Diet and Exercise Expectations

So I’ve heard some discussion lately about leg size in relation to working out in Bill’s class. This made me think that it would be very helpful for all of the participants to know what they can expect to achieve by attending Bill’s class. The following is an explanation of some of the key topics surrounding diet and exercise:

Weight loss is the main focus of the majority of the people that begin a workout routine. Weight loss occurs when you use more calories during your daily activities than you consume during the day by eating and drinking. A quick example: a woman’s Basal Metabolic Rate, BMR, is 2200 calories per day and she participates in Bill’s class in the morning and burns 500 calories which means she uses 2700calories during the day. This same woman eats 2000 calories worth of food this same day. This adds up to her burning 700 more calories during this day than she consumed. This is called a caloric deficit. The energy needed to burn these extra calories came from what was already in the woman’s body at the beginning of the day. Once this woman has experienced a caloric deficit that adds up to 3500 calories over consecutive days, she will have lost about a pound of excess body weight. This seems like a very simple relationship, you eat fewer calories than you burn during a day and you will lose weight. It is true that you will lose weight but depending on the types of food you consume, the weight you lose will be a combination of muscle and fat—not just fat. Consuming a sufficient amount of protein during the day will ward off the loss of muscle while dieting.

While you are experiencing a caloric deficit and losing weight, you will not be able to make your muscles grow and your main goal in addition to losing fat is to hold on to all muscle that you have. The amount of muscle that you have on your body is the determining factor in how many calories you burn each day while at rest, your BMR. So if you lose muscle and fat at the same time, it makes it harder to keep that weight off because your BMR will have decreased and you will have to eat less food to maintain your weight.

After reading the information in the last paragraph we can now explain the initial comments about leg size and participating in Bill’s classes. If you are eating fewer calories than your body uses your muscles will not be growing, but hopefully you will hold on to the muscle you have and shed the fat that is on top of the muscle resulting in an overall smaller/leaner leg. This same concept of shedding fat and preserving muscle applies to the rest of your body as well. The fat that you lose will start at your extremities and work its way to your thighs and stomach.

A quick side note about muscle size and working out in Bill's class: during the first few weeks of participating in the class, your muscles will become firmer and slightly larger because they will be filled with more blood and nutrients while attempting to repair themselves due to the increased stimulation. This size increase will not continue as long as you are keeping your diet in check. Also, an immediate result of participating in Bill’s class is that the muscles worked during the class will be swollen for a few hours after the class is over. The term for this is ‘muscle pump’. The pump occurs because your body is delivering needed nutrients and blood to the recently stimulated muscles. Because the muscles you worked in class will be swollen for a few hours after class, this is not the time to try to fit into tight clothing. In fact I have mistakenly overlooked this fact in the hours following a leg workout and actually torn a pair of my favorite jeans.

Keep up the hard work and be sure you take both exercise and diet into account when working to achieve your fitness goals!

Robert