How to lose weight…really!
Since weight loss is such a popular subject on which there is a lot of misinformation, I’d like to give my take on how to manage your weight in a safe a healthy way. I’ll start with a disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor a professional dietician, so you should really check with a doctor if what I say is right for you. What I’d like to do here is to share some of my knowledge and experience, without any commercial bias as I won’t profit from any of my hints (except maybe for a few cents from the google ads….). Dietary supplements are not going to help you and I’d use them just if your doctor prescribes them. Vitamins and minerals are better absorbed from food.
A good friend of mine was able to lose over 50 pounds in 6 months following some really simple advices and without any magic trick. Most people can do the same. I’ll your need some commitment of course… don’t believe you can achieve your weight loss goal unless you’re ready to change some habits. Excessive weight comes from bad habits, you’ll have to commit to it. Change of habits has to be gradual though, your body doesn’t need a shock. More importantly, to stay committed to your plan, it’s important not to feel miserable about what you’re doing. I believe that a proper weight loss plan should NEVER end, meaning that your weight loss plan and your long term eating and exercising habits should converge.
This convergence brings me to the first important point: LEARN HOW YOUR BODY WORKS. Nobody better than you can learn how your body reacts to food, exercise, stress.
Now, it’s obvious that you can lose weight eating less, right ? Well, not completely. It’s not just important how much you eat. You should also consider what you’re eating, but also when you’re eating.
For the ‘what’ part, it’s mostly common sense that any italian mom will teach you: eat smaller meals, eat a diverse diet, eat more often. Don’t eat meat every day, don’t eat eggs more than 3 times a week, eat fish at least once a week. Eat a lot of vegetables, raw and cooked. I would add, make sure your dinner has enough protein, have carbohydrates for breakfast and lunch but limit them on dinner.
Diet diversity helps your body acquiring all the nutrients it need – carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals. Yes, fats too! Fat is important, some vitamins are just present in fat, so if you don’t have enough fat in your diet, you’re automatically not getting enough vitamins. Of course, there’s good fats and bad fats. As a rule of thumb, unprocessed fat is good (nuts like almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts; olive oil, etc). Bad fats are processed ones…meaning, most foods that are in a wrapping and have a long shelf life (like most snacks). If in the ingredients you can read “(partially) hydrogenated oil” it’s BAD, the oil goes through a chemical process that gives it a longer shelf life, but makes it harder for your body to digest and process.
Similar thing for carbohydrates. Some are better than others. Processed ones are usually worse. What you should be concerned with it’s the so-called glycemic index, which indicates how fast the food you’re eating ends up as sugar in your bloodstream. Why is it important ? When the blood sugar too quickly increases, your body reacts producing insuline. Insuline is used to remove the sugar from your bloodstream and store it in your tissues. If too much insuline is produced, the sugar is quickly removed from your bloodstream and you’ll feel hungry again. The body reacts abruptly, like you suddenly find a cow in the middle of the freeway: you bank abruptly, almost losing control of your car, then trying to get control back. Very dangerous. You want to turn smoothly and safely, that’s why foods with a lower glycemic index are better. That’s why YOU SHOULD STOP DRINKING SODA. Sugar is put in a lot of foods because it’s cheap, and it’s addictive. It gives you a rush. Also, in the US, you’re trained to drink soda since you’re a kid. Sodas are a great business for restaurants, they charge a dollar for a drink that costs maybe 5 cents, so they really want you to buy one. That’s why they give you free refills. Well, an italian mom would not let you drink soda during any regular meal. SODAS ARE BAD FOR YOU. AVOID DIET ONES TOO, since the long term effects of sweeteners are not really well understood. Drink water or tea.
Also, to lose weight, you don’t need to starve. Starving is actually bad, your body enters in ’savings’ mode. Your objective should actually be to NEVER STARVE. But at the same time, you should NEVER FEEL FULL AND STUFFED. You really want to stay in the sweet spot between the two, and combine your eating with exercising. So, how should you eat and exercise ?
You should start your day with some exercise. Now, another myth is that to lose weight you have to sweat and work out. Truth is, doing a little consistently is better than doing a lot once in a while. For instance, walking is a great exercise. Walking half an hour 4 times a week does wonders. Exercising in the morning has two benefits: you burn more fat because your HGH (human growth hormone) levels are higher in the morning, and HGH makes you burn more fat. Some studies showed that one hour of exercising in the morning burns 3 times the fat than the same amount of exercising later in the day. Also, your basic metabolic rate (the amount of calories you burn if you don’t do anything) increases, so for the rest of the day, you’ll burn more calories even if you sit in front of the computer.
So, wake up in the morning, do some exercise…walk, run, go to the gym. Eat breakfast within 30 minutes after you finish exercising. This is another trick you want to keep in mind: for around 30 minutes after you exercise, your body will be in ‘exercise mode’ so it will store the food you’re eating rather than turning it into fat.
Now, you already did your exercising in the morning. What should you eat the rest of the day ? Goal is to never be hungry, never be full. You should eat something mid-morning and mid-afternoon; a perfect snack is fruit. You can also eat nuts (with moderation), avoid fat and processed food. Also, try to eat smaller meals. When I get a burrito now I can’t eat an entire one.
Carbohydrates are good for lunch and dinner – but don’t overeat. Remember, if you feel full at the end of the meal, you certainly overate. Try to eat slowly – from the moment we ate enough, to the moment our brain feels satisfied, several minutes are elapsed, so give time to your brain to catch up with your stomach. Learn to listen to your body, stop eating before you feel full.
Also, be sure to eat a light dinner. It’s mostly during your sleep that your body turns the excess food to fat, but it’s also the time when your body rebuilds itself. So you should limit carbohydrates and fats, but you should supply enough protein, which are the building blocks of your body tissues. Chicken, egg whites, fish, low-fat dairy, legumes combined with grains are good sources of protein.
Also, don’t take your plan too seriously: it’s ok to eat ice cream, chocolate, cakes and other rich food. Just be disciplined, eat small portions, try to eat it slowly, and just once in a while. You’ll see, you’ll enjoy them more if they’re what they should be – a treat for a special day.
2 comments September 17th, 2007
