Where diets go wrong

February 20th, 2007 webmaster

The first reaction of most people who discover that they’ve put some weight on is to eat less food. It sounds simple enough and reasonable. Since food is what got us into trouble it follows that eating less of it will make everything right again. Nearly every diet or eating plan in the magazines or on the Internet says pretty much the same thing: eat less food. Therefore the answer to this problem is very simple and handy. Sure, going with less food than usual is a challenge, but it also carries with it a sort of expiation feeling.

Unfortunately for those who hope that lowering the food intake would help them lose weight, this doesn’t work. Over the thousands of years of evolution the human body had to face starvation many times and had to find ways of surviving. We are the offsprings of those who managed to survive periods of starvation by coping with the lack of food. Therefore, a simple decrease in the volume of food is not going to make a big difference because the body will simply compensate for it by lowering the amount of energy produced and limiting the capacity for effort.

The best way to reach your weight loss goal is to work around this defense system by eating smart instead of eating less. Overweight people and thin people eat roughly the same number of calories per day because they share the same required amount of food. However, overweight people eat far more fat than thin people, who seem to prefer complex carbohydrates that are easily broken down and metabolized by the body. This is the biggest difference between the two groups and the best point to start when considering what and how to change in your eating patterns.

Good dieting always takes time. The excess weight was not accumulated over night and will never go away in a single day. Every year hundreds of thousands of people are searching the Internet and reading magazines in order to get dieting tips and to find the modern Holy Grail: a pill that can make fat disappear in an instant. Well, maybe this is an exaggeration, but you get the idea. You have probably encountered by now a lot of advertisements promising such amazing results with the help of some quasi magic ingredient or other. And you probably know that losing weight doesn’t work like that.

The only way to lose weight for good is to avoid eating foods that are rich in fat and to exercises on a regular basis. Dieting without exercising is pointless because all the weight lost by eating less food will come right back in the following months. The sedentary lifestyle most of us lead is one of the causes behind the recent increase in the number of overweight people around the world. Cars, office jobs and foods rich in fat have brought us an unforeseen problem because the easy modern life has a price tag, just like everything else.

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »

Top 10 fitness mistakes

February 19th, 2007 webmaster

Nearly every guy or gal who’s tried dieting or fitness has dropped out of a program at least once. Such is life. Work and social events tend to get in the way, lack of adequate emotional support saps the willpower and boredom sets in. Eating the same kind of foods every day is boring. Suiting up at the gym only to go through the same motions is also boring. But this kind of mood can be avoided with a bit of planning and a positive attitude. Here’s a list of the most common mistakes people do when trying to get fit.

The number one mistake has to be the failure to plan ahead. Going to the gym with a vague target in mind is the best way to fail. If your target is unclear, how can you know if you’ve reached it or not? If you’re a little vague on the details, maybe you need help. Ask a doctor what’s your ideal weight and make that your goal. Or focus on the number of inches you want to drop off your stomach, bottom and thighs. That works great, too.

Coming up with excuses to avoid going to the gym is second on this list. Yes, life tends to get in the way, but that can be arranged with some more planning. Don’t quit the program just because something came up at the last moment. Reschedule your gym session and make sure you don’t get lazy.

Don’t work out too little. This may seem too obvious to belong here, but a lot of people lift two dumbbells a couple of times and think they’re done for the day. Sit down at the table for half an hour and come up with a sound training program. If you don’t know enough to make your own program ask a gym trainer or a veteran bodybuilder to help you. People are usually quite happy to show off their knowledge.

Too much fitness is also bad. Muscles need time to grow and the body needs time to burn fat. Some people think that the body only burns up fat during exercises, but this is not true. The more muscles mass you have, the faster calories get burnt because muscles need energy for maintenance all the time. Even when you’re resting. Overtraining will simply make you tired without any additional benefits.

Never compare yourself to others. We are all unique individuals with unique genetic make-ups governing our weight gain, weight loss and response to training. You shouldn’t rate your performance according to the achievements of others, but stick to your own pace and your own goal. If you’re trying too hard too soon, you’re simply asking to fail.

Don’t do the same things over and over. There’s no better way to lose motivation that doing the same exercises in the same order over and over again. Learn to juggle around with the exercises that form your routine and replace them with new ones every now and then. Find variations on a classic exercise and try them out. Make things interesting for yourself

Don’t stroll into the pub straight from the gym and keep alcohol consumption on a tight leash. Alcohol has extra calories that you don’t want and is also metabolized as fat and very fast. Pumping iron in the gym for 45 minutes and then throwing the entire effort away with a couple of beers is not a good way to move forward.

Keep a close eye on your meals. Drop the fast food and snacks from your daily eating plan and forget about soft drinks. At the same time avoid starving yourself. This is a huge mistake and a lot of people do it. Never assume that you can tank your way through a fitness program while starving yourself because you’ll only end up in a hospital. Muscles need nourishing meals in order to grow and starvation is a bad way to diet anyway.

And, lastly, never look for a magic fix that can save you all the trouble. You can’t lose weight sitting around and moping in front of the TV or computer. It just doesn’t happen. So get out and go to that gym because it’s good for you. And no excuses!

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »

Weight Loss Article - The Zone Diet

February 18th, 2007 webmaster

The celebrity diet par excellence. It’s trendy to be in the Zone and it’s nice to be in the company of stars, to go through what they have gone. The Zone is also a nice sounding name, good for all kinds of marketing purposes. One of the things that have made this diet a success among celebrities is the fact that a lot of diet food delivery companies have included Zone foods in their menus. Those who can afford this kind of expenses are probably glad that they don’t have to go through the whole shopping and cooking experience.

The Zone Diet is built around the classic mix of low-far foods, such as chicken and fish, low-fat cheese, small amounts of fruits and vegetables and some olive oil. The Zone itself is a fancy term for achieving a state of hormonal balance (especially in insulin and glucagon) that allows the body to expend the energy intake in an efficient manner and to avoid storing calories as fat. Therefore, dieters are encouraged to eat a lot of non-starchy raw vegetables, a small amount of protein, a smaller amount of carbohydrates and enough monosaturated oils to keep the feeling of hunger away.

The good side of the diet is the restriction of refined carbohydrates, which are low in nutrition, and the focus on low-starch vegetables and fruits. Nevertheless, the American Heart Association does not recommend the Zone Diet because of the lack of essential nutrients, high-protein content and the general lack of information about its long-term effects. Since the diet is quite low on the daily intake of calories, it does not seem to be designed for the long term, but rather as a quick fix. Exercising is pretty much out of the question with such a low amount of calories.

Another problem that dieters are bound to face, except for those who pay for food deliveries, is that meals have to be calculated to include the exact amount of fat, protein and carbohydrates required by the diet. This is not always easy for the average dieter and it has every chance of becoming a bigger problem over extended periods of time. Also, dieters have traditionally found it hard to stay on a diet that is very low in carbohydrates because the feeling of hunger is almost always present.

Posted in Weight Loss Articles | No Comments »