss tickers in their signatures, I realized that many people on this forum have A LOT of weight to lose around here.

The laws of physiology differ when you are dealing with an obese individual when compared to their leaner counterparts. So I refrained from making a blanket recommendation.

I don't think you are wrong in the post you made; it definitely holds true for many people. But I am not sure how true it holds for a majority of the people here.

^^gracias ^^

thank you so much