Kickbutt Metabolism - The Truth about Permanent fat Loss by David Cassell - HTML preview

The Truth About Permanent Fat Loss
By David Cassell http://BurnTheFat.ImproveMetabolism.com

Medical Disclaimer

This book provides suggestions in the area of health that are based on current research and advanced nutritional theories. However, it is not an individual prescription for any reader.

If you have health issues of any type, it is always recommended that a medical doctor and team of health care providers are contacted and new ideas discussed with them; as they have the best insight into your health.

The sale or free distribution of this ebook assumes that you have done exactly that. Thus, the author and the publisher assumes no responsibility for the use or abuse of information in this book.

Copyright © 2011, David Cassell. All rights reserved.

This report is NOT for sale and may not be resold. This is a FREE report and may be freely distributed or shared, provided none of the information or links are changed.

You may contact the writer at kickbutt@improvemetabolism.com
Table of Contents

Intro Lies, BS & information Overload 4
Chapter 1. What Metabolism Is 5
Chapter 2. Stress Can Give You Big Belly 6
Chapter 3. Late Nights Wreck Your Metabolism 7
Chapter 4. The Golden Formula For Fat Loss 8
Chapter 5. Sabotaging Your Fat Loss Efforts 10
Chapter 6. Eat Protein To Burn Fat 11
Chapter 7. The Doubled Edged Sword Of Cutting Calories 13
Chapter 8. A New Way To Look At Food 15
Chapter 9. The Best Exercises For Fat Burning 22
Chapter 10 The Dangers Of Over Exercising 26
Chapter 11. Potty Training For Improved Metabolism 28
Chapter 12. Supplements That Support Fat Loss 31
Bonus. 9 Diet Foods You Should Not Eat And Why 35

Introduction: Lies, BS & Information Overload

 

You are reading this e-book because you are experiencing one or more of the following problems.

• You are gaining weight easily despite dieting or exercising
• Your weight loss has slowed
• You are ashamed of wearing certain clothes because of unsightly fat?
• You want to improve your body composition
• Your diet has left you feeling starved
• Your weight is causing a lack of energy
• You weight is affecting your cardiovascular health

Frankly, it is not surprising that you and millions of others are experiencing these problems, despite efforts to correct them. Why? Because when it comes to fat loss, you have been sold lies, half-truths and confusion by the media.

Here are a few examples:

• A lip balm that contains chromium and claims to shed pounds
• An ab belt that promises to give you a six pack
• Celebrity endorsed supplements that are worthless for fat loss
• Conflicting advice about diets. Zone diets, Atkins, liquid diets. Where do you begin?
• Diets that promises rapid weight loss and a body builder's physique in a few weeks

Are you as tired of the BS, hype and information overload as I am?

The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar industry with endless marketers, gurus and big businesses involved. Unfortunately, many of the these people have lied or twisted the truth about fat loss to further their bottom lines.

The end result is that many dieters fail to lose any meaningful weight. And many of those do actually lose weight end up regaining it and then some.

In this e-book, I give you the honest straightforward truth about achieving a Kickbutt Metabolism - a major component in achieving sustained fat loss, more lean muscle mass and greater energy.

Chapter 1 - What Metabolism Is

Your metabolism is a complex network of hormones and enzymes that converts food (proteins, fats, carbohydrates) into fuel and determines how effectively that fuel is burned.

It is what happens when the nutrients released from the breakdown of foods get into the cells. That’s when true nourishment of the body occurs and it happens on a cellular level.

Your metabolism does other things too but what you need to know now is that ultimately, your metabolism determines how quickly you gain or lose weight.

Now, looking at this definition you might think that you have no control of your metabolism since it runs automatically 24/7. The good news is that barring certain situations such as having a poorly functioning thyroid or taking certain medications (factors that can adversely affect your metabolism), you can indeed crank up your metabolism.

Factors That Affect Metabolism?

1. The thyroid gland, producing thyroid hormones
2. The adrenal gland, producing adrenal hormones
3. Digestive system health
4. Use of caffeine
5. Use of alcohol
6. Use of drugs – prescription and non-prescription
7. Amount of sleep
8. Immune system status and presence of an infection
9. Attitude
10. Toxic load of the body
11. The water content of the body
12. The oxygen content of the body
13. The muscle mass content in the body
14. The fat content of the body
15. Your body frame size – small, medium, or large
16. Your height and weight
17. The hormone insulin and glucagon
18. Growth hormone levels
19. Exercise and activity levels
20. Food that you eat
21. Vitamin and mineral status
22. Number of times food is eaten during the day
23. Crash dieting

For the purposes of this e-book, I'll focus on the 4 major problem areas that are most likely to affect people's metabolism - stress, sleep, diet and exercise.

 

Chapter 2 – Stress Can Give You Fat Belly

Your metabolism functions best when your body is in homeostasis (internal stability). But during times of stress and survival situations, your metabolism shifts to a different setting.

The changes in metabolism during stress are essential to your survival. However, if these changes are maintained for a prolonged period of time, your metabolism can be negatively affected.

In times when you are stressed, adrenal gland hormones are produced in high amounts. The stress could be anything; stress from a family situation, stress in rush hour traffic or stress from financial pressure. All stress has the same physiological effect on the body.

These high levels of adrenal hormones cause shifts in your body. Your memory functions are enhanced. You have a lowered sensitivity to pain. You feel a burst of energy. And your immune system gets a super charge of energy.

These are good changes in certain situations, but only if they are short-lived. The longer that your stress hormone (cortisol) level is high, the more damaging it is to your health and the more fat your body could end up storing.

Excess cortisol secretion can suppress thyroid function, increase abdominal fat, raise blood pressure, lower immunity, promote higher blood sugar levels and decrease your bone density and muscle mass.

Speaking of muscle, it is a very critical factor in fat burning. Muscle is a metabolically active tissue. In other words, muscle burns calories and it burns more calories than fat does.

The last thing you want is a situation where you are losing muscle mass. I'll talk more about the important role of muscle-mass in later chapters.

 

Tip:

 

Pay attention to your stress levels. Do activities that help to relax and de-stress you.

 

Chapter 3 – Late Nights Wreck Your Metabolism

 

Proper sleep - perhaps the most ignored aspect of fat loss. Inadequate sleep wrecks your metabolism.

If you don’t get at least six hours of sleep, which is equivalent to four complete Rapid Eye Movement (REM) cycles, then homeostasis does not rule your nervous system and stress results. This shifts your metabolism pathways to ones that store fat.

As you already know, long periods of stress, such as what happens when you are not sleeping well, could interfere with your body’s composition by increasing fat and decreasing muscle. And this in turn causes a sluggish metabolism.

Sleep deprivation also interferes with hormones such as ghrelin and leptin, which are essential to the control of appetite.

Sleep deprivation increases inflammation in the body which in turn, increases the risks of getting a whole host of illnesses. Research has shown that people who are sleep deprived are at higher cardiac risk and also more likely to get certain forms of cancer.

How much sleep should you get? 7-8 hours of deep uninterrupted sleep is ideal. Sleeping more than that regularly is likely to slow down your metabolism.

Whoever said sleep is overrated probably died prematurely. If you have a problem falling asleep, you can take a safe non addictive sleep aid or consult your physician.

However, be very wary of some of the sleep aids that are pushed by big pharmaceutical companies. These can cause some harmful side-effects.

 

Tip:

Drinking alcoholic beverages may make you sleepy at first but overall it disrupts REM sleep. It is better to have a warm shower and drink a cup of hot milk to help you get your zzzzzzzzzzs.

Chapter 4 - The Golden Formula For Fat Loss

Before you start any diet you need to know your baseline, that is, how many calories your body needs to maintain your current weight. From this reference point, you can know how many calories you need to cut and how many you need to burn from exercise.

Your basal metabolic rate [aka BMR or sometimes used interchangeably with the term “rest metabolic rate” (RMR)] is that baseline.

Your BMR refers to the amount of calories that is needed when your body is at rest, in order to breathe, circulate blood, keep your muscles toned, keep the intestines moving, maintain your glandular activity and keep your body temperature where it should be etc.

Now here is a surprising fact. The more you weigh, the faster your metabolism is likely running. A large Sumo wrestler that weighs 350 pounds has a higher BMR than a woman weighing 130 lbs. This is because his body has to work harder to carry around that extra weight.

The formula to calculate BMR (both men and women) is 370+[21.6 X Lean Body Mass (LBM) in kg].

 

So let us calculate the BMR for a 350 lb sumo wrestler with 60% LBM:

 

1 kg = 2.2 lbs. Weight = 350 lbs. LBM = (0.6 x 350)/2.2 = 95.45 kg BMR = 370 + (21.6 x 95.45)= 2431.72 calories

So for the sumo guy to maintain his weight, he must consume 2431.72 calories daily. On the other hand, a 130lb woman with 70% LBM will need to consume 1263 calories daily to maintain her weight.

Here is why knowing your BMR is important.

In order to burn fat, you must consume less calories than your BMR. But the source of your calories will affect your metabolism to your advantage or to your demise.

You can find out your BMR by running down to the local gym and having a personal fitness trainer calculate it with a hand-held bio-impedance device. Or perhaps you could have your doctor tell you your LBM. You could then use that figure to calculate your BMR.

My BMR is ______________ Date____________

 

Tip:

In case you do your own research, you'll find that there are various formulas for calculating BMR, each with its own pros and cons. There will be some variances in the figures but don't be overly concerned with this.

The key is to use your BMR as a logical starting point and then adjust your calorie intake each week based on how your body is responding to your diet and exercise plan. No need to calculate your BMR weekly.

Later on down the road when you have made significant progress in your fat loss or want to maintain your weight or seek to build muscle, you may recalculate your BMR.

Chapter 5 – Sabotaging Your Fat Loss Efforts

 

Let us expand on the idea of consuming less calories than your BMR.

At one time, many dietitians were telling people that just by decreasing their calorie needs by 500 calories a day (3500 weekly), they could lose a pound a week.

The premise of this diet was that “a calorie is a calorie.” It didn't matter where calories were cut – the important thing was that calories were cut. This kind of diet worked briefly but it turned out not to be effective in the long run.

Just as ineffective for fat loss, was some people's embrace of vegetarianism in an effort to restrict their consumption of calories. They may have lost weight in the early stages of their diets but eventually regained it. Not surprisingly, many of them eventually gave up their vegetarian lifestyles.

Why did these people fail? The reasons will be discussed in greater detail in chapters 6 and 7. Suffice it to say, calorie restriction is fundamental to fat loss. But when diets are based on severe calorie restriction or on the premise that all calories are equal, then there is a problem.

Also know that adequate protein intake is a vital part in achieving a Kickbutt Metabolism and permanent fat loss. Cutting too much protein from your diet will sabotage your fat loss efforts.

Well, what about the proteins in vegetables you ask? Good question. There is still a debate as to whether or not people can get complete protein from plant based foods. There are many in the health community who feel that plant based foods can offer this.

Just to make it clear, I am not for or against vegetarianism. But if you are a vegetarian, ensure that you are getting adequate amounts of protein.

 

Tip:

The USDA website says, “vegetarian diets can meet all the recommendations for nutrients. The key is to consume a variety of foods and the right amount of foods to meet your calorie needs”.

Chapter 6 – Eat Protein To Burn Fat

 

At this point, it is important to note of the following equation:

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) or Total Calories Burned = BMR + Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) + Physical Activity Energy Expenditure (PAEE) .

Around 75% of the calories you consume goes to sustaining your BMR and the TEF and PAEE burns the other 25%.

Your TDEE is known as your “maintenance,” that is, how many calories you expend each day to function on all levels. You have to breathe and you have to eat but you also have to walk to the bathroom, take the bus to work and (hopefully) exercise. All of these activities require energy.

If you want to lose fat, you must consume less calories than your TDEE.

Some people, including vegetarians, take the route of embracing a low protein diet in order to restrict their consumption of calories. There are 2 potential pitfalls with this diet.

First, to fill the void in calories that results from consuming less protein, some people over-compensate by eating more refined carbs, foods that are high in calories. This is one reason why some “vegetarians” complain that they are not losing weight or losing very little.

The second reason is that by significantly cutting the protein in our diets, we are affecting our body’s ability to burn fat at the highest level.

Protein is on one the least efficient foods we eat and this is a good thing! In protein, you are getting fewer calories with more volume. It actually cost your body calories to access the calories present in protein. This is great for fat loss.

The process of your body accessing the calories from food is called thermogenisis or the thermic effect of food (TEF). Thermogenisis is what happens in addition to your BMR.

Lean protein has a thermic effect of around 30%. Therefore, if you consume 100 calories from lean protein, your body will burn around 30 calories just to digest it. Thus your net calorie intake would be 70. So essentially, it is harder for your body to store calories from protein.

Fiber-containing complex carbs (such as beans, vegetables, whole grains) have a thermic effect of around 20%.

On the other hand, fat and refined carbs have a thermic effect of just 3% which is why dietary fat and sugary foods are so easily stored as body fat. So if you consume 100 calories from refined carbs – your net calorie intake will be 97.

In one sense, the thermic effect of food refutes the idea that a calorie is a calorie. Sure, on a unit by unit basis, 1 calorie = 1 calorie. But as you just saw, some calories are more easily assimilated into the body and are more likely to cause weight gain.

Also bear in mind that some calories are “empty” – they offer little or no nutritional value but contribute greatly to weight gain.

Protein has other benefits too. Eating protein sends the “I am full signal” faster to the brain and hence cuts off appetite faster. Protein takes longer to be emptied from the gut, making you feel full for longer periods and making you less likely to binge. Protein also supports muscle-mass.

Protein also slows down the absorption of sugar. This is why it is suggested that you should eat carbs and protein together. When you do so, rather than getting the famous “sugar crash” - you get a slower more stable release of energy throughout your body.

Because of the significant drop in calories that dieters on low protein diets can experience, they often find themselves in a state of constant physiological and emotional hunger. When this happens, they tend to crave refined carbohydrates, which are foods high on the glycemic index.

High glycemic foods tend to be foods that contains lots of sugar or high fructose corn syrup (HFCs). Consuming these foods will cause your insulin to spike and likely lead to unwanted weight gain and an increased risk of getting some very nasty illnesses.

So, ensure you are getting adequate protein in your diet. The success of your fat loss regimen depends on it.

 

Tip:

Researchers at the Denmark University of Copenhagen contend that a diet rich in lean meats, poultry and beans and low in starchy carbohydrates appear to be more ideal for weight loss. The also found that the drop out rate for subjects on this diet was less than that of other diets. The research was printed in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Chapter 7 – The Double-Edged Sword of Cutting Calories

It is the mantra for legions of dieters, cut calories and cut more calories. But whilst it is an indisputable fact that to lose fat you must consume less calories than you burn, the story doesn't end there.

Cutting calories is a double edge sword that must be handled with care. As a matter of fact, very low calorie diets usually results in greater weight gain after the initial weight loss slows.

Here is why. When you are heavy, your body's metabolism is already running a little faster. Because essentially, you body needs more energy to fuel itself. So when you first start to diet and cut calories, you tend to experience weight loss quicker. And so you think great – I'll cut even more calories.

But after a while, your body figures out what is going on and starts to slow down your metabolism to conserve fat for energy. This is work of your body's defense mechanism, which is only concerned with your body's survival. It doesn't care about your goal to look good in a swimsuit.

Some of the other aspects of your body's defense mechanisms include:

 

1.Your cells release less leptin hormone. This hormone signals to your brain that you are full. Less of it means you end up eating more.

2. You lose muscle mass. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, your muscles need a lot of energy to keep them going. Your body tries to conserve on calories by cannibalizing on its own lean tissue.

3. Your body kicks your hypothalamus into high gear. Your hypothalamus is the appetite center of the brain. You become ravenous for food - especially carbs high in sugar.

The end result of all this is that your weight loss slows considerably and your will to continue dieting falls flat. You also have less muscle mass than before so now you look fatter.

Add all of this to your slowing metabolism and your increasing appetite for carbs high in sugar, you start gaining weight and potentially end up heavier than before.

Tips:

 

1. Avoid very low calorie diets. In the long term, they make you fatter.

2. Get more exercise and overall try to live a more active lifestyle. Physical activity causes you to burn more calories even when your body is at rest.
3. Aim for a moderate decrease in your calorie intake. Moderate decreases should not cause such a severe triggering of your body's defense mechanism.

4. Eat adequate protein. It is essential for muscle building.

 

Chapter 8 - A New Way To Look At Food

Now that you know that “a calorie is not a calorie” and that the source of your calories is a very important consideration, you are going to have to look at the foods you eat in a new way.

All foods are composed of unique mixtures of protein, fat and carbohydrates. Some foods are 100% protein foods. Some foods are 100% fat foods. Some foods are 100% carbohydrate foods. And others are a mixture of protein, fat and carbohydrates.

I hope you will take some action into improving your sleeping habits and including more whole foods in your diet. These are crucial steps to improving your metabolism and accelerating your fat loss.

A little later in this ebook, I'll talk about another critical step - exercise. But in this chapter, I want to impress upon you the new way you are going to have to start looking at your diet. The old way of eating anything in sight won't cut it.

Since you are overweight, it is very important that you start analyzing the composition of your food. By altering the ratios of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in your meals, you can turn your body into a fat burning machine.

You see, food has one of two fates in metabolism: it either ends up causing the body’s cells to store fat, or it causes the body’s cells to breakdown fat.

If you are reading this ebook in search of a Kickbutt Metabolism, then your metabolism is most likely leaning towards one that causes the body’s cells to store fat instead of burning it.

So how do should you analyze food. Let me show you an example.

 

These are fat foods:

Any oils
Butter
Any margarines
Avocado
Olives
Chocolate
Eggs
Any and all nuts
Dairy products made from whole milk, 2% milk, or 1% milk will contain fat Butter, cream, and whipping cream
Any products that contain any of the above mentioned foods

These are protein foods:
Eggs
Chicken
Turkey
Pork
Lamb
Beef
Buffalo
Bison
Fish
Any milk products including milk, yogurt, whey, cottage cheese, cheese, and kefir milk.
All products that contain any of the above mentioned foods

These are carbohydrate foods:

Rice
Grains
Pasta of any kind
Starchy vegetables such as acorn squash, peas, corn, beans
Legumes
Fruit41
Any milk products
Sugar and any sweeteners with the exception of Stevia and artificial sweeteners Nuts like cashews, peanuts, chestnuts or ones that have been sugared All products that contain any of the above mentioned foods

This list will become the basis for how you make any food-related decisions in the process of creating a Kickbutt Metabolism.

It’s very easy to make serious mistakes in food selection and many people do this every day of their lives. That’s one of the major reasons why we have such an epidemic of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

Did you notice on the lists that milk products were mentioned on every list? That’s because first of all, milk is a protein, but it also has quite a few carbohydrates in it. Milk can also have varying degrees of fat in it, based on how it has been processed.

Did you notice that nuts are not listed on the protein list? Often, people think that nuts are a good source of protein. Take a look at the label for cashew nuts and decide if you think that cashews would be a good nut for you to create a Kickbutt Metabolism.

Nutritional Composition for Cashews Serving Size 1 oz (28.3 g) Amount Per Serving
Calories 156
Calories from Fat 112
% Daily Value^*
Total Fat 12.4g 19%
Saturated Fat 2.2g 11% Polyunsaturated Fat 2.2g Monounsaturated Fat 6.7g Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 3mg 0%
Total Carbohydrates 8.5g 3% Dietary Fiber 0.9g 4%
Sugars 1.7g
Protein 5.2g

From the label, you will see that 1 oz. cashews will give you 5.2 grams protein. That’s actually a hefty serving of protein compared to many packaged foods. However, 5 grams of protein from nuts is not equal to 5 grams protein from any of the foods listed in the protein category above.

The foods on that list are complete proteins, which means that these proteins will give you all the amino acids required for life. You could subsist on foods from the protein list if you had to, without developing a protein deficiency.

This isn’t the case with the protein from nuts. Nut protein is missing at least one amino acid, which means that if you expect to get all your protein needs from nuts, you will eventually suffer from a protein deficiency.

Did you also notice that 1 oz cashews provided 12.4 grams fat and 8.5 grams carbohydrates? This tells you that nuts are actually a mixed food, containing a little protein (even though it’s incomplete) and some carbohydrates.

The main point here is that when you think of nuts, you should think of FAT not protein. And now you must also question how many nuts you consume because the carbohydrates that are in them COULD throw off your metabolism.

I’m not saying that nuts are not good foods. They are when used properly. All I am saying is that knowing what’s in the foods you eat becomes one of your biggest ally in achieving fat loss.

Next is a label for flax seeds. Some health food enthusiasts rave over flax seeds. Let’s look at what they are raving about by reading the labe