Weight Loss Practices
You’ve probably heard about how Beyonce recently stated that she went on a fast liquid diet in order to quickly lose weight for a movie role. Or maybe you recall years ago how Oprah Winfrey tried the same thing for three months and lost a tremendous amount of weight. Then, as soon as she started eating solid foods again, she rapidly put the weight back on.
Liquid diets or fasts, as they’re known, are one of the worst things you can do to your metabolism. It’s a well-documented fact that every time you starve yourself, your metabolism effectively shuts down. This is why you gain all the weight back as soon as you start eating again.
Your metabolism is a wonderful thing when you’re young and you can eat anything you want without having to worry about gaining weight. But once you hit your 30’s and 40’s, your wonderful metabolism suddenly turns into your worst enemy. The pounds start to creep on around the middle and suddenly you realize that your metabolism has slowed down.
In fact, it may surprise you to learn that in order to increase your metabolism you need to eat regular low-fat meals and snacks throughout the day. This, combined with a regular exercise program (such as walking) will turn your body into a fat burning machine.
Fasting sounds like a great quick fix because you can lose weight very quickly. But the price you end up paying in damage to your metabolism is too great for short term weight loss. Fasting is short term solution because you will inevitably gain the weight back.
The obesity and overweight problem usually starts at a very young age, but don't despair. Being a post-war child, born in 48, our generation of children were generally slim just like our parents and grandparents. We were raised on a usually big breakfast, had very little for lunch, and on to the biggest meal of the day, supper. There were no snacks and in-betweens. But then again, we didn't have McDonalds, Wendys, Taco Bell etc. as this was the 50s and money was also scarce.
Later on in years, however, I continued being a breakfast guy skipping lunch except for a short period when I decided I would be more sociable and have lunch with my work buddies at the local tavern. My favorite meal was a hamburger steak with fried onions, fries and gravy, washed down with a couple of beers. In a matter of a month or two, I had overgrown my tailor made shirts with buttons popping at every breath. I quickly gave up that routine and went back to skipping lunch and returned to my normal size.
Today however, according to statistics, more than 1/3 of low income family children are obese and overweight by the time they reach the age of 3. Over 2000 families in 20 US cities including Boston, were visited and evaluated measuring the height and weight of every 3 year old child, with alarming results. 35% had twice the national rate for obesity amongst pre-school children of all income levels and racial groups.
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Here are some tips on how you can make your dream come true.
• Drink at least eight glasses of water every day. Water keeps you well hydrated as well as makes you feel fuller longer.
• Eat three low-fat, healthy meals every day. Carbohydrates are the enemy for most people so try to eat mostly vegetables, lean meats, and fruits. Eat a small amount of low-fat dairy products and whole grains daily.
• Cut salt from your diet completely. This will be tough for some people but necessary to keep from retaining excess water and fighting the numbers on the scale. Use a salt substitute and no-salt herb seasonings.
• Go for a half hour walk at least five days a week to get your heart going and burn off calories. Walking is one of the best exercises for strengthening bones, controlling weight, toning leg muscles and maintaining good posture. Start off slowly if you haven’t walked in awhile and work your way up. Ideally you should be walking up to 45 minutes each session for maximum fat burning.
• Do some toning and strength training using weights. Alternatively, try Pilates for some excellent toning. Pilates can totally reshape your body as well as lift and tone problem areas such as abs, buttocks and thighs.
If you make these five simple changes to your lifestyle, you’ll see six months from now that you really can eliminate your love handles and have the body you’ve always dreamed of. Go for it.
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