In last month's inaugural issue of Revolution Mag I began a review of my nutrition manual, Metabolic Transformation. This manual is designed to help the nutritional novice learn everything necessary to master permanent weight loss. The premise behind the content is simple yet powerful. There are several reasons people often fail in making weight loss a permanent occurrence, but the underlying cause is usually a lack of knowledge. We all hold to tidbits of information and perhaps even misinformation in regard to weight loss tricks, but few people understand the right way to lose weight and keep it off. Metabolic Transformation teaches you how to lose weight in the healthiest and most efficient way. You'll learn how to lose weight while you actually create the best environment in your body to keep it off. This is the combination that will take you where your body was created to be: healthy and fit. First, learn what correct nutrition is and you'll always know with absolution if you're making the right decisions. Secondly, as you make these correct decisions, your body will change and it will become easier. Most “diets” leave you in a metabolic train wreck and your body has no choice but to regain lost body fat. When you lose weight the “right way,” you can increase your ability to keep weight from returning. So, first it's education and second it's physiology. Mind and body is a nice cliché` to remember.

What exactly happens in your body that can make it easier or more difficult to regain body fat? In a word, metabolism. Your metabolic rate is the rate at which your body burns calories. You use a certain amount of energy per day, which is measured in calories. Just breathing, your heart beating, and your normal cellular needs cause calories to be used. Throw in the physical demands of your job and even exercise and you have a full day of energy expenditure. We supply that energy through food, or once again, calories. If we eat fewer calories than our body needs on a particular day, the calories have to be made up somewhere. Stored body fat is one place that energy can be accessed. In other words, if you eat fewer calories than you need, you lose weight. However, if you eat more calories than your body used for energy during a particular day, the excess have to go somewhere. Guess where? New body fat is the likely dumping ground for unused calories. This is lesson one in defining metabolism. You have a finite amount of energy (calories) that you will use today, tomorrow, and every day. Eat less than that amount and you lose weight. Eat more than that and you gain weight. This is your metabolic rate.

To be successful in losing weight, you must figure out how much food is the right amount for you. If my body uses 2,500 calories per day on average, I can eat 2,000 per day to create a 500 calorie daily deficit. Multiply this times seven days in a week and I've had to make up for a 3,500 calorie deficiency. One pound of body fat is approximately 3,500 calories. I've just predictably lost one pound. If I exercised every day at a level that burned an extra 500 calories per day beyond my normal metabolism, I've attacked the problem from another angle. Instead of just lowering my food below my metabolic rate, I raised my metabolic rate. Now, I've created a 1,000 calorie deficit per day and will lose two pounds per week.

Knowing your metabolic rate is very important because it's the only way you can confidently and predictably lose weight. You shouldn't have to guess if you're doing things the right way, you should plan for the right way. This can be done through trial and error with excellent record keeping. You'll have to read labels and measure things until you get the hang of it, but it's a time investment worth it's weight in gold. Once you've learned to track your food intake, you'll never have to guess if you're on track. If you've purchased a copy of my manual from the on-line store, you'll find a chart on page 13 that helps you find where your metabolic rate should be. You'll notice that it's not just given in calories, but also broken down further into grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Learning what these individual macronutrients are and how they affect you can make all the difference in your long-term success. There are also charts in the back of the manual to help you chart your food intake. A valuable asset is to have a personal trainer who understands nutrition and can guide you. There are likely to be qualified trainers in every city but I also have several friends around the country that I can recommend without hesitation if you contact me.

Knowing how much food you need per day is the critical first step, but the second step leads us to permanent positive changes in your metabolism and health. You see, there are certain needs your body has for certain nutrients. Consuming the right foods in the right amounts, at the right times, in the right combinations can actually make your body become more efficient at using calories. This means you can eat more without gaining weight or lose weight without eating as little as you might have in the past.

I know that sounds complicated, but once you read the next couple chapters, it will all come together. The most important thing to understand at this point is that you need to have a plan to consume the right amount of calories to lose the right amount of weight. For most women, it is safe to lose 1-2 pounds per week and I prefer just one. If you're losing one pound per week I know you're still eating enough food to keep your energy high and not suffer through too much hunger. You'll also make it easier for your body to raise your metabolic rate through better nutrition if you're not eating too few calories. Men can lose 2-3 pounds per week, but again, I prefer the lesser amount.

This is a basic review of chapter one in Metabolic Transformation. I'm convinced this nutrition manual will give you the necessary information to succeed in your weight loss pursuit. If you get a copy, please read it through to get an overview of nutrition, but then come back to each monthly article in Revolution as we go through each chapter. Once you get started you'll see how predictably the body fat will come off. This manual and the information within is how my staff and I routinely help people lose twenty, thirty, even fifty pounds and keep it off. You will change your body from the inside out. You can achieve the physique you want, and you'll be healthier and able to maintain it once you get there!