For many athletes and those seeking physique improvement, weight loss is often the primary goal of a combined training and nutrition regimen.
Especially in sports such as wrestling, boxing, and weightlifting! Where strict weight requirements necessitate weight loss in most cases.
Likewise, sports such as gymnastics and distance running have no weight limitations, and low body fat levels are considered optimal for performance. Indeed, weight and body fat loss are frequently the primary objective for anyone pursuing physique improvement.
In pursuit of weight loss, many individuals, including athletes, adopt nutritional principles that are ineffective and potentially harmful. For instance, drastically reducing caloric intake is not only associated with reduced performance! But it can also cause adverse changes in vitamin and mineral status.
Therefore, improper rates of weight loss can encourage a loss of lean body mass and glycogen stores and increase the likelihood of dehydration.
Losing body fat and gaining lean body mass at once can be achieved through proper training and calorie restriction. However, in the case of the individual who has a relatively low body fat content before losing weight, reductions in lean body mass may accompany fat losses.
However, for individuals who had a relatively low body fat content before losing weight, a decrease in lean body mass may accompany the fat loss.
Additionally, massive and/or rapid weight reductions following caloric restriction likewise result in losses of lean body mass. Therefore, to counteract the potential for muscular losses and a subsequent decrease in metabolic rate during caloric restriction, resistance training, and an increase in dietary protein should accompany.
Note that initial weight loss incurred from undergoing caloric restriction is mostly water loss, especially in the first 3 days. More than 70% of weight loss achieved through reducing calories by 1000 kcal/day is caused by water.
As a general guideline, an acceptable rate of weight loss appears to be approximately 1% per week! You can take a caloric deficit of 500 to 1000 kcal/day. Because 3500 kcal comprises 0.45 kg (1.0 lb.) of fat, weight reductions should proceed at, but not surpass, 0.51.0 kg/wk.
The most effective approach to losing weight involves a diet that reduces food calorie intake and burns calories through exercise.
Numerous studies have shown that adding exercise to a weight loss program results in a loss of more body fat while maintaining or increasing lean body mass.
For example, a weight control program that expended 250 kcal daily through exercise and an additional 250 kcal through dietary restriction would be more effective than a program that only limited caloric intake by 500 kcal.
Furthermore, reducing weight with diet alone makes it possible to lose lean tissue, subsequently promoting a drop in resting metabolic rate.
