When I was a kid I would insist that my parents purchase these specific shoes that I believed would make me run faster and jump higher. In my adolescence I wanted to wear certain clothes that would make me part of the in crowd. Presently, some adults believe that driving a certain car will in fact make them more popular and increase their chances of dating the right person. As an adult I realize that many of us are using these same types of media driven magical/wishful thinking when choosing how to go about losing weight. We somehow believe that there is a quick fix to years of inactivity and careless eating habits.
I have been in the Health and Fitness industry for over 20 years, and I continue to be amazed at how easily many of us are led into the profit driven hype the media feeds us. Telling us how using philosophy 'X' or product 'Y' will lead to quick and satisfying
The process is rather simple, eat more calories than you burn and you will gain weight. Eat fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight. The trick of course is not to deprive yourself so much that you feel hungry while having fewer calories.
There have been numerous approaches to
So what does work, you must be asking yourself by now? What can I eat and how can I lose these unwanted pounds that are not only unattractive to me, but are inhibiting the quality of my life? The answer is rather simple.
Let me tell you why.
The unfortunate truth is that most of us don't really know what we eat day to day. We get hungry and put something in our mouths. Part of any successful
In June 2002 Consumer Reports published an article, called the The Truth About Dieting. In it, they effectively and accurately lay out the guides/strategy that I have been espousing to my clientele for years for successful
I could go on listing volumes of references of all the information that is out there to guide you to your success, but the key elements are rather simple. And probably not so different from the ideas your mother used to tell you. Simply put, unless informed differently by a physician, you should have a protein, a carbohydrate, and a fat at each meal. Meals should be spaced approximately every two and a half to three and a half hours apart. This could be three typical meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner, with two snacks (one mid-morning snack and one late afternoon snack), or five small meals throughout the day. Why? Because your body needs consistent nutrition throughout the day in order to remain alert, maintain energy levels, and keep your body burning fat rather than storing it.
1) Carbohydrates: Consistent with Consumer Reports article, The Zone by Barry Sears, and numerous other diet plans. One of the biggest keys to a successful
The key is to minimize the amount of high glycemic carbohydrates you take in at each meal. If you have a high glycemic carb in your meal make sure to include approximately double that amount of low glycemic carb. In that way you are able to control your insulin levels and hence your energy levels.
2) Protein: Other than the Atkins Diet, many traditional reducing diets restrict protein intake. However, recent research has shown that protein actually aids in the slowing of food absorption. For instance if you have a serving of fish with some white rice, though I suggest brown, your blood sugar will rise more slowly than if you consume the same number of calories of white rice alone. So protein can aid in a low-glycemic diet, as well as helping you control your insulin. Protein also serves the purpose of feeding your muscles. Without the amino acids present in protein, your muscles would starve. Maintaining your muscle (often referred to as lean mass) is what allows you to keep your metabolism up and hence burn more calories.
The key is to choose lean protein such as lean cuts of beef, pork, egg whites, fish, chicken, turkey, and reduced fat dairy.
3) Fat: Though for some time we have been lead to believe that fat is bad, recent research encourages the use of fats towards
The key is to utilize healthy fats to maintain well-rounded nutrition and health.
4) Consistency: It appears that it is not so much what you do in your
Again, the idea is to meet your nutritional requirements while decreasing your overall calories and not feeling starved. One of the best ways to do this is to choose foods rich in fiber and water. The idea is to get your body to feel full before you've consumed too many calories. The easiest way to do this is to choose foods that are rich in fiber and water such as vegetables, grains, and lean meats. Merely drinking water after a meal, while helpful, does not create the same feeling of fullness as when water is a part of the food. An example used by Consumer Reports is of having chicken noodle soup versus having chicken and noodles side by side on a plate.
To summarize, eat every three and a half to four hours, include a protein, high glycemic and approximately double the low glycemic carbohydrate, and make sure to include fat in every meal. Exercise regularly and POW watch the unwanted pounds leave and stay gone!
Now if this all still sounds too complicated to get you results AND If you're ready to have the body you always wanted contact me at kurt@energyfxfitness.com and I can help create a nutrition schedule that won't break your bank and will get you results fast! Call me now at (310) 397-0089.
NOTE:
In the Spring of 2000, the U.S. Public Health Services' Centers for Disease Control declared obesity an epidemic among all segments of the population, in all regions of the country. By 2001 the CDC officially recognized obesity as the No. 1 epidemic in America. According to the CDC, one in five American adults is obese, which is defined as being 30 percent above the ideal weight for one's height. Obesity has increased among American adults by nearly 60 percent in the last decade and approximately half of Americans are overweight.
These extra pounds have been known to increase the risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure as well as being associated with several types of cancer, including breast, colon, kidney, liver, pancreatic, and rectal.