Straw into Gold

You have probably heard the fairy tale Rumpelstiltskin, by the Brothers Grimm. The story of the little man that helps the miller’s daughter spin straw into gold.

Spinning straw into gold is no more possible than turning fat into muscle. Muscle and fat are separate types of tissue and they are not interchangeable. You may have more or less, of one or the other, but they do not change from one to the other.

One of the complaints that people have as they age is that they are losing muscle tissue. Women going through menopause also find that they are losing muscle while gaining more fat. This change in body composition can have negative effects on our health, it slows our metabolism and reduces our ability to generate power.

Muscle instead of fat.

There is research that proves that you can stop muscular atrophy and reduce the accumulation of fat tissue.

Two studies have shown that men and women can reduce their fat stores and replace lost muscle mass. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it is challenging.

A study done on men at the University of New South Wales in Australia proved that one hour of interval sprinting reduces abdominal fat. The intervals were done in 3 x 20-minute sessions a week, for 3 months. The men in the study had a 17% reduction of visceral, or abdominal, fat and increased their muscle tissue.

Recently the University of New South Wales showed that interval training produces similar changes in menopausal women. The recent study also had women doing 20 minutes of interval training three times per week with similar results. Interval training was enough to reverse the negative effects of menopause on the women in this study.

The women increased muscle mass by 0.7 kilograms in their abdomen and legs while losing 0.4 kilograms of body fat. They also improved their cardiovascular fitness by 12%.

It is important to remember that visceral fat accumulates around internal organs and is associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and higher levels of inflammation. It can be reduced by eating a high fibre diet, limiting alcohol, sugar and reducing stress.

You can reduce your risk with exercise.

It only takes three 20 minute sessions a week to see a difference. If you want some assistance my new 8 Week Fat Burner program follows the guidelines of these two studies and starts Monday, May 6th for 8 weeks. If you want to know if you are eligible to join click this link to get started.

Change your mind, change your health,

Shayla