Battling Obesity

There are no miracles in weight loss, though there are lots of myths. You may have heard a new one making the rounds: cortisol will ‘dissolve’ fat around the waist. Not so.

Whenever you take in more calories than you use, the remaining energy is stored in chemical bonds between adipose tissue (fatty deposits). In adult men those fat deposits are preferentially stored around the waist and abdomen, in women around the hips, thighs and abdomen.

As you take actions that place a demand for energy on your body that is greater than can be supplied by available glucose (its preferred source), it turns to fat to supply the deficit. Fat molecules are broken down and severing those chemical bonds releases the energy needed for maintaining internal temperature, muscle movement, etc.

More →

Share This

Diet and exercise are the preferred twin partner methods for losing weight and excess body fat. A proper diet and age-appropriate, regular exercise will help almost anyone stay fit and in the correct weight range.

But, unfortunately for some, other methods are sometimes needed. Whether through long-term poor development of willpower, genetic disposition, disease or other factors, maintaining the proper weight for the obese sometimes requires outside assistance.

More →

Share This

Yesterday marked Day Seven (of my third try) to lose weight. Rather than put myself through a mid-week weigh-in, I have decided to delay weighing myself until Friday Morning .. on January 11, 2008, which will be Day Ten.

My reason? Two fold:

More →

Share This

For some people a formal weight loss program isn’t necessary. They can summon the willpower, do the research and carry out the needed actions independently. Others will benefit from support, guidance and a helping hand.

When seeking out that weight loss program there are a number of important questions the second type will want answered.

More →

Share This

It seems almost as if there is a new fad diet every week. Many of these contain elements of truth, but on the whole they contain much more good marketing than good science.

There is the 3-day diet, which touts eating little more than fruits for three days, followed by vegetables or meat or grains the other days. There are lots of variations.

While it’s certainly true that eating fruit regularly is a key element to good health - most contain needed carbohydrates, vitamins and fiber - eating almost exclusively fruit for three days leads to imbalance - in carbohydrates, fiber and additional otherwise healthy components. To an extent the body will equalize and store what it needs for later, but there are limits.

More →

Share This

In order to optimize your health a good diet is essential. But, with all the fad diets around it can be difficult to know what is ‘good’. Nutrition science to the rescue! Though some things are still controversial, numerous studies reinforce the following basic information.

A healthy diet requires not just items from the four basic food groups, but in the proper proportion. The average person will need about 2000-2500 calories (sometimes more for larger men, less for women and those looking for rapid weight loss). About 50% of those calories should come in the form of carbohydrates, with 30% from fats (yes, fat is good!) and 20% from protein.

More →

Share This

Women are the major consumers for weight loss programs and diets. Men tend to focus more on exercise. But either topic is, and should be, popular with both sexes. Men, too, need to concern themselves with proper diet and nutrition as part of a rounded program of weight loss and health.

Particularly with the onset of middle age, diet becomes a greater concern for men. Calorie needs are typically highest in the mid-20s and taper off about 2-4% with every passing decade. For an average-sized male (say, 5 ft 9 inches and 170 lbs), the average number of appropriate calories per day, 2500, reduces to 2200-2350.

More →

Share This

By Craig Ballantyne

The #1 reason for not working out is a lack of time.

If you get up at 5:30am to drive an hour to work, only to get home at 6pm and then have to launch right into carting the kids around, who can blame you for not working out? Not when it takes 45 minutes to do cardio, and another 30-45 minutes for isolation bodybuilding workouts.

If that’s the way you have to exercise to lose fat, then practically no normal person is going to be able to pull that off.

More →

Share This

By Roger Grant

The first method of weight loss is presented only to show an example of what not to do. It is the rapid weight loss method by way of a starvation diet. This diet involves depriving the body of a vital nutrient that it needs, which forces the body to break down muscle tissue to provide the nutrient.

Because muscle is much denser than fat, this will create a very rapid initial weight loss. Any real fat loss is due to a shortage of calories which is created. However, this loss in muscle tissue will cause a reduction in the resting metabolic rate, which will cause the caloric deficit to become a caloric equilibrium. While this is happening, the starvation state will cause the body to activate some very powerful defense mechanisms to protect the person from the environment as well as from himself.

More →

Share This

By Dick Doe

While there are many people out there who want to lose weight real quick, most of them don’t know how to do it. You may not know it, but there are several different ways to lose weight quickly. In this article I will tell you about five different ways you can use to lose weight fast.

Walking: Walking is one of the best and easiest ways to lose weight. Believe it or not, if you do a brisk walking of forty-five minutes per day, it is only a matter of weeks before you start seeing improvements in your metabolism. Walking not only helps you lose weight, it also makes you feel refreshed and better about yourself. While you can walk anytime, I would recommend that you do morning walks. Morning walks are very effective because in the morning the weather is free from pollution; moreover, since you’ve got a good sleep on the previous night, you feel refreshed and energetic to start walking.

More →

Share This