Written By: Tania Tarafdar | Updated: November 7, 2017, 12:42 PM
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Your weight loss can backfire if you are not doing it the right way. You need to understand that weight loss is a mix of both muscle and fat loss and you need to take a few steps to minimize the muscle loss. Fitness expert Roshni Shah asks you to steer clear of these six habits to keep your calorie-burning machine revved up.
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You are not refuelling post workout: If you are not refuelling after your workout, there are high chances that you won’t recover and if you do not recover, you will automatically lose your muscles. So if you have hit the gym for 45 minutes, you must down at least 20g of protein after a workout.
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You are doing too much cardio: Sweating it out on the elliptical trainer may be an easy way to torch calories but you might also end up losing a lot of muscles. To avoid muscle loss, perform cardio two to three times a week and do weight training the rest of the days in the week.
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You are not getting enough sleep: If you are not getting enough sleep, your hormones do not function optimally, your cortisol level increases which up your chances of storing carbohydrates as fat. What’s more, you feel tired and do not have enough stamina to crank through your strength training workout.
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You are not into strength training: You need to do all the push-ups to build and maintain your muscles. If you are on a calorie-deficit diet and are not into resistance training, you will definitely not add up any muscles.
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You are not getting enough protein: You need all the nine amino acids from the protein sources like eggs, poultry, dairy and meat to build and maintain your muscles. When you are losing weight, you will lose even more muscles if you are not getting enough protein.
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Your calorie intake is less: Eating less calories may slow down your metabolism, throw your body into starvation mode, where your body uses both fat and muscles for fuel. To minimize muscle loss and maximize fat loss, you need to create a deficit between 500 to 1000 calories.
