So now it's January, people are on full New Years resolution mode. Usually these will always include a fitness goal of some sort, be it that they want to make it to the gym, eat healthier, lose some weight or even gain some weight. It is inevitable that there isn't one of these and it definitely shows by all these signs at gyms saying they have special new years pricing. It definitely has resulted in a sudden influx of people at the university gym much to my annoyance because it means there's suddenly a ton more people in a fixed space. Unfortunately the sad thing is most of these people who set lofty goals will ultimately falter in the next two weeks, or falter in some point and time. Today's post is going to cover diets/losing weight if that was one of your new years resolutions.
1) Why I dislike diets
2) Why you can't keep what you lose
3) The science of losing weight
4) So now what
So why am I so against diets?
Well people come Jan 1 will always have these ideas that I'm going to go on a diet to lose a certain amount of weight. There's a few problems with this idea, first off skinny does not equal healthy. Secondarily, a diet is a lifestyle, not a one off event with a limited time frame. That and the term diet doesn't exactly conjure images of happiness.
It's also not very much fun to be the only one doing it, so while your friends go and munch down everyone in site (namely me) you're stuck having to eat a specific item. Which brings me to my next point, Fad Diets that proclaim you can lose a certain amount of weight with doing x y and z. You can usually lose the first five to ten pounds easily. But what sometimes happen is you lose some, gain it back and then some.... repeat. Not only is this kinda counterintuitive to the goal, it's not particularly good for your body.
Dieting slows down your body's metabolism which results in you burning less. Losing muscle will also lower your metabolism which is once again counter-intuitive. The other thing is when people are on diets, they're moods are usually attached to that three digit number that flashes back at you when you step on a giant piece of plastic. You then start looking at foods that are "forbidden" and bam back to square one.
Why you can't keep it off?
People will usually be able to lose some weight and quite quickly too, and be like I just lost x pounds. Problem with this is even slight fluctuations in water quantity in your body can cause this fluctuation giving you false results. The other thing is after a meal, you can weight up to 3-4 pounds more so depending on when you weigh yourself, there can also be variance. So weigh yourself first thing in the morning, not only will you be at your "lightest" but it's the truest weight.
Why do you lose the weight?
Any diet that results in you losing weight is not down to some magical food, but ultimately a reduced caloric intake compared to normal will result in a loss of weight. If you're burning slightly more than you're ingesting VOILA...... the pounds disappear.
Below is a summary of findings on a study performed by Dr. Haub on himeself
- His bodyweight drop from 200.8 to 174.2 (-26.6 lbs)
- His body-fat percentage drop from 33.4% to 24.% (-8.5%)
- His total body-fat drop by 25.25 lbs
- His lean body mass (muscle) drop by 1.35 lbs
- His total cholesterol drop from 214 to 184
- His bad cholesterol (ldl-c) drop from 153 to 123
- His good cholesterol (hdl-c) increase from 37 to 46
- His blood sugar / glucose level drop from 94 to 75, and
- His blood pressure stay around the same – pre=108/71 – post=104/76
Now you're probably looking at that and you're like WOW, I wish I could do that. Well let's go back a bit and look at some things. He was on a diet which consisted of Little Debbie Pecan Spin Wheels for breakfast, Hostess Twinkies for lunch, birthday cake for supper and Doritos for dessert. The key was that it was a reduced caloric intake. On a basic level, he is right in that it doesn't really matter what you're eating, as long as it's at a level lower than expenditure or just at. I agree with Dr. Haub that reducing calories will reduce body-fat – at least in the short term. I agree that reducing calories has been shown to increase lifespan. I agree that reducing calories & melting off body-fat has a powerful effect on blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, makes you move faster.
The only problem with this is it doesn't measure what having a ton of sugar is doing to your body. Excessive consumption of the ingredients in this like food coloring, saturated fats and the likes. Other things that are part of a healthy diet like vitamins and stuff like that. But once again, just because you weight little, doesn't mean you're health (read: Anorexic)
So what do you do?
Well it's not a small undertaking to try and go on a diet and reform yourself, but I have a ton of admiration for those that want to and succeed. So what have I found that helps out a lot when it comes to having to lose a little weight?
Water water water
A lot of times when we feel like we're hungry the first thing we go do is reach for some food and start eating. A lot of times it's just because we're dehydrated that we're going for the food. So try drinking a cup or two of water, wait a bit and if you're still feeling hungry, go eat a small healthy snack. Before you have a meal, same thing drink a glass or two of water. This will not only fill some room in your stomach, helping to prevent the overeating by triggering the signal earlier. Not only will this help with digestion, it should also make you a more energetic person, we feel tired when we're dehydrated.
Eat often, but in small quantities
Our society has been conditioned you have three meals and then some snacks in between. The problem with this is that when you're hungry you will crave stuff and usually overeat. So try snacking on stuff throughout the day, just remember not to eat anymore than you normally would. This eating often should also result in you eating a little bit less.
Healthy foods really do help
Now this may seem like an oxymoron, but honestly it does help. Instead of buying packaged and processed fruit cups, why not have some fresh fruit. If you're going to go buy a bottle of juice, why not eat a fruit. Fruit juices can have even more sugar than pop 42 tablespoons worth. Just because it helps you with your fruit servings, doesn't mean it's good. Same thing goes for the sugar, carry a bottle of water with you so you don't reach for fizzy drinks when you're thirsty. Try swapping out some whole wheat or at least multigrain bread instead of white. Refined carbs are awesome for packing on the pounds
A little bit of exercise goes a long way
The ultimate way in losing weight isn't in any eating, although it's a big part. If you go and do a decent amount of exercise, you will build muscle. The best thing about muscle is that it will help you burn off fat. It's like a gift that just keeps on giving. But honestly a bit of exercise will also give you some new found energy. Secretly I go and exercise so I can eat more :P
Find a friend
It helps when you have a friend whose either partaking in this endeavor with you so you guys can go through it together or they can keep you on track.
So that's my little tip of the day to set you guys all down the right path for all your goals. Sorry for lieing, it wasn't really a diet, more so how to change your lifestyle, and just do it piece by piece. Happy Resolutioning (is that a word? I think not, oh well.)
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