How Muscles Make Your Dresses Fit Better!

After our previous post about Slimming Clubs wrecking dieter's bodies by encouraging weight loss rather than fat loss, it's clear from your responses many people don't get the difference.

Hopefully the following rebel story will help! Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a young maiden called Cinderella. She was pretty and funny and intelligent and kind, but her clothes were tatty and worn.

Ok ok, this is too obvious.

Let's put a little 'fat loss' twist on this story.

She was pretty and funny and intelligent and kind, but her dresses were getting a little bit... well... tight. She was desperate to lose some weight and get in better shape for the ball, but didn't know where to start. 

"Why?! Why can't I fit in any of my dresses!! The ball is only a couple of months away and I need to fit back in them! I wish someone could help me get in shape!" 

*POOF*

Suddenly there was a big puff of smoke and out of it stepped Liam, her Fairy Godfather. 

(Think Gok Wan with a PT twist. Slightly less camp. Bigger guns.)

"Hello Cindy Babes! I'm here to help you get in shape for the ball! We're going to start by popping you on my magic scales, then we're going to take your bodyfat % and measurements, then I'll show you the plan!"

Cinderella stepped on the scales nervously.

Liam then measured her bodyfat at certain sites of her body, using them to calculate her bodyfat %. Finally he took all her body measurements, including her arms, legs, waist and hips.

"Talk to me Fairy Godfather! Tell me you can help! I don't want to be this size for the ball! I want to lose weight as fast as possible, I'm desperate!!"

Liam smiled and explained the results...

"Right Cindy Babes... You are 160 lbs on the scales. This is all of you, everything. Your bodyfat % is 35%, so that means 35% of you is FAT and 65% of you is LEAN. Using my magic calculator that means 160*35%... 56 lbs of you is FAT weight and 160*65%... 104 lbs of you is LEAN weight."

Liam grabbed a quill and scribbled it out...

160 lbs total weight
35% bodyfat
56 lbs fat weight
104 lbs lean weight

Cinderella studied the numbers and replied...

"So 160 lbs is all of me, everything. 56 lbs of my weight is fat, that wobbly stuff. And 104 lbs of my weight is lean, which is everything that's not fat, like bones and organs and muscles and skin and water? Is that right?!"

"Cindy Babes you are a smart cookie!! Now if you want to get slimmer and leaner to fit back in your dress for the ball, which type of weight do we want to lose??"

Cinderella jumped up and down with excitement...

"The fat weight!! The fat weight!! We want to start stripping back that 56 lbs of wobbly, puffy fat!! That will make me smaller and leaner!! Whilst keeping all my bones, organs, muscles and other tissues firm and strong!!"

Liam smiled like a very proud PT, I mean, Fairy Godfather.

"Exactly Cindy Babes!! Fat is what is making your dresses too tight, not lean tissue like muscles! Muscles are cool! Muscles keep you strong! Muscles keep you young! So we want to strip that 56 lbs of fat down, and keep as much of that 104 lbs of lean weight, including muscle!"

Cinderella gave her Fairy Godfather a big smile...

"Thank you Fairy Godfather! To think if I'd gone to a slimming club they'd have encouraged me to lose any weight! Fat... lean... muscle... water... Those bastards don't care what you lose! If I chopped off an arm for a few extra lbs of weight loss they'd be happy!! But now I understand it, I only want to burn fat!! And I want to look after my muscles... but HOW?!"

Liam ushered her to a seat, pulled out a very ancient blackboard (did they have blackboards back then?!), then began his next lesson.

"Ok Cindy Babes, listen close. We know that muscle is good. Muscles keep us strong. Muscles keep us young, and stop us getting those flabby, puffy, dieter's arms. So when trying to burn fat and achieve FAT LOSS (just fat), rather than WEIGHT LOSS (fat, water and muscle), you need to use your muscles. You need to train your muscles. Feed your muscles. And encourage your body to believe it NEEDS it's muscles.

Cinderella furrowed her brow....

"Woah woah woah... You mean to say that the only way to stop your body shedding muscle, is to make your body believe that their really important? By using them and training them? And that all those slimming clubs who don't teach people about how to use and train their muscles, are actually encouraging people to burn them off?"

"Exactly Cindy Babes! It's the principle of USE IT OR LOSE IT. If you drop your calories on a diet in an attempt to lose weight, your body tries to preserve energy. One of the simplest and easiest ways for you body to do this is to BURN OFF MUSCLE. Muscle uses and burns a lot of calories. So if your name is Big Sue and you go to a slimming club, without training your muscles, your body just burns them off! This results in faster weight loss, which looks good on the scales, but actually slows your metabolism, and leaves you with a weak, saggy, puffy, soft dieters body."

Cinderella was blown away.

"I can't believe it Fairy Godfather! How do these slimming clubs get away with it!! Actually encouraging people to eat less, without training their muscles, so they lose weight faster... but without warning people about the damage it does??! So is this why dieters always regain the weight too? They lose all their important muscles, that burn calories, so they get left with slow, crappy, weak metabolisms??"

"Cindy Babes, you'd make a great PT! Yes!!! When you cut calories, diet and starve your body, without training your muscles, your body sheds muscle deliberately to slow metabolism. It's your body thinking it's a famine, remember! Your body doesn't know you're on Weight Watchers or Slimming World or Lighter Life, it thinks you're starving. And because you're a lazy dieter, sitting on your arse all day, your body sheds your lovely muscles to slow your metabolic rate and prevent starvation."

"Slimming Clubs are f**king sh*t Fairy Godfather!!!"

"I know Cindy Babes, I know. I've spent the last 15 years trying to teach people this but they still haven't got the message."

"F**k 'em Fairy Godfather! I'll listen to you! Just tell me what I need to do to burn fat, preserve my muscles, and rock that dress at the ball!!"

Liam took big breath, then explained...

"Don't starve your body, FUEL IT. Don't shed your muscle, TRAIN IT. Don't let it think there's a famine. Make it think there's a feast. Give your body the right nutrition to develop, grow and nourish your 104 lbs of lean weight, turning each and every muscle into a fat burning machine, stripping down your 56 lbs of fat weight. And there's only one way to achieve this...."

"Tell me Fairy Godfather, tell me!!"

"Stop Dieting. Start TRAINING."

"Give me a workout... NOW!!!"

"That's the spirit!"

Liam

[If you'd like to learn more about how we can help, please feel free to email us for a non-judgemental conversation about your weight and nutrition.]

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