weight loss
The Food Pyramid
Everyone has seen the food pyramid. It is the tool used to illustrate the proportions of different food types that should be included in a healthy diet. Over the past decade it has undergone some revisions.
The updated version has a change that may startle many: healthy fats and oils now appear in the lowest food level of the pyramid. That’s right, it is as important to have these in your diet as it is to have fruits and vegetables.
Healthy fats and oils are those derived from plants. However they must not be hydrogenated vegetable oils, as those are high in trans fat. Cold pressed vegetable oils are the best quality, and of those, flaxseed oil – containing Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9, is particularly beneficial. For maximum nutritional benefit vegetable oils should not be heated. So if you are taking an oil such as flaxseed for the Omegas, pour a little over a salad, into a smoothie, or use it when making a pesto or tapenade.
Another change is white rice and products made using white flour are as undesirable as sugar and salt in your diet. Wholegrain bread and pasta will not only give you extra nutrients, the fibre will help give you that nice, full feeling. Brown rice takes longer to cook – which is rather a nuisance – but has much more to offer than white.
Harvard: Eat a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; choose healthy fats, like olive and canola oil; and red meat and unhealthy fats, like saturated and trans fats, sparingly. Most important of all is keeping calories in check, so you can avoid weight gain, which makes exercise a key partner to a healthy diet.
Weightloss
It seems the majority of the population are concerned about their weight. More specifically, they are concerned they have too much of it. And they want to lose some.
The actual weight they want to lose is the excess fat they carry, however a thin layer of subcutaneous fat is a good thing. It plumps up the skin attractively, provides protection from the cold and helps provide us a little cushioning.
It’s when that layer of subcutaneous fat swells beyond a centimeter or two in width that we start to grab and pinch at it accusingly, and purse our lips as our clothes stop fitting so well.
The weight loss equation is a simple one: Use more energy than you absorb through food and drink, and your body will need to burn its resources to keep you going.
Eat less? Exercise more? Reduce it down to basics and yes, that’s all you need to do to lose that fat.
Of course food (and drink) is one of life’s major pleasures. And these days it is for many the easiest and most accessible pleasure. To cut yourself off from that sensory reward is more of a challenge than you’d like to think. Particularly when the pleasure of being the shape you want to be is so distant, and the taste of your favourite food so close…
Adding exercise to use more energy is the other side of that coin, and it will certainly improve your day-to-day lifestyle (chemical balance, ease of motion, stamina) if you can make exercise a part of that lifestyle.
But many shy away from the immediate pain of exercise. The chafing, sweating, burning lungs, aching muscles. And the feeling of incompetency when you start a particular exercise. You’re not skillful at this. So it’s not fun.
It’s difficult to persist when the pleasure of having that great figure is so far away, and the pain of the actual exercise is right here and now.
So if eating less is not for you, and neither is a full-on exercise program, then maybe you’re looking for a quick fix.
Wise up. There is none.
You probably already know this. You’ve probably tried to lose weight before. And you may have succeeded. But has it stayed off?
Yo-yo dieting is very common, and very hard on the body. Lose 10 kilos, gain 12 kilos, lose 5 kilos, gain 6 kilos. Not only is it an emotional roller coaster, it’s expensive in time and in money. Most weight loss programs involve some sort of cost, and fluctuating body size means fluctuating clothing size, which will put an even bigger dent in your wallet.
But here on this site you’ll find a huge number of simple tips, for either reducing your energy intake, or increasing your energy output. Just small, easy changes, for easy weightloss. Try adopting a new one every week. Make it a habit. Make it yours. With enough of these habits in place you’ll start to see those kilos disappear.
Sign up as a member and get a new challenge delivered into your email inbox every week. Just one simple life change per week.
Be gentle and loving with yourself. Ease yourself one easy step at a time, back into the shape you love.