Calories and Weight Loss
By - Ken Kashubara
They're out there - Atkins, South Beach, Nutrisystem, Body For Life, pill
diets and more. You can include the Fitness Flyer, treadmills, elliptical
machines, the Cindy Crawford Workout, Jane Fonda's Workout and more exercise
programs. All of these programs promise weight loss. So with all of these
products out there, why is the obesity problem worse than ever?
The answer is simple - diets do not work. The purpose of this article is to give people a long-term solution to
weight management.
The psychology of weight loss
Overweight people get looked at and treated differently. They can't perform physical tasks
that were once easy and spend more time in doctor's offices. They have a hard
time maintaining a high energy level. Furthermore, they can't find good clothes
and hate the mirror. These facts cause overweight people to become depressed. They get desperate to lose weight. Then, this commercial comes on television.
The commercial promises immediate weight loss. It shows before and after
pictures. People get excited and buy.
A few months later, the
overweight people are off the diet. They initially lost weight but then have
gained it all back - plus a few more for good measure. The depression kicks in
again until... a new fad diet comes on television. These commercials take
advantage of people's desperation to lose weight. Don't let them! The best
defense is knowledge.
What are calories and where do they come from?
A calorie is a unit of energy. The calories we talk about, in terms of caloric intake and
calorie burning, are kilogram calories (kcal). A kcal is how much energy it
takes to increase one kilogram of water one degree Celsius.
The only way to lose weight is to
burn more calories than ingested. Calorie intake comes from three nutrients -
carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Carbohydrates and proteins contain four calories
per gram. Fats contain more than twice the amount of energy, with nine calories
per gram.
Doctors and dieticians disagree about the amounts of carbohydrates and proteins in
nutritional plans. However, no one disagrees about fat intake. Less than 30% of
ingested calories should come from fat.
What and when should I eat?
A person should consume five to six small meals per day.
For most, this breaks down into breakfast, AM snack, lunch, PM snack and
dinner.
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Breakfast
kick-starts the body's metabolism. It also makes brain function more efficient
by providing it with energy.
Eating meals after dinner should be avoided if weight loss
is the goal. The reason is because the foods people eat late at night. People do
not eat tuna and whole-wheat crackers for late night snacks. The snacks are
usually high sugar or high fat foods.
The key to eating five to six meals a day is preparation.
When at the grocery store, purchase an item for a purpose. If it is bananas,
say, "These will be my morning snacks this week."
Life happens. You're bound to cheat once in a while.
However, stick with it. Don't let a cheat meal become an excuse to eat fatty
foods the rest of the day (or longer).
You know what you're not supposed to eat. Don't eat it!
Try to eat a lean protein with every meal. Breakfast, lunch
and dinner should also contain a fruit and/or vegetable. Doing so almost ensures
the body gets enough protein, vitamins and minerals.
What most people believe to be serving sizes and actual
serving sizes are quite different. On average, restaurants serve three times the
recommended serving sizes of all foods, except fruits and vegetables.
Keep a food diary for a month. In it, keep track of serving
sizes and calories per serving. This will get you in the habit of reading
labels.>
The rule for any successful food diary is, "if you bite it,
write it." This includes the cream in your coffee, the calories in your
beverages and the sugar in your gum.
A food diary will ease the transition to a healthier
lifestyle. Calories don't have to be counted; but if a person can't trust
themselves without it, keep counting.
Lastly, have patience. People do not gain fifty pounds in a
week so don't expect to lose fifty pounds in a week.
Should I take supplements?
A supplement is a complement or
addition to an already healthy nutrition plan; but even with proper eating
habits, it's nearly impossible to get all the vitamins, minerals and
essential
fatty acids the body needs. As a solution, everyone should take a daily
multivitamin.
90% of people who lose weight and keep it off combine proper nutrition with
consistent exercise. Exercise has hundreds of positive effects on the body. One
of them is that exercise builds muscle. The amount of muscle mass in the
body is one determinant of the resting metabolic rate. A pound of muscle is
three times more active than a pound of fat. This is because fat adds 2 or 3
calories to daily metabolism while a pound of muscle adds 50 to 70!
Muscle is made of protein. Muscle protein is made of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) and
essential amino acids. Therefore, a quality protein supplement will have BCAA
and essential amino acids. Combined with proper nutritional habits and an
exercise program, a protein supplement will catalyze the muscle building
process.
Losing weight is extremely
difficult. It takes a lifestyle change. This change can be summarized in the
following six words. Eat right. Move more. Have patience.
