Magazines are ablaze with new fad diets every week. Low fat, no carbs, south beach diet, cabbage soup diet, high fat, Atkins, are you confused? Fed up with all the hype, and the fact you are still trying to lose weight? Read on.
Excess body fat is your body's way of building a handy storage of fuel for the tough times ahead. If you are like most Australians, you probably don't need to think about the tough times ahead and may wish to shift those extra kilos.
The fact is all diets will work if there is less energy coming into the system than going out. The problem with most diets is due to their short term nature. When you go on a diet means that you have to come off it at some stage. Most people return to their normal habits and put the weight back on, often a little more than they had in the first place.
Although simple in nature, the IN v OUT equation gets a little muddled as humans are complex social creatures and not a beaker in a physics lab. But exploring the equation a little more is a good idea.
Dieticians claim that 80% of weight loss is due to diet. So part of the puzzle is to look at what you eat or take IN to the system. Avoiding fat is a good step in the right direction, it is packed full of energy with 9 calories per gram (compared to just 4 for carbs and protein). Your body also spends very little energy digesting fat compared to the others, so it gives you a double energy IN whammy.
Increasing fruit and vegetable intake is important for long term weight maintenance as these foods provide the perfect balance of nutrients and energy. Fruit gets a bad name for its sugar, but if eaten whole, there is actually not that much energy.
Refined carbohydrate can be a problem. This is sugar that has been taken out of its natural state and delivered by the teaspoon (or candy bar) and can add up over the day.
The last point is paramount. Look for the opportunities to reduce your total intake of energy through little wins throughout the day. There is no magical food that will do it for you, creating healthy eating patterns that you can sustain for life is the key for long term weight maintenance.
Meanwhile, the exercise physiologists are jumping up and down in the corner belting out a rendition of Shannon Noll's What about me? And this is your real key to success, burning up the energy yourself through physical activity and planned exercise.
Here is a five point plan for burning energy (the OUT of the equation) and keeping the kilos off forever.
- Think of movement as an opportunity not an inconvenience
- Look for opportunities to be active throughout your day.
- Build 30, preferably 60 minutes of exercise that is of moderate intensity, most days of the week. Alternatively aim for approximately 70,000 steps per week.
- Incorporate some resistance or strength type training into your week that focuses on the large muscles groups.
- If you can, enjoy 30 minutes of vigorous exercise 2-3 days of the week.
Creating a new you takes time and effort, but the rewards last a lifetime. With the appropriate mix of IN v OUT, you will look and feel better on a daily basis, and say goodbye to the flab forever.
For more information achieving and maintaining a healthy weight go to
www.lifestylemedicine.net.au.
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