An online Slow Burn advocate sent this letter to me today. I though that her issues might be similar to many of yours so, I figured sharing it might be of help to some of you.
Her email:
Dear Mr. Hahn,
I am a
44-year-old white female. I started the Slow Burn workout about a month and a
half ago. I have just in the past week cut all grains out of my diet. Prior to
that, I was only eating whole organic grains.
Back in January when I started
working out, I weighed 380 lbs. I have only lost 7 pounds since January. I am
extremely frustrated because I workout three days a week. I do the elliptical
machine for 30 minutes and then do the Slow Burn technique on the weight
machines. I was just wondering when I will start seeing some results with the
weight loss. My clothes are definitely looser, and I am starting to see muscle
tone in my arms again. However, at some point because of how much I weigh, I
would think that I would see drastic results on the scales. Do you have any
suggestions or comments?? Thanks.
Jennifer P
Here's my reply:
Hi Jennifer –
Great that you
started the workout. Let me get right to the point and say that exercise is not
the answer to fat loss. Not even close. While I commend you for the effort you
are putting in, what you eat is the answer, not exercise. Since you just cut
out all grains last week, you will soon see dramatic changes pretty quickly so
long as you don’t go crazy with fruit as fruit, like all grains, are
carbohydrate. Give me a sample of your daily food intake so I can see if you
are on the right track.
Also, you are
exercising a bit too much. Just do the SB workout twice a week (you don’t need
the elliptical either but if you want to do it do it AFTER the SB workout) and
follow my book as closely as you can.
Make sure to eat
a protein rich, low to no carb meal (or better a shake) immediately after your
workouts. Don’t skip breakfast on your training days (or ever for that matter).
Drink a gallon of
cool water a day and get at least 8 hours of sound sleep.
And remember, you
are building muscle too. If you weigh 370 pounds and after a month lose 5
pounds of fat but gain five pounds of muscle, you’ll weigh the same – right? Right. But your in much better shape.
Stay the low carb
course and you’ll see much faster results real soon. Just remember that what you eat
is 99% of the fat loss equation. Strength training adds muscle which
contributes.
All the best,
Fred
