An Easy Dieting Routine

ere's an easy and effective diet routine that has helped me lose body fat without losing muscle or lowering your metabolism. It is based of our knowledge of glycogen cells, both liver glycogen and skeletal muscle glycogen.

This routine is only for people not doing strength training, i.e. not out to build muscle, because it involves eating only enough to maintain existing muscles.

1. Eat one big meal a day

A big meal is a meal that's about the same size as a full meal that you would normally have on a normal non-dieting day. However, it should have a large portion of carbs and some animal protein. The carbs are for filling up your liver and skeletal muscle glycogen cells. The protein is for maintaining your muscles.

The carbs will fill the skeletal muscle glycogen after it has filled the liver glycogen. If your skeletal muscle glycogen is empty, you might lose muscle and your metabolism might slow down.

Think carbs are bad? It is actually the body's preferred source of energy. You just need to consume it moderately.

2. Have up to three small meals a day

A small meal is about a third of a normal meal you would have at any time in a non-dieting day. Make sure it is mostly carbs, because carbs will fill your liver glycogen for your energy needs.

Keep the meals (including the daily big one) about three hours apart. If you have two meals close together, it would count as one meal. Three hours would give your body time to burn the meal for metabolism. After three hours, you would probably be hungry again since your liver glycgen is depleted.

Forgoing the three small meals would be equivalent to performing intermittent fasting. This will burn more body fat but, without the energy intake, may make you tired.

3. Burn you body fat during sleep

By eating only one big meal a day and a maximum of three small meals, you would have a calorie deficit. Throughout the day and when you sleep, when your liver glycogen is depleted, your body will turn to your body fat for its fuel. Over time, your body fat will become less and less.

4. Be patient

It will take a while for you to see the results, so be patient.

If you want to lose body fat at a faster pace, then I recommend brisk walking one to two hours a day. A 6km brisk walk in the morning before breakfast can deplete 45 grams (400 calories) of body fat.

The great thing about this diet is that you can eat four time a day. Sometime you bump into some really nice food which you would not find every day, like a cake or a pastry at a shop you only pass by once a year. You can still eat the cake, even if only a small slice.