Many people who see surfers wonder Will Surfing Make You Lean. We can look at the other side and say we see so many lean surfers, did they get lean because they surf. I can tell you from being on the beach every day there are a lot of surfers that look overweight and have bellies. These people are usually the middle aged surfers, not the teens.
Teenagers are naturally fat burning machines. They are testosterone loaded. They can exercise for hours. Food hardly keeps up with their sitting metabolism. As we age, our metabolism slows partly because our lean muscle turns to fat. Fat creates a slower metabolism. Our metabolism is responsible for about 60% of our calorie burn. That metabolism is for our unconscious activities run by the brain.
The Basics of Getting Lean
The body holds onto calories. It has been primed since early man to protect us against starvation. Our metabolism was even slower 60 million years ago and then some evolutionary change started us burning more fuel to exist. Our metabolism is what separates from many of earth creatures, basically all the non-mammals.
The mammals meaning so many classes of apes and monkeys and live bearing species have more energy. Energy is needed to procreate. Slower metabolism species don’t have the energy to produce as often. A mom making a baby uses the same energy as riding the Tour de France, as says Herman Pontzer in his new book, Burn, New Research Burns the Lid off How We Really Burn Calories.
What is surprising is that various exercises burn calories but intensity doesn’t always burn noticeably more. A person who runs three miles fast doesn’t burn noticeably more calories than a person who jogs it. A person who walks at 5 miles per hour burns more calories than a person that runs. Climbing burns more calories than all the other standard exercises.
On the opposite end, our bodies will slow down the calorie feed or speed it up for the amount of energy required. It balances out our energy so well in order to keep us alive that it is hard to have an impact on the total balance of calories consumed vs calories burned. The body uses energy for different purposes.
If we exercise, the body will use fewer calories for stress and inflammation. Amazing how that works. Everything consumed in excess, carbohydrates, protein, fats (and sugars) will go to fat if the body can’t use it immediately. The secret for exercise is once you have lost weight, exercise will keep the body focused on burning fuel for energy and keep focus off other activities like stress and inflammation.
Starving does not help weight loss. The body immediately senses danger and reduces its metabolism so fat stores and minimum calories can supply the energy to keep basic processes working. Digestion uses more calories than any other bodily system so it would make sense if you can keep digesting, you are burning more calories at rest.
What makes sense is to exercise everyday and eat a balanced moderate diet. I find drinking water is a real catalyst for losing weight. I now drink almost a gallon a day. Not only do you feel better, but the body doesn’t have to rob water from food for energy. It can digest food more thoroughly. The fat we lose is expelled in our breath or it turns to water. We don’t poop it out.
The body gets used to any level of exercise. Primitive people alive in Africa and other places that walk all day don’t burn more calories than the average Westerner. Their body adjusts. One tribe in Africa lives on berries and tubers gathered by women and meat shot with bow and arrow by men. They are lean and fit to old age, but they are wracked by every disease that comes along because they have no medicines or shots.
If you want to get lean, it will be a fight. A keto diet and eating in windows plus drinking a lot of water seems to help a lot of people. It is how I live right now as I try to get leaner. I try to lose a half pound to pound a day. As I eat less, it becomes more difficult. The body adjusts. I have lost 20 pounds in two months and I want to lose another 10. I thought I could do it in 90 days, but eating to feel comfortable and losing weight are not compatible. There has to be a little suffering each day.
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See the book on Getting Fit to Surf and Losing Weight at the same time. A great combination for changing your lifestyle and improving your health. Everything becomes possible when you are fit.
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Get the book Everybody Can Surf. It is a great guide for those who have been inactive or are overweight. Learn how to get the body in motion, start exercises to improve surf specific muscles, develop the flexibility for the pop up, and how to begin a weight loss program. Also learn all the fundamentals learned in a surf lesson for catching and riding waves.
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