The danger of any weight loss program is that you may lose more muscles than fats. This is not healthy at all because when you lose muscles, your metabolism will slow down and your body will in turn retain more fats.
So how do you know if you are burning more muscles than fats? There is a simple and inexpensive way to find out.
Firstly, you must know that whenever your body burn fats for energy, a certain chemical call ketones are released. “When your body releases ketones, it is chemical evidence that you’re consuming your own stored fat.” said the famous MD Dr Atkins.
You want your body to burn the food you have eaten and even more so if you are obese, your body fat for energy and not your muscles.
One simple yet inexpensive way of knowing whether you are burning your body fat or muscles is to test for the production of ketones. If you are releasing ketones, you are burning fats instead of your muscles. If you are you are on a weight loss program and you are not producing ketones, then your program is not effective because you are burning other energy sources such as carbs or your own muscles. That means your weight loss program is virtually ineffective and can even be dangerous.
Ketones strips to test for ketones in your urine are readily available in most pharmacies. These strips are usually used by diabetics but are also a wonderful tool to check how effective your weight loss program is.
If you are losing weight and do not include exercises and a healthy diet in your weight loss program or you are actually on a severe caloric restriction diet, chances are very high that you may be burning your muscles for energy instead of your fats. Losing too much muscle is dangerous and may be fatal. Do know that your heart is a muscle. Does this statement give you warning bells?