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Author: David McCormick Article source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/. Used with author's permission.
Understanding the theory of adaptation (see previous article, Adaptation I) will giveyou the tools to evaluate your diet and daily routine. If you have any question aboutwhether something is good for you, always examine both the immediateeffects and the adaptation effects equally. This article will look atvarious examples of adaptation and practical advice based on this important theory.
Walking
Is walking for a long time a good way of losing weight? Look at it this way: thedirect effect is that calories are burnt over that period, and you will by using your fatstores for fuel because it is aerobic exercise. So that's a positive: you're burningcalories, and as long as you don't eat too much food, you're losing weight. But whatwill be the adaptation? You're telling your body that you will need to walkfor a long amount of time to find food. So, how will your body adapt to make you abetter walker? Expending energy faster? Burning fat easily? NO WAY. If you needto walk through the savanna for a long time, you want your body to conserve asmuch energy (fat) as possible and retain as much water as possible. This isthe opposite of your goal, you will not lose weight in the long-term, so it is not anoptimal solution.
Sprinting
What about high-intensity exercise? The immediate effect is to burn calories in yourblood, but there isn't enough time to start burning fat. Your muscles may burn withlactic acid, and you can't keep it up for very long. That isn't too good, because youwon't burn as many calories as you did walking. But is the adaptation going in thecorrect direction? Your body will try to make you a better runner by makingcalories available to you at a moment's notice to fuel your run (burning fat faster),and will try to get rid of the fat that is slowing you down. This is a greatadaptation.
The best advice regarding exercise for weight loss in accordance with adaptation isthis: warm up by doing a fast walk for 10-15 minutes, so that your body goes intoa fat-burning mode. Then, turn up the intensity as high as you can and speedthrough the next 10-15 minutes. This can be running, climbing stairs, bicycling orwhatever activity you like. I recommend a stationary bike because the riskof falling or hurting your joints is minimized. If you do this before breakfast, you'realso training your body to use stored energy (fat) instead of energy from food inyour stomach.
If You Could Be an Animal...
If your physique could resemble an animal's, which animal would you choose? Tryto ignore symbolism, and just pick an animal whose body composition you'd like toapproach. Many men would choose a lion and many women would choose agazelle. These animals have adapted to get the bodies they have, and theiradaptation, like yours, is based on how they behave day to day. So how dothese animals behave? We can't compare their diets, because a gazelle is aherbivore, a lion is a carnivore, and humans are omnivores. However, we can lookat their exercise needs.
A lion, to get food, has to sprint for up to 5 minutes until it grabs its prey,which is usually pretty big. When it does, it wrestles with it for up to 10minutes, flexing all its muscles and changing positions, putting all its force againstthe other animal that is resisting with all its might. This builds muscular strengthand size and eliminates body fat.
A gazelle spends a lot of time eating, but each mouthful is tiny. It takes along time to eat, and never gorges. When the grass all around it is bare, it bouncesoff to another place to find food or water. The gazelle is highly alert because it isvulnerable to attack, and often twitches or fidgets to make sure it canescape quickly. When it is attacked, it runs (bounces) incredibly fast for up to 20minutes until it is safely out of danger. This activity makes it long and slender as anadaptation to its environment.
Don't be a house cat. Many cats are overweight because theirenvironment doesn't challenge them to run to catch food (or avoid being caught),and sleep or lie around for 18 hours a day. If you have a desk-job, and then watchTV on the couch, that is exactly what you are doing.
Three Squares
Should you eat only three meals a day and avoid snacking to lose weight? Well, youwill be consuming fewer calories, so that's a plus. However, the bigger effect is this:your body will think food is rare and that you may starve. If you go 5 or 6hours between meals, or if you skip breakfast and go 16 hours or so without food,what else could your body possibly conclude? Your brain can't tell your cells "don'tworry, we're trying to lose weight," because your intentions don't mean anything toyour organs. Your organs react and adapt to the stimuli presented to them. So theythink that you're in the desert. How do you survive in the desert? Like acamel: Conserve as much food in your body as possible (fat), slow your metabolismto prolong your life (so you'll feel tired a lot), and retain as much water as possible.
What about the opposite? What if you eat small portions every two hours and drinkwater all the time? Your body will think that you're in a place where there is foodwhenever you need it, like a jungle full of fruit trees and other easily furnished foodto eat. What is the reaction? Hooray! Better to speed up the metabolism, so thatthe stomach is finished digesting the previous meal before the next one comes; noneed to store fat that is just leeching circulation and water; and get rid of anyexcess water in the system, because fresh water is constantly coming in. This is inline with your weight loss goals, so this is the route to take.
Calories: Eat less or burn more?
The final effect of your body's great adaptation potential is the question of which ismore effective: eating fewer calories or burning more calories with exercise? Let'slook at these two propositions in terms of adaptation.
If you first remove a significant number of calories from your diet, you will feel lessenergetic (because calories are energy), therefore, you won't feel like exercising, andyou won't be able to exercise for as long. On the other hand, if you start exercisingmore each day, it will make you hungrier (because your body knows it's not gettingenough calories to support this new activity), but as long as you try to keep youreating habits the same and pay attention to satiety by eating foods that make youfeel full, you'll feel great, your endurance will improve and your overall health willkeep getting better. At that point, if you reduce the calories in your diet, then youwill be able to cope with slightly less energy, because your body will already bemore efficient at using that energy to fuel your exercise.
A Summary
To conclude, in terms of exercise: warm up to get the circulation going with a fastwalk for about 20 minutes, then do a high intensity activity for about 10 minutes.The best to do that is before breakfast. In terms of diet: try to reduce your caloriesoverall, but divide them among small meals all day. Never eat a big meal, but snackevery hour or two on something healthy. Also, drink as much water as you possiblycan all day. These practices are optimized for your body's natural reactions, so thatyou will be training your body to lose weight. And whenever you hear diet advice,try to look past the immediate effects and look at it from the perspective ofAdaptation. David McCormick is the founder of Weightless Products. His Mr. Weightless site isdedicated to free weight loss articles and advice, primarily targeted to men. Thereare no banners, no pop-ups, and you will never be asked for your email address.
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