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Four Stages Of Weight Loss
A good weight loss program should have a specific protocol with specific stages. The initial phase is the primary weight loss phase. During this phase, dieters must eat less calories than their body uses.
However, the foods that make up these calories are very important. Eat the wrong foods and you will lose muscle mass and not just fat. In my opinion, the best diet at this stage is low in fat and carbohydrates and provides adequate protein, so you do not lose any muscle mass.
For most people this is a half gram of protein per pound of lean muscle. Many programs use engineered protein drinks, bars, and soups.
Some bars contain 40 to 50 grams of carbohydrates. If you eat these bars you may just burn the sugars in the bars as opposed to your body fat. If you choose to get your protein from meat, fish, or chicken, your weight loss will be slower because your calorie intake will be higher.
Any diet where you eat under 1,000 calories a day should be done under professional supervision. Many dieters will average two to six pounds of weight loss per week.
Phase two is for those dieters that are using shakes and bars for most of their protein. In this phase, you begin to replace the shakes and bars with “real” protein. You can use the formula that one ounce of real protein gives your body around seven grams of absorbable protein.
So using the half gram of protein per pound of lean body mass equation, you can figure out how much protein you need to eat per day. During this phase, you are still restricting carbohydrates and eating low fat. You will usually average one to two pounds of weight loss per week.
Phase three begins when you have reached your goal weight. During this phase, you will reintroduce carbohydrates, but only in the morning. This allows your body to slowly get used to digesting the sugars.
For most people, this phase needs to last 14 days. Normally you will not lose weight in this stage.
The final phase is the maintenance phase. This stage lasts the rest of your life. A good maintenance program must be easy to do, allow for all food groups, include a “free” day and, most importantly, have a plan to recover from the free day.
Monitor your weight. If the scale shows five pounds over your goal, take action. Do not let five pounds become 10, 20, 30 or more.
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