Welcome to the Sept. Ultrafitness newsletter.

I hope you enjoyed your summer (even with the less than average sunshine). During this time of year, many people get back into a more regimented fitness and nutrition regime. They may have put on some weight due to the vacation and bbq season and are now looking at losing that excess baggage.

One of the most common beliefs is that losing weight is a simple matter of calories in and calories out. Eat less, exercise more. Less calories in, more calories out equals negative calorie state equals weight loss. Simple, right? Well, maybe not. In fact, I've seen results in my own clients and in similar case studies from other fitness professionals where there was actually a net INCREASE of calories coming in and still resulted in a reduction in body fat and improvement in body composition.

If you're one of many who bought into the simple calories in/calories out theory and didn't see results, don't feel like you failed. There are some major flaws in the theory as more and more research is showing.

The simple theory of calories in/calories out views each side of the equation as independent. Simply adjust one or both and you will achieve your desired result. The truth is, the two sides are very interdependent. You see, the linking factor between the two sides is your body. Adjustments on one side of the equation will send signals to the body and it will make the appropriate internal modifications to maintain homeostasis (balance).

Anyone who has tried dieting knows the pitfalls of that method of weight loss; many diets work in the short term but then the weight eventually comes back. This approach fails for two reasons. One, psychologically it is unsustainable as you feel too deprived to maintain a "diet". And two, it doesn't follow rules of human physiology in that you cannot adjust one side of the equation without a corresponding effect on the other.

If you restrict how much you take in, the body will increase hunger, increase metabolic efficiency (fat storage) and decrease metabolism to find it's balance point. If you increase how much you take in, hunger and metabolic efficiency decrease and metabolism increases.
You may or may not be happy with the level of your homeostasis but your body will always come back to this point; unless you outsmart it. You need to separate the two sides of the equation with proper nutrition and proper exercise. Both factors need to work at the metabolic level to have the best and long lasting effect on your weight.

You need to give your body the right combination of nutrients it needs and the right type of exercise to maximize metabolic function and decrease fat storage. I'll cover more of this topic in the next newsletter.

For those interested, we cover everything you need to know about losing weight effectively and naturally in the Total Body Transformation course. You'll learn the right diet for your metabolic type and be given a metabolic disturbance training program that will maximize fat-loss while conserving lean muscle mass. The first course starts this week in Vancouver on Thursday evenings and the North Vancouver course begins next week on Wednesday evenings. Check out the full details on www.ultrafitness.net.

I'm also at work developing an online version of this course for the many subscribers who live outside of greater Vancouver. Read here for Part 2 of this article.

Stay fit, stay healthy,
Curb Ivanic, M.Sc, CSCS

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