How Metabolism Works
You cannot have fat loss/desired weight loss unless you change how your body utilizes your body stores of fat. When we talk about fat loss we need to have a basic understanding of metabolism. There is a great deal of misunderstanding on how the body uses the food we eat. Rather than getting to technical here i will present the facts as simply as possible.
When we take in food the body has two choices:
#1 – it must break it down and use it
OR
#2 – break it down and store it.
Food doesn’t just miraculously pass by the protein “counter” in your intestines where some “attendant” takes just what the body needs and discards the rest. Depending on how well the food is chewed and then mixed in the stomach, the body has two ways to deal with it: use it now or store it for later. Same with fats and carbohydrates.
When we eat food, the body will attempt to convert those proteins, fats and carbs into energy (We are not talking about the other uses of protein, carbs and fat at this point but just as it relates to energy) which we will use right away. But the remaining unused energy (calories) will not just flush away (don’t we wish!). These units of fuel will be converted and then stored – as fat. Why???
History of food consumption and the Principle of Adaptation
Whether you take the view of evolution or special creation, nearly all scientific experts agree that this is the way man has functioned for at least the last 10,000 years of human history. So, for the past 10 millennium, the human genetics hasn’t varied in how it processes its food intake.
In essence, the body is designed to eat raw and minimally processed foods in season and found locally. This coincides with the fact that for the greater part of human history, food had to be hunted and gathered. That took time and vast amounts of energy to gather food, when it was available. Then when food wasn’t as available, the body adapted to the lower caloric intake conserving the body’s use of its stored fat and by storing fat from the little food it was taking in.
As technology advanced, man has been able to improve on agricultural methods making food more accessible and plentiful. Animals were domesticated so we didn’t have to chase down our food. Crops were sown so we didn’t have to go so far to gather and made food more accessible. As time went on, we discovered ways to make food last longer for later use. Man devised methods of preservation early on which consisted of drying and fermenting among other things. There were no more long periods of starvation and so the body adapted. While nourishing, these foods weren’t perhaps as tasty as they could have been and didn’t stay edible as long as it might, soooo…
Our ingenuity has caused us to find ways to make food last longer on the shelf. Thus came in canning techniques and then freezing (as electricity came along) as well as ways to modify the food so that, frankly, it doesn’t resemble the original (take ketchup and French fries as an example).
To tackle the aspect of making food taste better and better man has come up with all sorts of delicious concoctions and additions. This has been done at the expense of common sense.
So while human genetics has not changed significantly in 10,000, the way we get food has. Thus our bodies will take in excess food, convert it to fat and store it. It’s as simple as that. Then when we attempt to lose that stored fat the body, in its attempt at self preservation, will lower its caloric needs to whatever amount you are feeding it. It adapts because it thinks it is going into a period of starvation. You will typically feel more tired and perhaps even sick, which happens as the body attempts to conserve its energy for only essential bodily functions. And thus you lose the courage to stay on your self imposed fast.
You then resume your normal food intake (fall off the wagon), and the body says, “OK, everyone! Since we just nearly starved, we need to gather in more energy to store for the next fast! Let’s store it on the hips this time.”
Or something like that. It has no idea that you are dieting it just thinks its being starved like our hunting ancestors of old, but it acts as though it is by packing on more than before.
So it goes with dieting. Whether you purposely cut your calories through dieting or you go through a time of fasting (i. e. starve the body), your body responds by conserving its energy and diverting it to essential functions of keeping the heart beating, the body just getting by. When the food intake increases after a period of starvation, the body will store fat for future periods of fasting.
That is the short version of it. So, what can we do to work with this system of ours. Can we manage to get around the rules that have been established these 10,000 years of man’s existence?
We can by mimicking the way this body was first designed/adapted to do. It’s time to stop trying to make the body do something for which it was not designed.
It’s time to stop dieting!!! Forever!
Can you imagine a Ferrari functioning well on “junk gas”? Seriously, we give our cars the best fuel we can afford. We buy the best diet for our animals we can afford. Why do we persist in buying the worst diet for our bodies??
The Ferrari manufacturer recommends high octane gasoline – Premium, right? Regular oil changes, keep water to proper levels, lube the joints, wash the wind shield, etc… It makes sense to follow the manufacturer’s instruction or to say the other way around – insane to try to do it your own way.
Now, we didn’t come with a manual. But we did come with a brain!! The car depends on an intelligent user to keep it running smoothly. Our pets depend on us to keep them healthy. Our body depends on us to keep IT healthy.
So, using our brain, just what would be a healthy diet for this body?
Hmmm, our ancestors ate as they found food. Perhaps they even gorged on it (like after a kill).
But we don’t have to do that. We have ready access to food so we don’t have to gorge. Knowing what we know about how our body deals with overeating (it stores all excess calories), we can manage to feed it smaller, consistent meals. In this way, the body doesn’t feel threatened (by a diet/starvation) and can “relax” and use what it needs. The key for us is it to only give it just what it needs to carry on it’s daily functions and no more.
Rule #1 It’s time to eat in moderation. Smaller meals. More frequently throughout the day.
Then just what did our forebears eat? Meat from game and plant material (roots, leaves, fruit in the form of grain and fleshy fruits and vegetables (apples, berries, legumes and such).
OK, how does that translate for us? Eat organ and muscle meat from naturally raised, domesticated and wild animal and any by products like eggs and milk products. Eat greens, vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, raw or processed minimally.
Rule #2 It’s time to eat food as close to the way it was when it was first harvested or killed.
To be continued…