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Should We Blame the Caveman for Our Love Handles?

By Michael Collins

.........................................................................................

 

This morning I was blasted awake by my alarm clock at 6am.

 

I showered, shaved and had a small bowl of oatmeal with slivered almonds and an omelet of 6 egg whites, 2 yolks and a handful of mushrooms.

 

For lunch I had a delicious low-fat grilled chicken Caesar salad and some unsweetened green tea.

 

For dinner I had a mouthwatering piece of pecan-crusted salmon w/ brown rice, and broccoli on the side.Caveman

 

Of course, I had a few healthy snacks in between meals, such as a green apple and a protein muffin.

 

I’m very grateful for my personal chef Wolfgang who prepares each of these meals for me.

 

Our ancestors weren’t so lucky!

 

They didn’t have personal chefs!

 

No, no, no, I’m kidding. I don’t have a personal chef either. Maybe the Caveman DID have protein muffins and pecan-crusted salmon though, I just don’t know.

 

Here’s the deal…

 

Generations ago, our ancestors were hunters. They would go days, even weeks when times were tough, with no food.

 

So what’s that got to do with my unsightly love handles?

 

The human body, over time, learned to store more of the protein, carbs, and fat from ingested food as body fat.

 

This body fat had an important function - to serve as a continuous stream of energy for the hunter when “on the hunt”.

 

Nowadays the only hunt is for a parking space closer to the restaurant.  Unfortunately, our body still retains this prehistoric fat storage mode.  Luckily for us, this mode is only triggered when we have hit the “starvation” point.

 

There are 2 forms of “starvation” points – short-term and long-term.

 

The short-term starvation point is the point when the body has used up the immediate energy sources (carbs, protein and fat) from the previous meal.  All has been digested and used as fuel or stored throughout the body in the form of glycogen or fat.  The short-term starving point is not true starvation, but a indication of low blood sugar.

 

The key factor influencing the short-term starving point is the digestion time of the previous meal.  Depending on what was eaten during the meal, once digestion has fully occurred, blood sugar drops.  This could take as little as 30 minutes if you are eating a lot of sugar and little else, and it could take up to 5 or 6 hours if you’ve eaten a more balanced meal of protein, fat and carbs.

 

You’re probably familiar with the feeling of the short-term starving point - hunger pangs (especially sugar cravings), crankiness, and light-headedness, all signs of low blood sugar.

 

Long-term starvation point occurs when you consistently deprive the body of the proper amounts of calories (FUEL) in order for it to sustain itself. This often happens on calorie restricted diets.  This is the worst of the worst, because it will cause you to become fatter than before by grinding your metabolism to a dead stop.

 

In either case, hitting the short-term and long-term starvation point will have the same deleterious effects on your body composition (love handles).

 

Here’s why…

 

In both short and long-term starvation mode, metabolism slows down and calorie partitioning shifts in favor of fat gain.  As I said before, our bodies still revert to fat storage mode when it senses calorie deprivation. 

 

Instead of the food you eat being stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles, a higher percentage will be stored in fat cells.  The fat contained in the meal will also likely be stored in the fat cells, as opposed to being used as immediate fuel.

 

Your body only cares about survival, not about looking good on the beach!!!

 

The key point here is to make sure to eat a small meal or snack every 3-4 hours to avoid entering “starvation mode”. 

 

Having small meals spaced evenly throughout the day will benefit you in a number of ways. First, you will have more energy, mentally and physically- no highs and lows throughout the day.  More importantly for fat loss, you will keep the metabolism fire stoked continuously, which results in more total calorie burn throughout the day.


Look, you may have inherited Caveman genetics, but that doesn’t mean you have to apply Caveman logic to your feedings.  Plan your meals intelligently.  It’s no longer a matter of life or death – just fat or definition.

  

If you're truly looking to lose weight fast, I suggest you head over to read our page on black book of secrets. It includes 61 fat loss tips, tricks and techniques. It is a very good investment.

 

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What can I do to flatten my lower abs? I've been doing crunches and hanging leg raises for the last year, but nothing seems to help.

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