|
Weight is probably one of our greatest deterrent to participating
in strenuous yet rewarding activities. On the other hand, not participating in
an activity is one reason why people have extra weight. Some
people attempt to justify needing to eat a lot because they are
larger than most other people. This is not factual. Fat cells
(which is what most overweight people have an abundance of)
don't burn fat or use the energy derived from your food for
anything except to replenish the fat that may have been consumed
doing an activity. MUSCLE burns fat. Low level of activity
results in underdeveloped muscle, which means that more food
than you need will result in fat storage.
So what to do about it? Anything is
better than nothing, but certain things may work better for you. There are
many fad diets that have produced favorable result for many and you are urged to
discuss these methods with those who have successfully used them. In
conjunction with modifying your eating, begin doing some of the activities as are
described in this website. Occupying your time with a rewarding pastime will
take your mind off of snacking as well as helping to pleasantly consume excess
calories. Just walking or jogging will burn 110 Calories per mile, regardless of
what speed you apply, so you don't need to speed walk but moving your arms, or
wearing leg weights will help a bit more. However if your push yourself to a
speed at which your heart rate is accelerated and your breathing
is deeper, you will be be doing aerobics, which is great.
Aerobics exercise your heart, puts more of your lungs to work
making them more efficient, and helps to flush toxins out of
your system.
That bring us to Calories.
A nutritional description of a Calorie is the amount of energy used to
raise the temperature of one kilogram of water by one centigrade degree (A nutritional
Calorie = 1000 physics calories (or 1 g heated 1°C ) and is represented
by a capital C (see also BTU)).
As explained previously it takes 110 Calories to walk a mile and that could be easily
understood as enough energy to bring a 2.2 pound( 1 kilogram)
block of ice at 32 degrees Fahrenheit (or 0 degrees Celsius) to boiling temperature
(212° F or 100° C) and hold it there for a couple minutes. Is it any wonder
that we perspire when we are exercising.
75 to 80% of your
energy is used to regulate your body temperature. So the cooler your environment,
the more calories you will have to burn to maintain your body temperature.
Consider wearing lighter clothing or not heating your home to a balmy comfortable
temperatures but gradually (1-2 degree/s a week) cut back on the thermostat. You
do need to consider others. Sleeping with a quilt or comforter? Don't. Start
using a lighter blanket and for those that live in the perpetual warmth of the
sub tropics sleep on top of the bed covers. At first it may be difficult to go
the entire night and you may have to retrieve some covers, but condition yourself,
it is worth it. A word of caution - don't over do. Hypothermia can suck
more energy than your body can produce. Do it correctly and you will wake up
feeling a little lighter and as long as you don't over eat during the day
you will begin to see the results on the scale. It may take some time before you
fell comfortable being a little cooler but your metabolism will adjust after a few days of demanding it produce more energy, and then it will burn
your stored calories at a greater rate to help keep you warm. This can extend
over to cold foods that will immediately cause the body to use
energy to bring the stomach and it's contents up to body temperature. Ever get a
brain freeze when sucking down a slurpy of gulping down Ice cream? This happens
because your body literally drains blood from your highest extremity (your head)
to help warm the stomach and nearby vital organs. When you want a treat, make it
a cold one. No this isn't permission to eat large bowls of ice cream but if it
must be sweet, eat a half dozen frozen grapes. Drink plenty of cold water, not
soda. This is why this is sometimes called the "Cool Diet Supplement"
Eating properly is not just what you eat, but how,
when and how much. If you chose to eat breakfast then make it a light one, but
your lunch should be the largest meal of the day. This will give you a chance to
burn off most of it during the daily chores or activities. But dinner should
definitely be smaller and earlier than we are used to and then no snacking
before bed. If you do not have any residual food in your digestive system then
your body will fall back on your reserves - fat.
Your over all food intake needs to be reduced. Eat less, make
your portions smaller than you usually eat or if you are
are being served a standard helping then leave some on your
plate. Pat yourself on the back and then find something to
occupy your time so you won't think think about how much you are
denying yourself (the more active the better). After about an
hour the desire to get stuffed will dissipate and for the next
few hours you will probably feel quite comfortable.
Eat slower. Rushing through the food on your plate actually
causes you to over eat because your body doesn't have time to
register all the nutrients that you are taking in and the
craving continues until it does.
A new study on weight gain was recently
released and surprisingly, sleep or rather the lack thereof is a
contributing culprit to weight gain. Apparently when you get very little sleep
you body recognizes that you will be consuming more calories
while awake. Therefore it releases a hormone that causes you
body to retain more energy from your food intake and store it in
the form of Fat.
The optimum amount of sleep is 7 hrs per
night on average. This amount of time was determined in a separate
study performed over 30 years and was also shown to extend your
life. More than 7 Hours is as detrimental as is less time.
Naturally there will be times when you may have to go one way or
the other but shoot for 7 hrs.
Quit cooking for an army and then
having all these leftover in the fridge that you are obligated to eat so they
don't go to waste. Being a garbage gut or Sir lunch-a-lot,
just because we were lectured on the starving kids in Ethiopia or wherever, can
kill you. Just don't make so much and then you will not feel justified by doing
you part to make sure that nothing goes to waste. Purge your cupboards and fridge of
all the unnecessary foods and don't replace them. Most people live in a family environment
that means that there are contributions to the cornucopia for all members, all
with different taste; this make it a difficult task. Just turn your back on the
last piece of pie that never gets ate unless you are the one to eat it and pat
yourself on the back every time you don't give in. So does that mean that you
are to scold yourself for momentary blowing it. No, but take moment to reflect
on what happened and how much it is going to throw off your efforts and how you
could have done something different.
Exercising is a dirty word for many people, but we all do it.
Ok so maybe we don't all go to a gym or jog but every effort we perform is
exercising. So do what you do, but do more of it. Not only will you physically
feel better but the odds are that when you do more of your normal activities you
will prosper. As you become accustomed to being more active then add some
activity for fun. You win all around. Look better, feel better and enjoy life
to a greater degree.
There is nothing wrong with performing traditional exercises,
in fact it is encouraged, but if it is not convenient to do so then make your
daily routine your exercise routine.
You will know that it is working for you after you have given
the method a month to prove itself. When you are burning off fat cells you
will feel a draining sensation, similar to the way you feel after a couple of
hours in the pool or at the beach. Some people describe it as a pleasantly
tired sensation. This will be verified by gradual decreases on
the scale. Weigh yourself every morning, preferably at the same time. If you
feel as if your scale is not very accurate, invest in a new one
that you can believe. A good scale removes the margin of errors
and you will know exactly what is happening on a daily
basis. It may take a couple or even a few days to see the loss
of another pound, but a careless day can add one or two pounds
over night. That is why it is important know how much you weight
every day.
The greatest thing is that it is not a
structured diet and there are no special foods to buy but you
may want to avoid those that you know are bad for you. It is really
just being smart and modifying some of you ways. Just to
recap we will list the key points below.
Reduce the total amount of foods that you eat.
Eat your largest meal at lunchtime
Eat you supper early, 5 to 6 PM
Engage in some activity after dinner - just about anything -
dancing is great
No snacking before bed.
Keep cool. Sleep on the slightly chilly side - you will
get used to it.
Choose an activity or several, that require mobility.
Weight yourself every morning - be aware of how the
previous day affected your program.
So does this weight loss method (it is
certainly not a diet) have
some sort of fad name? Not really, but if you want to tell some
one what is making the change in your life, you can tell them
that you are living with the "Cool Diet Supplement".
Remember to visit our activities
pages and get out there. This will definitely be the best way
to become or remain physically fit.
|
