Weight Loss Article - Too Many Calories

February 24th, 2007 webmaster

How many calories do you need? Well, that depends on a lot of things. Your age, sex, type of work, physical activity, all come into play. There is no one answer for this type of thing. I have to warn you, I don’t believe the general ideas on how many calories a person should have. If you have a 2,000 calorie diet, you are starving yourself. I know that some people live and die by this number, but I just throw it to the wind. Why don’t I pay attention to a number such as 2,000? Only because it is stupid. Yes, you heard me right, stupid. How is a person who is very active going to live off of 2,000 calories? I mean, you would end up looking like those dying skinny kids in the 3rd world countries.

I think you get the drift though. I think those numbers are put in place by people who are so focused on health, that they are blinded by it. I mean, if you have 3,000 calories in one day, it won’t kill you. Though, they might want to make you believe that it will.

I’m not saying that you should throw all of this stuff to the wind. That would be foolish. What I am saying is, you should take it with a grain of salt. There is no reason why you should get bent out of shape if you go a few hundred or even a thousand over this limit. I mean, if you are going over by 5,000 then you should be worried. Some people do need to be concerned with such a thing. For example, people who are on a diet because of heart problems. You should be very focused on your diet. Also people with sugar problems would fall into this category as well.

If you don’t have some sort of health problem, I wouldn’t get too bent out of shape. Though, if you are eating from the drive through lane every day, then you might have a problem. What am I saying? Use common sense. Understand where your calories are coming from. If you are eating 3,500 calories and they are mostly from things that are good for you, don’t go ape shit on yourself. If on the other hand if it is all from candy and deep fried foods, I would be concerned.

You should be more concerned about where the calories are coming from. Ahhh, now I think you see what I mean. If you are eating 1,500 calories alone of fruits and veggies, that is better than eating that in fat. Isn’t it all the same? Not really. I would say that it isn’t the same. I know that some of you will argue with that. It isn’t the same because the calories are coming from a good source. They are coming from things that are good for you. The fruits and veggies will help you out in many ways. They will also help you fight off cancer and heart disease. This isn’t true if you are over eating on fats and sweets.

What to do? Well, all I know is what I have stated above. If you are eating over 2,000 calories and you are eating things that are good for you, I wouldn’t be too concerned. As always, you should talk to your doctor. That is the best advice I can give you. You should always talk to him before you go and do something new. You might have a health condition that will require you to go on a diet that he tells you to go on.

If you are healthy, base most of your diet on raw fruits and veggies. That is where the action is. That is where you will get the most bang for your calorie. Happy eating.

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »

Young adult fitness protects heart health in middle age

February 22nd, 2007 webmaster

The early bird catches the worm and the early jogger doesn’t have to worry as much later on in life. I know that this may sound like some half-baked self-help slogan, but it’s the truth. The sooner you start to take care of your body, the better your health will be.

A study conducted by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute revealed that cardiorespiratory exercises performed in the early adulthood have a huge impact on the risk of developing high blood pressure and diabetes in the middle age. Both of these conditions are likely to lead to strokes or heart attacks in the old age. Regular fitness sessions also lower the risk of developing the classic spare tire that nobody likes, high blood pressure and high levels of triglycerides (the bad version of cholesterol).

Just because you’re young and healthy it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be exercising at all. Preventive measures are always a good idea because it’s easier to put a little effort into improving your health than having to deal with the consequences of a sedentary lifestyle in your middle age. Eating all sorts of good things is great, but after a certain age all those burgers and snacks will come back to you as high blood pressure.

Once you’re past your thirtieth birthday you no longer snap back the same way and excess eating coupled with excess TV watching equal fat, diabetes, hypertension and other unpleasant things that require frequent trips to the doctor and many pills. While the 30s and the 40s seem far away to a young man, time flies faster than we think and suddenly you’re no longer young. But you can still be healthy with a little exercising every day.

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »

Yo-Yo diets

February 21st, 2007 webmaster

Most people who have ever tried dieting have at one time or another gone through yo-yo diets. These are the classic ideal of all those who don’t like what the measuring tape is telling them about their waists and thighs. Everybody wants a diet and some pills that can help them shed a significant number of pounds fast. In a week or two, if possible. However, all those pounds that you have been fast to discard are coming right back in the next month or so. Probably with some liver or stomach problems from the pills used to speed up the process.

Yo-Yo diets always sound like a good idea because people don’t like to think that weight problems are long-term problems which should be managed as such. They are looking for the miracle cure, the three-day wonder that would fix everything in a couple of days. Unfortunately, long-term problems solved in three days have a way of refusing to stay solved. It’s a sort of nudge from Mother Nature reminding us that we should not try and hurry things, especially when it’s impossible to do so. It doesn’t matter what the labels of dozens of pills say because weight loss is not a short term problem.

The best weight loss advice one could get comes from dietitians and physicians, but people tend to stay away from these professionals. Their answers offer no hope for a simple solution and their eating plans and diets seem to take forever. Nevertheless, these neglected experts know that the body has gained weight in time and will shed it in the same manner. Trying to force a new weight gain/loss rhythm is not healthy for the body and fast diets always end up causing damage to the internal organs and decreasing the muscle mass.

What a Yo-Yo diet can never give you is the guarantee that all the weight lost in one week won’t return after a couple of glasses of soda and two or three burgers. A proper diet that takes at least four weeks to complete allows the body to get rid of the accumulated fat and not of water or muscle mass. Crash diets that cut off your intake of calories may seem to work for the moment, but your body is going to pay a heavy price as the internal organs are left without the required daily nourishment.

Short term solutions always lead to long-term disasters and what looked like a sound proposition yesterday might prove to be a health hazard tomorrow. While your weight problem is nothing to be proud of, there is no magic solution that is going to make everything right just like that. You are going to have to put together a sound eating plan, exercise on a regular basis and make sure you’re not putting anything back on. There are many recipes fit for dieting that you can choose from and even cook yourself. Dieting is always simpler than it sounds. It starts with you reaching out for a bag of snacks and remembering that an apple would be better for both your waistline and self-esteem.

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »