If you cut back on calories or go on a severely restrictive diet, your body will go into survival mode. This becomes a stress itself and your body will do all it can to hold to body FAT for protection. You may lose weight rapidly by eating nothing but lettuce & pineapple, but the weight you lose will be made up of at least 25-30 per cent muscle & water, not just fat!

Muscles plays a really important role in helping to control your weight and you can't afford to lose it. In fact you also need to try put a bit more on and the good news is that muscle is metabolically active. It requires fuel in the form of calories just to maintain it even when you sit and do nothing. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you consume, and if you don't overeat the more fat you will burn.

450g (1lb) of muscle burns 75 calories a day

450g (1lb) of fat burns 8 calories a day

This is one of the reasons why men, infuriatingly, find it easier to lose weight than women. They generally have more muscle than women and can burn calories faster - also with their higher levels of testosterone (male sex hormones) which means they can build muscle faster. When you are stressed your cortisol level goes up, it uses your muscle for fuel to provide energy. Cortisol breaks down muscle turning it into amino acids (building blocks of protein that you eat). Your liver then turns these amino acids into fuel, so the higher the cortisol level the more muscle will be broken down to supply glucose for fuel. The fact that muscle is being broken down in your body means there is less muscle to burn off fat! So your metabolism slows down and although you are trying to lose weight, you will get progressively fatter!

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