Physical activity by itself is not sufficient to transform one’s body. In order to lose weight and gain muscles, it is of paramount importance to combine sport and a balanced and healthy diet. Following a balanced diet is not necessarily synonymous with restrictions and privations. On the contrary, taking on a healthier way of life mainly consists in listening to one’s body’s needs.
The amount of calories your body needs can be divided into 2 parts : the basal metabolism (all the calories the body needs to insure its vital functions) and the physical activity. For an adult man (average size and weight). The average total metabolism is about 2500 calories. For a woman it is between 1800 and 2100 calories. Most of the diets rely on a decrease in the daily quantity of calories. But in fact, our body does not really work this way. Indeed, if we eat less than what our body needs to operate the vital functions, then it will turn itself into a “starvation” mode. It means that your metabolism decreases and you will burn even less calories than you ordinarily do. You slow down your weight loss.
In order to work in an optimal way, our body needs a certain quantity of macro nutriments that can be found in our diet: proteins, carbs and lipids.
Sport in general and muscle reinforcement in particular do not just help gaining muscles, but it also speeds up the metabolism. Indeed, 1kg of muscles burns more calories in a day than 1kg of fat.
On the other hand, practicing sports does not mean losing weight, it means losing fat in order to gain muscles instead. Hence, your weight may remain the same or even increase, but you will see the results in terms of lost centimeters around your hips, thighs etc. That is why it is better to forget about your scale.
As far as men are concerned, an ideal body fat ratio is to be situated within 10 and 20%. For a woman, between 20 and 30%. This level of fat allows our body to protect the vital organs and insure that they function properly.
To give you an idea, you need to burn 7000 calories in order to lose 1kg of fat, so you will need to be patient. The results will not be be there overnight. Keep in mind that every single body is made differently, and you won’t put on weight, lose weight, gain muscles as the person next to you, but if you keep up the healthy routine, you will have visible results, and this on the long run.
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