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Ivan's Newsletter
October 15, 2006 -- Issue 016
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Hi,

This issue includes...

* In conflict with Mother Nature

* What's so important about water intake?
-- Essential facts --

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I received quite a few emails from subscribers,
asking when the "Members Area" will be up on
my web site. Instead of answering on each
email, I decided to include this little note
here..

My goal is to have the "Members Area"
ready for launch around the beginning of
December. But before that there will be a
surprise. So, make sure you don't miss any
of my announcements in the future newsletters;-)

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In conflict with Mother Nature
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Isn't it surprising how many of us are still
slaves of the old thinking: "The more you starve
yourself, the more body fat you will lose"?

How come people are so unsusceptible to the
abundance of information out there?

It is true that some of the sources are
questionable to say the least, and the same goes
for their authors, but still even if you have
at least common knowledge of contemporary nutrition
and physiology, you'd know that the body
MUST be fed in order to give up its fat stores.

When I said that we are in conflict with Mother
Nature, I meant that we can NOT outsmart the way
the body is designed to work.

It is a very efficient mechanism, created to
sustain and survive extreme situations. One of
these situations is starvation.

The simple reason why you can't lose body fat
if you only eat once or twice a day is because
your body can detect that food is nod been
introduced as often (and possibly as much) as
it should, and so it starts holding onto its
fat (energy) stores.

That property of the our bodies comes
from ancient times when our predecessors
used to go days and days without food until
food would become available through hunting
or other means.

In the present day we don't really need
that property (or at least not in the modern
world), but there is nothing that we can do
to change that.

So, we have to learn how things work within
our bodies and try to use our knowledge to
our advantage.

Here is how it works: You eat less or not as
many calories as you should, or both, your body
senses that food is not entering the system
often enough or it's in quantities below the
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). Once that happens
the body starts slowing down the rate, at which
it expends energy.

At this moment the body's preferred sources of
energy become primarily carbs and proteins.
But since you don't eat enough of anything the
body starts pulling amino acids from your
muscles to immediately convert them into blood
sugar (cannibalism).

Two major things happen: 1)You don't burn
any fat, as fat is preserved; and 2) Your body
uses muscle tissue for blood sugar production
to supply the brain and heart with vital energy,
which leads to decrease of the amount of the
tissue that uses fat for fuel - again the
muscle tissue.

From here, as a consequence your metabolism
slows down.

On the other hand if you eat frequently enough,
and close or above your BMR, your body will
readily continue to use fats for energy when the
activity level is low. With other words you
will still be burning fat even when sitting
on the couch (which doesn't mean you will slim
down by watching TV!).

Now, this time around three things happen:
1) Your metabolic rate doesn't slow down;
2) You continue to burn fat throughout the day;
3) You preserve your muscle tissue and ultimately
burn even more fat while the activity levels are low.

Now, you tell me which system do you prefer?
I personally choose the first one... and trust me,
I know which one works and which one doesn't...

If you want to read more about the importance of
feeding your body for fat loss, and the importance
of frequent meals, follow the link here.

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What's so important about water intake?
-- Essential facts --
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Just a few important facts about water that
you should always remember:

> About 60% of the body is water

> 70 - 75% of the muscle tissue is water

> Water is the second most important element
for survival after air

> We can survive without water only a few days

> 50% of the chemical reactions in the body
require water

> At only 2% dehydration the physical work
capacity decreases with 12 - 15%

> At 5% water loss the work capacity drops
with 30%

> The minimum water intake shouldn't be less
than 8 - 10 (8 oz) glasses a day

> High protein diets require a lot more water

> Water is absorbed by the body at a rate of
8 - 10oz every 20 min.

> To replenish water, lost during exercise
drink 16oz for each LB body weight lost

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Copyright 2006 by IvanNikolov.com.
All rights reserved.
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