great things
Gold Member
hi everyone.
i'm writing this to clarify a few points of exercising on a VLCD, fat, muscle and the fat burning process. don't be worried about exercising on SS (or upwards) it's perfectly ok, just be very aware of your own body and how it feels. i've always used this to assess my exercise and if i've not felt well at all i've stopped, drank water, sat down and then started again. if i've still felt the same i've gone home as it's not worth risking your health. anyway this was a very rare occurance at the gym and i was usually coming down with a bug when it happened. if you are new to exercise give your body 2 weeks to get used to your VLCD before you start any form of exercise but if you already exercise like me then i think that you should be fine to keep it up but drop the intensity for a couple of weeks. anyway folks the info....
The science bit
your body uses carbs as fuel for it's body. how it does this is change the carbs into glucose. any glucose left is changed into fat and stored in the body.
this is the fun bit.... on a VLCD your available glucose is very low and your body is initially shocked (this is sometimes when you don't feel great when exercising on a VLCD) however, it then starts to slowly use up stored fat by turning it back into glucose.
now when you exercise regularly your body begins to realise that there's not enough available glucose to burn and rather than exhaust this supply it starts access the stored fat supplies earlier thus initiating the fat burning process. as you exercise more the faster, quicker and more efficient your body gets at access the store fat and transferring it into glucose.
now when you run a marathon you will hear of people hitting the wall. this is when the body has used up all the available glucose in the body, plus most of the stored glucose (the body always keeps some in reserve to enable the essentials of your body to work, heart, lungs etc) and your legs just give up moving. these people are usually those that have not carbed up for a few days before the event. therefore use of sports drinks, gel sachets are important for long distance runners. there's not that much stored fat on most runners as there body is very efficient at burning it up. you don't see runners without muscle either.
now muscle and fat myth
muscle and fat are not indifferent to each other. they do both weight the same but the density (the room in the body that they take up) is different. therefore if you exercise and create muscle by burning fat you will get a slimmer size and shape and go down in inches but stay the same on the scales.
building muscle on a VLCD
i am living proof that you can do it. it won't be as much but it gradually builds up. my shape changed on ss and i build excellent leg muscles up whilst running. my legs are always the first to look toned followed by my tummy and butt. i lost no strength and was even doing a body pump class too. at one point i was doing a rediculous amount of exercise (10 hours a week) which i can't recommend as it really impacted on my weight loss.
the types of exercise to do on a VLCD
you must always do what you feel comfortable with and what feels good for your body especially if you are at the start of your journey. i can't stress enough how very important it is to always, always listen to your body. it is vital!!!! many ladies on here are doing the 30 day shred dvd. this is very good exercise which i've not included in the below.
basically anything goes when it comes to exercise. try the following:-
basic:-
walking, going up and down the stairs instead of using the lifts, getting off a stop earlier on the bus.
next level:-
you could start at the gym and use the bike, treadmill, rower, cross trainer. you could go swimming (if you feel comfortable with it). power walking if you can't get to a gym, running up the stairs and walking down them. anything like this really.
going higher:-
use of interval training is excellent and great at initiating the fat burning process.
how it's done..... moving your body faster than you would so fast walking for 1 min then slow walking would do it, you could then do a light jog and walk for the next step, the turn it into running and walking. you can also up the intensity from 1 min to 2 then to 3 etc etc and cut down on the walking inbetween.
you could do it on the bike by putting on a hill or interval training session where you pedal with light intensity followed by a heavier intensity similar to the running do it 1min/1min etc
higher still?:-
full out running is the best form of fat burning. i love it and you can gradually build your length up. always remember to include interval training in one of your sessions too.
i hope that this is helpful to you all. i've always exercised throughout my journeys (i've had a few putting on weight when i was pregnant
). at one point i was running 6 miles on ss. i can't recommend this either as it was hard work and i struggled so went up to a higher plan at this stage. strangely it's at 6 miles when your body exhausts itself of it's stored glucose which shows that my body had got used to transfering my fat into glucose but it obviously wasn't expecting me to be doing 6 miles
i'm writing this to clarify a few points of exercising on a VLCD, fat, muscle and the fat burning process. don't be worried about exercising on SS (or upwards) it's perfectly ok, just be very aware of your own body and how it feels. i've always used this to assess my exercise and if i've not felt well at all i've stopped, drank water, sat down and then started again. if i've still felt the same i've gone home as it's not worth risking your health. anyway this was a very rare occurance at the gym and i was usually coming down with a bug when it happened. if you are new to exercise give your body 2 weeks to get used to your VLCD before you start any form of exercise but if you already exercise like me then i think that you should be fine to keep it up but drop the intensity for a couple of weeks. anyway folks the info....
The science bit
your body uses carbs as fuel for it's body. how it does this is change the carbs into glucose. any glucose left is changed into fat and stored in the body.
this is the fun bit.... on a VLCD your available glucose is very low and your body is initially shocked (this is sometimes when you don't feel great when exercising on a VLCD) however, it then starts to slowly use up stored fat by turning it back into glucose.
now when you exercise regularly your body begins to realise that there's not enough available glucose to burn and rather than exhaust this supply it starts access the stored fat supplies earlier thus initiating the fat burning process. as you exercise more the faster, quicker and more efficient your body gets at access the store fat and transferring it into glucose.
now when you run a marathon you will hear of people hitting the wall. this is when the body has used up all the available glucose in the body, plus most of the stored glucose (the body always keeps some in reserve to enable the essentials of your body to work, heart, lungs etc) and your legs just give up moving. these people are usually those that have not carbed up for a few days before the event. therefore use of sports drinks, gel sachets are important for long distance runners. there's not that much stored fat on most runners as there body is very efficient at burning it up. you don't see runners without muscle either.
now muscle and fat myth
muscle and fat are not indifferent to each other. they do both weight the same but the density (the room in the body that they take up) is different. therefore if you exercise and create muscle by burning fat you will get a slimmer size and shape and go down in inches but stay the same on the scales.
building muscle on a VLCD
i am living proof that you can do it. it won't be as much but it gradually builds up. my shape changed on ss and i build excellent leg muscles up whilst running. my legs are always the first to look toned followed by my tummy and butt. i lost no strength and was even doing a body pump class too. at one point i was doing a rediculous amount of exercise (10 hours a week) which i can't recommend as it really impacted on my weight loss.
the types of exercise to do on a VLCD
you must always do what you feel comfortable with and what feels good for your body especially if you are at the start of your journey. i can't stress enough how very important it is to always, always listen to your body. it is vital!!!! many ladies on here are doing the 30 day shred dvd. this is very good exercise which i've not included in the below.
basically anything goes when it comes to exercise. try the following:-
basic:-
walking, going up and down the stairs instead of using the lifts, getting off a stop earlier on the bus.
next level:-
you could start at the gym and use the bike, treadmill, rower, cross trainer. you could go swimming (if you feel comfortable with it). power walking if you can't get to a gym, running up the stairs and walking down them. anything like this really.
going higher:-
use of interval training is excellent and great at initiating the fat burning process.
how it's done..... moving your body faster than you would so fast walking for 1 min then slow walking would do it, you could then do a light jog and walk for the next step, the turn it into running and walking. you can also up the intensity from 1 min to 2 then to 3 etc etc and cut down on the walking inbetween.
you could do it on the bike by putting on a hill or interval training session where you pedal with light intensity followed by a heavier intensity similar to the running do it 1min/1min etc
higher still?:-
full out running is the best form of fat burning. i love it and you can gradually build your length up. always remember to include interval training in one of your sessions too.
i hope that this is helpful to you all. i've always exercised throughout my journeys (i've had a few putting on weight when i was pregnant
). at one point i was running 6 miles on ss. i can't recommend this either as it was hard work and i struggled so went up to a higher plan at this stage. strangely it's at 6 miles when your body exhausts itself of it's stored glucose which shows that my body had got used to transfering my fat into glucose but it obviously wasn't expecting me to be doing 6 miles 
