By Judson Lassiter

Many people are now turning to calorie shifting for rapid weight loss. It’s easy to see why when you analyze the options.

The most popular way to lose weight fast is by taking appetite suppressants and “Fat Burning” supplements, but many of these products have come under scrutiny lately for having adverse effects on the health. This has caused a lot of people to look for more natural methods of losing weight fast.

Another popular rapid weight loss system is based on exercising less than on a conventional diet plan, but doing it in a certain pattern. This is popular with younger, more active people, but doesn’t fit the bill for everyone.

Calorie Shifting fills the gap for those who want rapid weight loss without pills or intensive workouts. Some light exercise is recommended for maximum effect, but it is more in the form of a long brisk walk rather than a trip to the gym.

Calorie shifting is based on eating from different food groups in a certain pattern, which theoretically keeps the metabolism off-balance. This keeps the body from adjusting to lower calorie levels and prevents the “plateaus” that occur with conventional diet plans. It also results in rapid weight loss. Losses of up to 9 pounds in 11 days have been reported.

Though the calorie shifting menus do not provide for a balanced diet per meal, the balance does occur over a period of a few days. However, the system has not been around long enough for studies on the long term health effects to be conclusive.

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This said, I have received a few letters from people who want even faster weight loss. They say that a loss of 9 pounds in 11 days is great, but more would be even better! So here are a few tips to maximize weight loss through calorie shifting.

1.  How you prepare the food. When the daily menu includes chicken, for example, it doesn’t specify how to prepare it. As far as the calorie shifting theory goes, you could have fried chicken. But common sense will tell you that you taking in all of that extra grease is not really good for your weight loss aspirations! So take the skin off of your chicken and bake or broil it. The breast is the best piece for low fat and high protein, but don’t restrict yourself to that unless you want to.
2. If the menu for a meal calls for nuts along with a food that is lower in fat, try to eat more heavily of the low fat selection. The oils in nuts are healthy, beneficial oils, but they can be fattening when taken in excess.
3. Get more excercise than the plan call for. Try to do a one-hour session 3 times a week with a mixture of aerobic and resistance exercises. I recommend a good walk daily in addtion to this if possible. If not, try to walk on the days that you don’t exercise.
4. Avoid refined sugar whenever possible unless it is on the menu. Sugar substitutes can bring about their own set of problems, but we need to solve the weight loss problem first.
5. Purchase “Beyond Calories” along with the “Fat Loss 4 Idiots” calorie shifting system. In fact, about half of my customers do this right up front, and the feedback has been very positive.

 In summary, the calorie shifting plan is a faster weight loss method than most, but it can be maximized by using common sense in your menus, getting more exercise, and by other tips and tricks from “Beyond Calories”.

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This is all relevant to how the calorie shifting plan works, but the changes I made to lose weight had very little to do with how I was eating at the time.

Like so many other people, I work in an office all day.

I usually ride the elevators to get to where I need to go, but I decided one way that I’d walk from the 5th floor down instead of riding the elevator all the way down from the 15 th floor.

I did this every day for 2 weeks, and it helped straighten out my back as well as give me a bare minimum of easy cardiovascular exercise.

Another thing I did to change my daily routine was to park further away from the train station where I pick up the train to commute to work.

Usually I try to find the closet spot to the station so I have to walk less of a distance, but these last 2 weeks, I’ve added about 5 minutes of walking into my daily routine.

The third thing I did was to vary the meals I was eating at work.  I’m not talking about meal planning or counting calories or anything, just getting something different every day instead of getting the same thing every day.

I lost 5 pounds just form making easy routine changes that don’t even make me feel like I am exercising at all.

Part of the reason why making slight changes like this has to do with metabolism confusion and muscle confusion, and both of these confusion techniques are part of why calorie shifting works so well.

Muscle Confusion:

Have you ever heard of “muscle confusion?” When muscles are confused as to what the heck is going on, they are forced to work harder. A hard-working muscle needs more energy to carry out the task. And where do muscles get energy from? Two sources, basically: food, and body fat.

Now, if you eat way too much every day, your muscles will get their energy supply from all this food, which is why an overweight person may be working out diligently seven days a week like a horse, and never lose a pound, because there are just too many beers, pizza and nachos in the picture.

But suppose you are like many people out there, watching what you eat, practicing portion control, counting calories, limiting sugar and fried foods, and exercising day after day after day — and you just aren’t seeing any results? Is this aggravating or what?

You are so serious about your workouts. Without fail, you make it to the gym almost every day. On your days off, you exercise maybe by riding a bike, walking or jogging at the park. Why isn’t the weight coming off? Why are your legs still flabby? Why is your middle still mushy?

It’s because your muscles have adapted to everything you are doing. This doesn’t mean that your routines are necessarily easy. They may still bring on sweat and fatigue, and even a little muscle burn. So shouldn’t you be losing more weight?

It’s time for muscle confusion. If your routine is predictable to your muscles, they will adapt. An adapted muscle requires LESS work than a confused muscle. Less work equals fewer calories burned, less body fat used for energy.

So instead of doing the same thing week after week after week for your legs, change up your program every few weeks. You maybe have heard this should be done every 12 weeks. Sometimes the protocol is named as eight weeks. But strive for a big change every 2-4 weeks, and see what happens!

You can switch up your routines by using different pieces of equipment or doing different exercises for the major muscle groups.

So if you always use the horizontal leg press, instead use: declined leg press, Smith machine barbell squats, hack squats.

If you do lying-down hamstring curls, do them on the seated machine.

If your gym has more than one leg extension machine, try another leg extension machine. The different make and model will stimulate your muscles.

Do you use mostly machines for upper body work? Start using dumbbells and barbells. Confuse your muscles. Shock them.

Do you always use the elliptical trainer for cardio? Start jogging on the treadmill. If you use the same piece of cardio equipment three times a week, take one of those sessions and replace it with a group cardio class.

If you never use an incline on the treadmill, start using a high one, but do not hold on. Holding on will cheat you big-time. If you’ve been holding on at no incline, then let go and swing your arms and never hold on again. Your muscles will be gratefully confused.

If you’ve been walking all this time, then jog. If you use mostly free weights, replace some of these routines with machines.

Bottom line: Never let your body get used to your workout routine. This will ensure muscle confusion.

Metabolism confusion:

With that last sentence in mind we should realize that muscle and metaobism confusion are closely related but a more accurate term for this would really be metabolism shifting, as a result of shifting calories in diet and in the stress levels (A.K.A. exercise) caused my muscle confusion.

Calorie shifting makes your metabolism work differently, makes it work harder, and results in fat loss.

A lot of people are obsessed with weight loss when they really just want to lose fat off their body.

As any good personal trainer will tell you, the more muscle there is in your overall body composition, the easier it is to burn fat…

The shifting of calories you do as part of your calorie shifting diet plan are condusive to burning fat without exercise because of how it alters the behavior of your metabolism…

The calorie shifting method is widely known at the Fat Loss 4 Idiots program by the Internet Made Simple company and it’s very popular and it does work.

However, you need to have some sort of plan/regimen , or diet that tells you when to do what… The beauty of this weight loss/ fat loss method is that it is easy to follow, free diet plans are widely available, but your best bet is to get the Fat Loss 4 Idiots ebook so you understand and become convinced in the legitimacy and effectivness of this health method for losing unwanted weight and fat.

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I read an article in Scientific American recently about how being physically fit helps you keep your mind mentally alert too. It makes sense. You need good circulation for your brain to work right.  Regular exercise is one way to keep that circulation and cardiovascular system running smoothly. Being careful not to overeat also helps. Remarkably it is still true that drinking more water and less soda or carbonated beverages is also beneficial to both your body and your brain.

Ideally if we are in good health and have cared for our bodies and our minds, we can live to old age and be healthy when we get there. We can really stay sharp, it is not a case of winning the gene pool lottery.
 
Our customary view is that intelligence is primarily genetic. But that is only part of the story. What you choose to eat and drink and do with your mind and body does have multiple affects on your health and mental condition throughout your life.

We may not be capable of avoiding all diminishment in our mental or physical performance over time, but it is astounding what this research is revealing about how much power we have to maintain our own wellness and mental health with physical activity. Thinking and keeping physically active go hand in hand. Each one affects the other.

So, I ask you again, do you know why you want to lose weight? I know why I do.  I want to be healthy and mentally alert through all of my life. So I turned to a calorie shifting diet plan to help me get on top of the need to get rid of excess belly fat.  It is working well. I am losing about 9 pounds every 11 days. Take a look at the program I am following at my calorie shifting site.  Be fit, mentally and physically as long as you are able. You will appreciate it and your family will too!

Source Material from Scientific American:

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=fit-body-fit-mind

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