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The Best Program for Weight Loss

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Losing weight can be a difficult task to achieve (and maintain) but it doesn't have to be that way. Although there are many weight loss programs, a combination of the paleo diet and a Crossfit fitness program is the perfect mix to help you quickly and permanently shed those pounds. So, what is the paleo diet, what is Crossfit, and how can they help you lose weight? Read on to find out.

Losing weight can be a hard task to accomplish. While it is easy to pack on more weight, it is often very difficult to shed the weight gained. Oftentimes, weight loss plans end up being temporary solutions, especially after people get off the weight loss intervention.

There are many medications and supplements both in traditional and conventional medicines that are recommended to help shed weight.

These work by different means but mostly by increasing the metabolic rate of the body, promoting water loss through diuresis, and preventing the production and accumulation of more fat.

However, there is a limit to the benefits drugs and herbal remedies can provide. Countless studies have demonstrated that the proven way to achieve weight loss is through the combination of restricted diet and exercise.

Of the restricted diets that are used in weight loss plans, the paleo diet is perhaps the best. It is a stripped-down diet that excludes refined and processed foods while packing the kinds of foods well suited to the human digestive system and the needs of the body.

On the other hand, of all the exercise regimens that can be used to achieve weight loss, the Crossfit exercise program is the all-encompassing fitness program that can deliver all-around results. It borders on rigorous sports training while still being achievable by anyone and offered in most gyms.

What is Paleo Diet?

Paleo diet is the common name for the paleolithic diet. It is also called the Caveman diet and the Stone Age diet.

This diet is built around the hunter-gatherer diet and is a throwback to the bygone days when humans ate raw, unprocessed foods that are easily digestible and pack low calories.

Therefore, the paleo diet is a modern nutritional plan based on an ancient dietary practice.

This restricted diet is based on the one humans consumed around 10,000 years ago during the Paleolithic era. This era spanned 2.5 million years and it ended when humans developed agriculture and learned to tame and rear animals for food.

Most of the foods consumed by these early humans are still present today. They include nuts, fruits, vegetables, roots, fish, and pasture-raised meats. Excluded from this diet are grains, legumes, dairy, refined salt, and sugar as well as processed, refined oils.

The paleo diet finds better substitutes for most of today’s refined food groups. For example, honey is a more healthy food than refined sugars and artificial sweeteners; and virgin coconut oil is a better cooking oil than refined, processed oils.

The core principle of the paleo diet is the realization that human genes have barely evolved since the paleolithic era even as the human diet has been transformed by agriculture and industrialization. It then follows that the human body does not need the new designer foods we mass-produce these days even though we may crave such foods.

Therefore, the paleo diet is what our body needs even though our taste in food may have changed.

There have been a lot of controversies over the paleo diet but what it is not is a fad diet. It may be difficult to accurately duplicate a true paleo diet and it may be difficult to follow such a diet but there is no arguing the fact that the paleo diet provides significant health benefits including weight loss.

However, there are variations of the paleo diet especially regarding the kind of carbs to include. The benefits of these variations vary but generally, the paleo diet is believed to superior to other dieting nutritional plans.

What Makes A Paleo Diet?

What humans ate during the paleolithic era can be inferred from anthropological studies of ancient sites and the diets of newly discovered hunter-gatherer societies that have largely been shielded from modern-day practices.

Although foods growing in the wild and undomesticated meats were the mainstay of the paleolithic diet, modern-day equivalents such as cultivated crops and meats from grass-fed domesticated animals are allowed.

Therefore, any modern equivalent of foods that could have been hunted or gathered during the Paleolithic era is acceptable.

Of plants, grains, and legumes, which entered human nutrition through agricultural practices, are excluded. Also, food sources of gluten and fructose are specially excluded.

Of animal products, the paleo diet includes eggs, seafood, meat, and offal but not milk products.

For fluids, only water qualifies in the paleo diet. Alcoholic drinks and fermented beverages are to be avoided although some practitioners include herbal teas as part of their versions of the paleo diet.

Contrary to some opinions, foods that qualify for the paleo diet can be cooked. However, there are hardcore paleo dieters who insist on raw foods because they believe cooked foods are not well suited for human consumption.

The popular practice of the paleo diet requires more food energy to come from animal sources than plant sources. Also, it is recommended that the adopted paleo diet should be high in protein and low in carbohydrates. The proportion of fat in the paleo diet is similar to that of modern Western diets.

The composition of the paleo diet may make it necessary to include calcium and vitamin D supplements since these are not adequately supplied in the restricted diet. Vitamin D requires exposure to sunlight and since the duration of exposure is shorter for most modern humans, supplementation may be required.

The Weight Loss Benefits of the Paleo Diet

There are many benefits of the paleo diet including the absence of gluten (in grains) and casein (in milk) as well as the absence of anti-nutrients such as lectins and phytates found in grains and legumes.

Also, the paleo diet provides a higher potassium-sodium ratio which can help improve cardiovascular functioning and prevent hypertension and stroke.

However, it is the fiber content and glycemic index of the paleo diet that mostly affects weight.

Even though the paleo diet packs lower carbohydrates than the Western diet, most of its carbs are dietary fiber. These include fibrous fruits and vegetables.

Because the carbohydrate content of the paleo diet is made up mostly of fiber, there is very little simple sugar like fructose to be converted to fat in the body. One of the major mechanisms by which foods cause weight loss is through the conversion of excess carbohydrates into stored fat.

Therefore, there is very little simple carb to contribute to weight gain in the paleo diet.

Also, the high fiber content of the paleo diet means that the process of digestion is sped up and made more efficient. Fiber binds to fats and prevents their absorption from the gut. Therefore, the paleo diet can prevent the absorption and accumulation of fats. Instead, it increases its excretion from the body.

Another way in which the paleo diet can contribute to weight loss is through its low glycemic index.

The foods allowed in the paleo diet place a lower glycemic load on the body than those included in modern diets. A low glycemic load is beneficial for reducing the risks of certain diseases such as type II diabetes and for preventing obesity.

Furthermore, although the paleo diet is richer in micronutrients than modern diets, it is less energy-dense.

The raw, natural foods included in the paleo diet provide fewer calories per gram than processed foods.

Consuming foods with high energy-density is the wide and easy road to gaining weight. On the other hand, low caloric, low energy-dense foods are effective for achieving weight loss without resorting to fasting.

What is Crossfit Exercise Program?

Crossfit is described as “the sport of fitness”. It is an exercise program founded by Greg Glassman in 2000 and today has spread to over 4,000 affiliated gyms.

Crossfit is a high-intensity exercise program that fulfills the fitness requirements of military institutions, athletes, and individuals. It employs a varied strengthening and conditioning program to help its practitioners attain proficiency in all of these areas:

  • cardiovascular/respiratory endurance
  • stamina
  • strength
  • flexibility
  • power
  • speed
  • agility
  • balance
  • coordination, and
  • accuracy

Each workout session of Crossfit is short, usually taking no longer than 20 minutes.

Furthermore, each day comes with a different workout plan to help develop a different area of functional strength and conditioning.

Therefore, Crossfit does not specialize in the fitness of one part of the body like weightlifting or even jogging.  Rather, it is a broad fitness program that produces an all-around fitness.

For this reason, Crossfit is not for those who prefer a special form of exercise or sportsmen who must preferably train some selected muscles of their bodies.

Crossfit fitness program promotes competition among practitioners, and each exercise session is usually delivered in a group. Therefore, the exercise program can push practitioners beyond their limits but care must be taken not to take it too far as exerting oneself beyond one’s limit can be dangerous.

Exercise Movements Employed in Crossfit Training

Body Weight Exercises

  • Air squat
  • Back extension
  • Box jump
  • Burpee
  • Handstand pushup
  • Jump rope
  • Knees-to-elbow
  • Toes-to-bar
  • L-sits
  • Lunge
  • Ring Dips
  • Pull-up
  • Push-up
  • Sit-up
  • Rope climb
  • Muscle-up

Distance Movements

  • Running
  • Rowing

Movements with Weights

  • Deadlift
  • Clean
  • Kettlebell swing
  • Sumo deadlift high pull
  • Press
  • Squat
  • Snatch
  • Thruster
  • Tire Flip
  • Wallball

A typical Crossfit session will involve the combination of some of these exercises with each movement to be repeated for a short duration. Where one movement cannot be done due to injury or other constraints, a substitute movement that provides similar benefits is provided.

For example, a favorite Crossfit fitness workout is the benchmark workout called Cindy.

Cindy is a 20-minute workout session that asks for as many rounds of a workout sequence involving 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, and 15 squats. There are variations of this workout depending on the fitness level of the participant.

How Crossfit Exercise Can Help Achieve Weight Loss

Crossfit is especially effective for weight loss because it is total exercise.

By working all the muscles of the body in short repeated bursts, Crossfit promotes the right kind of toning, conditioning, and endurance.

The cardio component of Crossfit is good for the heart and can help improve blood flow to all parts of the body. Also, the exertion of the Crossfit fitness program can help improve insulin sensitivity because it brings down blood sugar levels.

But, more importantly, the Crossfit fitness program drives the burning of stored fat. It strips all the muscles of the body of fat and promotes a lean, fit body.

Since the workout sessions of Crossfit task multiple muscle groups in the body, the fat loss produced affects all parts of the body. The hips, waist, and trunk especially benefit since they are the major fat deposit sites of the body.

Furthermore, the Crossfit fitness program can increase the metabolic rate of the body. It can result in thermogenesis through the release of epinephrine and thyroid hormones to spur increased muscular activity to meet the physical demands of the workout.

Paleo + Crossfit

Experts recommend a balanced, special diet to improve the benefits of the Crossfit fitness regimen.

For proteins, lean meats are recommended. For fats, nuts, seeds, and fatty fish are preferred and for carbohydrates, fresh vegetables and fruits are the preferred choices. This is roughly the definition of the paleo diet.

Therefore, the combination of the paleo diet and Crossfit fitness program is the best weight loss plan.

A stripped-down and healthy nutritional plan like the paleo diet can supply the required macronutrients to meet the energy needs of Crossfit exercises. It also supplies the micronutrients needed to support the body.

Paleo diet will not pile on empty calories on the body as Crossfit exercises burn up the stored fats.

Also, the paleo diet removes the high glycemic load than refined and processed modern foods place on the metabolic resources of the body.

Therefore, the combination of the paleo diet and Crossfit exercise is the perfect synergy for rapidly shedding weight.

After losing the desired weight, you can maintain weight loss by fully adopting the paleo diet and continually partaking in Crossfit exercises.

Beyond the significant milestone of weight loss, these dietary and fitness plans can improve cardiovascular health and reduce the risks of a long list of debilitating diseases including cancers, type II diabetes, and metabolic syndrome.

Sources


http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2012/03/01/a-beginners-guide-to-crossfit/

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/features/high-intensity-workouts-to-burn-calories

http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/strength-and-power-training/Slump-Killer.html

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