to burn fat—not only what you
eat but also the bodyfat you
have stored—if you create a
c a lo ri e d ef ici t an d d o n’t
overdose on carbohydrates.
By creating a calorie deficit,
getting just enough pro t e i n
and carbs and providing your
sy stem wit h so me fa t, yo u
prime your body to use fat as
fuel. In other words, having
some fat in your diet sets the
stage for optimal fat burning throughout the day. It also helps
your body build essential anabolic hormones, like testosterone,
a nd it kee ps your thy ro id hea lth y fo r a smoot h-ru n n i n g
metabolism. (You should be having visions of your new, ripped
physique about now.)
The bottom line is that you don’t want to reduce your fat
intake to extremely low levels. No-fat diets are wrong, wrong,
wrong! If you take your fat intake down near zero, you deprive
your body of vital hormone-building omega-3s, -6s and -9s,
and you coax it into using only protein and carbs for its daily
energy needs. In other words, you teach it to burn muscle for
e n e rg y, which is not something you want (muscle is made of
protein and it’s also where carbs are stored, as glycogen).
Muscle is good! We don’t have to tell bodybuilders that.
They strive for it at every turn; however, many women think
m u s c l eis a dirty word. Not true. It gives the female body a
metabolic boost and more curves in the right places. Wo m e n
d o n ’t have to be concerned with building too much muscle
Many women think muscleis
dirty word. Far from it. Becky
Holman shows that muscle
can give the female body
curves in all the right places.
(More on Becky’s sensational
transformation in Chapter 6.)