Hormones are stopping your fat burning

When you start exercising you may find that losing weight isn't as simple as you thought it would be. It seems simple; eat less, workout more, simple right! 

No, sometimes it can take weeks, months or even years.

At the start you may be stressed because of your size or because you’re not losing any weight. Stress causes a rise in a hormone called cortisol. In small amounts cortisol is important for the breakdown of fats, protein and carbohydrates however in large amounts cortisol will breakdown muscle tissue and decrease fat burning potential. Cortisol levels can rise for a number of reasons including, lack of sleep, over training or depression. 

 
So how do I get the fat burning started?

First make sure your diet is correct. You should eat 3 meals a day including plenty of fruit and vegetables, at least five a day. Cut back on carbohydrates in the evening but make sure the other two meals have plenty. Eat fish at least 3 times a week with no batter. Drink at least 2 litres of water a day (no squash). Make sure that all carbohydrate are complex. In simple terms brown pasta, brown rice, brown sugar.
Now that your diet is correct it's time to hit the exercise.

You need to aim to burn 800-1,000 calories per day every other day. To achieve this you will need to workout for an hour and a half at least once every other day. If you get too exhausted you must take an extra day off to recover. Make sure the exercise is something different and challenging. Just working on abs or running all day will not get you slim. Do not give your muscles a chance to get used to doing the exercise. This is called muscle confusion and it's used by top athletes. The training programme should be based on moderate to vigorous aerobic training.

 
The effects of vigorous training

So long as you have a day’s rest in between each training session you will raise hormone levels known as: thyroxin, glucagon, growth hormone, testosterone and oestrogen. The rise in these hormones will significantly increase your ability to burn and utilise fat effectively. Once this has been started the results will be on going and everlasting. Be careful not to over train as this will result in a decrease in these hormones and an increase in cortisol.