Page 25 - The Essential Guide to Sports Nutrition and Bodybuilding (Sample)

The Essential Guide to Sports Nutrition and Bodybuilding
5. Most Diets Are Either Oversimplified
or Too Complicated
Have you ever heard the saying:
‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing’
Well, that is so true when it comes to diet and exercise. We often fail to realise just how complicated and adaptive the human body can actually be, and the plethora of obstacles that get in the way of our ultimate journey to build muscle and burn fat.
It’s all well and good talking about cutting out the carbs and reducing the calories, but what about other factors such as sleep, vitamins, minerals, hormones, inflammation, stress, blood flow, enzymes, nutrient absorption, and so on?
Many popular diets focus on only 1 or 2 factors that aid fat loss/muscle gain but often fail to take into account the other factors. As a result, the perspective dieter often becomes confused and frustrated when the body begins to adapt and the diet starts to fail.
On the other hand, diets alone need not be overcomplicated. As will be explained in Chapter 2, the main focus of a diet is to cut calories. Most diets vary with regards to how this is done, but for the most part, that’s how they work.
This book will cover these factors in some detail. Whilst doing so, you will learn how to not only recognise but also overcome obstacles inevitably getting in the way of your fat loss journey.
6. There’s More to Burning Fat Than Just Dieting
This is an extremely important point that is often overlooked by many dieters. At some point, the body will adapt to this new way of eating (a process whereby you’ll be burning far fewer calories). In other words, the diet alone will only get you so far.
The ‘diet’ itself should be thought of as just one of the ‘tools’ that will enable you to get the body you’ve always wanted. Other things that you will need to implement include diet breaks, regular exercise, workout routines and sleep.
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