Dr. George L. Dixon - "Talking Fitness"
STARVATION
Zero is not better! Those fat stores have been accumulating to take care of you if you are threatened by starvation, andyour body is much too clever to use them up first. Instead, muscles shrink away first because your body "eats" them up. They require too much energy to operate if you aren't getting enough food. A pound of muscle requires about 40 calories a day to stay alive!
Fat is much less expensive it needs only 2 calories per pound per day for survival. (That's one reason you are trying to increase your muscle mass to use up calories!) Your body also decreases its basal metabolic rate against a long fast.
So fat is used last and slowly, which is why starvation is a poor way to diet. When you do start to eat again, your body stores away as much fat as possible. Amazingly, going just 18 hours on empty, by not eating breakfast, stimulates your body to start storing fat!
There is comfort in the research reports that a bit of stoutness is far preferable to going constantly up and down 15 to 20 pounds in what is called "yo-yo"dieting which can be dangerous to your heart's health. More fatty stores are encouraged with each episode of starvation and replenishment.
If you are seriously obese, PLEASE, see your doctor before you begin any program, even these simple suggestions!
More help is available in "Exercise a la Carte", here, at your bookstore or call 800-624-4952.
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