The Natural Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off
Most people express the frustration of straining to lose weight only to gain it back in a twinkle of an eye. This is because most weight loss programs are strenuous and not natural. Going to the gym is not always much fun and although you may enjoy playing tennis everyday this may not always be a practical way to lose weight, given that you may have to work on a daily basis to earn a living.
If your job involves standing and talking then you may not only have the benefit of earning an income but also an opportunity to lose weight, for close to eight hours. You are more than twice able to spend calories standing than sitting. You are even luckier if your job involves body movement, since physical exercise is the best way to lose weight.
If you are overweight, it is advisable to begin any exercise program slowly and build up with time. Although endurance exercise like jogging, may help you lose weight fastest, you will only keep it off if you refrain from lavishly rewarding yourself with a high calorie meal soon after such an activity, as your body craves to replenish(replace) the heavily used-up food stores in your body. Of course, resistance exercise like weight lifting in the gym, will burn up fat but also increase muscle mass and this is good for your body function.
Since most people may not be so fortunate to exercise sufficiently on a daily basis as they work, it is but obvious that a carefully thought out diet together with a simple daily exercise like brisk walking, incorporated into lifestyle, will provide a more natural way to keep an ideal body weight.
An approach that involves daily exercise, like a 30 minutes walk, and eating the right food like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and proteins as in beans, is a practical and natural way to prevent regaining weight after losing it through exercise. Including pectin-containing foods in your diet will permit you to eat a lot of it and still not gain weight, since blood glucose will not rise and reach a level at which the body will be required to store it as fat.
After a starchy meal a high amount of insulin is secreted by the body to lower blood sugar. Most of the glucose will be stored and some will be used up by the cells for energy. Pretty soon the blood sugar level falls and we begin to feel hungry. If we could spread the food absorption over a longer time period with a meal high in vegetables and fruits that contain fiber such as pectin, we will not feel hungry soon afterward. Pectin is found abundantly in fruits such as lemon, guavas, oranges, apples, mostly in the peels; in vegetables like carrots and in beans and peanuts.
Managing stress should form part of a successful weight loss program. Fun exercise itself reduces stress, by the pleasure it gives. Psychological stress makes it difficult to maintain a good body weight because it causes the release of sugar from the liver stores and some of it will be stored as fat in the trunk and face, where blood flow increases during such stress. Fat deposition during this stress is worse for the heart and the brain and gives the moon-face and hunch-back appearance. Anxieties, worries and anger not only show in the shift in pattern of fat lay down but also can lead to binge eating(overeating) behavior to replenish calories used up in stress.
As stress progresses, exhaustion sets in and then depression. Depression makes it difficult to shed extra kilos because it pushes the sufferer to seek some relief in food, usually sugary food which is very addictive. It also leads the victim to social isolation, which means less moving about and exercising.
Sleeping well is important in losing weight. For most people who sleep less than six hours a day it is more difficult to lose weight. This is due to the fact that lack of sleep leads to sleepiness the following day and therefore low physical and mental activities.
On a psychosocial note, people will eat more of unhealthy diet if they find themselves among fat people. There are many reasons for this, one of which is to blend(fit) well in the company of those around, as the saying goes: 'Birds of the same feather flock together'.
Equally, people who have high hopes for the future make healthier choices than those with no/negative expectations or those who are happy with what they have already got and are proud of their achievements. A hopeful person has better plans for the future and will want to stay healthier to see them materialize. So, if we focus our minds on the future positives we are more likely to make a commitment to stay healthier and live much longer.
Dr Oliver V Birnso
If your job involves standing and talking then you may not only have the benefit of earning an income but also an opportunity to lose weight, for close to eight hours. You are more than twice able to spend calories standing than sitting. You are even luckier if your job involves body movement, since physical exercise is the best way to lose weight.
If you are overweight, it is advisable to begin any exercise program slowly and build up with time. Although endurance exercise like jogging, may help you lose weight fastest, you will only keep it off if you refrain from lavishly rewarding yourself with a high calorie meal soon after such an activity, as your body craves to replenish(replace) the heavily used-up food stores in your body. Of course, resistance exercise like weight lifting in the gym, will burn up fat but also increase muscle mass and this is good for your body function.
Since most people may not be so fortunate to exercise sufficiently on a daily basis as they work, it is but obvious that a carefully thought out diet together with a simple daily exercise like brisk walking, incorporated into lifestyle, will provide a more natural way to keep an ideal body weight.
An approach that involves daily exercise, like a 30 minutes walk, and eating the right food like vegetables, fruits, whole grains and proteins as in beans, is a practical and natural way to prevent regaining weight after losing it through exercise. Including pectin-containing foods in your diet will permit you to eat a lot of it and still not gain weight, since blood glucose will not rise and reach a level at which the body will be required to store it as fat.
After a starchy meal a high amount of insulin is secreted by the body to lower blood sugar. Most of the glucose will be stored and some will be used up by the cells for energy. Pretty soon the blood sugar level falls and we begin to feel hungry. If we could spread the food absorption over a longer time period with a meal high in vegetables and fruits that contain fiber such as pectin, we will not feel hungry soon afterward. Pectin is found abundantly in fruits such as lemon, guavas, oranges, apples, mostly in the peels; in vegetables like carrots and in beans and peanuts.
Managing stress should form part of a successful weight loss program. Fun exercise itself reduces stress, by the pleasure it gives. Psychological stress makes it difficult to maintain a good body weight because it causes the release of sugar from the liver stores and some of it will be stored as fat in the trunk and face, where blood flow increases during such stress. Fat deposition during this stress is worse for the heart and the brain and gives the moon-face and hunch-back appearance. Anxieties, worries and anger not only show in the shift in pattern of fat lay down but also can lead to binge eating(overeating) behavior to replenish calories used up in stress.
As stress progresses, exhaustion sets in and then depression. Depression makes it difficult to shed extra kilos because it pushes the sufferer to seek some relief in food, usually sugary food which is very addictive. It also leads the victim to social isolation, which means less moving about and exercising.
Sleeping well is important in losing weight. For most people who sleep less than six hours a day it is more difficult to lose weight. This is due to the fact that lack of sleep leads to sleepiness the following day and therefore low physical and mental activities.
On a psychosocial note, people will eat more of unhealthy diet if they find themselves among fat people. There are many reasons for this, one of which is to blend(fit) well in the company of those around, as the saying goes: 'Birds of the same feather flock together'.
Equally, people who have high hopes for the future make healthier choices than those with no/negative expectations or those who are happy with what they have already got and are proud of their achievements. A hopeful person has better plans for the future and will want to stay healthier to see them materialize. So, if we focus our minds on the future positives we are more likely to make a commitment to stay healthier and live much longer.
Dr Oliver V Birnso
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