It is no secret that more and more people are becoming overweight every year – a trend that has begun to affect even children. The main culprit is the fact that many people prefer to stay at home and watch TV or surf the Internet rather than go out and engage in outdoor activities. Add to these the proliferation and popularity of fast food products and junk food.
For many people, the most obvious way of losing extra weight is dieting. Of these people, women make up the majority, most joining slimming clubs, buying low-calorie and low-fat food, and purchasing the market’s newest miracle drugs for losing weight.
The sad part is that dieting, on its own, is also a major cause of weight gain. This statement may earn the scoff of many readers, but it is a fact that the reduction of food intake puts one’s body into a state called “famine alert”. While it is not the person’s intention, the body starts to believe that food is scarce – thus slowing down the metabolism to make the most out of the small quantity of food. In fact, it is these types of crash diets that contribute to making one gain weight faster, especially if one goes back to normal eating.
The reason is that dramatic weight loss involves mostly the breaking down of water, muscle, and other lean tissues in a person’s body. The one thing not broken down as fast is fat. This is because the body is programmed to protect its fat reserves over everything else. Thus, one can theoretically lose more than 10 pounds in a week – but less than two pounds of that include fat. The danger arrives in the form of reverting to normal eating habits, which is a common occurrence. This time, the body tries to store more fat than usual because of the “famine alert”, with the metabolism usually staying at low rate. After that, the rule of thumb that those that eat more than they can burn off will gain weight, applies.
Thus, one can conclude that dieting alone is not enough for a person to reduce weight. Those who are serious about getting their weight under control should also commit themselves to radical lifestyle changes for effective and stable results. In fact, researchers from the American Journal of Physiology have released a study claiming that losing weight entails a strict diet and a regular exercise.
The study utilized monkeys on years-long high-fat diets, which were then shifted to normal monkey food. The researchers found that the diet shift did little towards significant weight loss, even if there was a 30-percent reduction in the monkeys’ daily intake. One of the researchers, Dr. Judy Cameron, claimed that the “study demonstrates that there is a natural body mechanism that conserves energy in response to a reduction in calories”, and that “food is not always plentiful for humans and animals so the body seems to have developed a strategy for responding to these fluctuations”.
Another reason why dieting alone is not enough lies in the fact that both thin and fat people can have roughly the same calorie intakes per day. The difference can be measured using the type of food that they are eating. Many people make the mistake of treating all kinds of fat as harmful. This is only applicable to saturated fats and the like. There are also the essential fatty acids, which are important for the body.
The downside of avoiding fats altogether by going on low-fat and no-fat diets, in addition to depriving the body of the essential fatty acids, is that these types of diets are high on sugar and salt for palatability reasons. The ironic thing is that these diets can actually lead to weight gain. According to some studies, the so-called alkaline diet (involves eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grains), plus regular exercise is among the most efficient and most effective ways to combat obesity.
Ellen, though, is miles apart as compared to a prototypical female star. She is openly lesbian, married to a woman (actress Portia de Rossi), eschews girly fashion, and at 52, is not exactly young. Still, she has won 12 Emmys and many other awards for her work in television. In fact, she has been recently declared by Out magazine as number one on their list of the 50 most powerful and influential gay people in the world – not to mention being one half of one of the most popular celebrity couples today.
Herbal diet pills offer women natural weight loss methods. Unlike anti-obesity medications, these pills can be applied to bodies that are overweight. Nonetheless, diet pill consumers should keep safe practices in mind. Diet pills are not a substitute to regular exercise and a healthy diet. The effects of diet pills will not show if you keep on eating fatty and oily foods.
The next phase brings back carbohydrates. You can only consume complex carbohydrates from whole wheat products and fruits. Whole wheat products include bread, pasta, brown rice, and certain vegetables. Protein is acquired from lean sources and food must be cooked in olive oil or canola oil. You can indulge in wine but beer and other liquors are not allowed. During this phase, the body resumes to a normal weight loss of one to two pounds a week. You can indulge in non-diet foods but be sure to not eat too much.
