Vacations are fun, exciting, relaxing and are a great way of forgetting about all the worries of the world for a little while. Unfortunately, vacations are temporary and sooner or later the fairy tale has to come to an end.
Although the aftermath of vacations are usually filled with positive memories that will last a lifetime, on the flip side, some of the outcomes of vacations can be rather troublesome, such as a deflated bank balance, and a few extra unwanted kg's of fat.
In this blog I would like to address several ways in which you can significantly reduce your weight in the most natural way possible. Also, I would like to debunk any weight loss myths such as negative calorie eating.
Before I dive into all the fun facts I would like to say that even though western societies tend to equate thinness with beauty, everyone is beautiful in their own special way. The reason for writing this blog is to help people achieve a healthy, and fit physique, which is obviously associated with a lot of health benefits. In no way is this blog a substitute for medical advise given by health professionals.
Now that the formalities are out of the way let us talk about what a healthy weight range is, and also what fat essentially is. Opinions may vary but a healthy weight range can be considered as a certain amount of body weight that does not hinder movement, or play a role in the onset of any physical illnesses. For example obesity has shown to be associated with diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers. Whereas, being too skinny has shown to be associated with a wide range of cardiovascular illnesses. BMI is often used as a guideline for what a healthy weight range should be (i.e., a BMI between 18.5 - 25), however, recent research has shown that BMI's should only be used as a rough guideline as there are many other factors that needs to be taken into consideration, such as bone and muscle mass. So now the question is, what is fat? and how much body fat can be considered healthy?
Different types of fat that can be eaten:
Not all fats are unhealthy, in fact certain fats are essential for our bodies to function. Healthy fats include monosaturated and polysaturated (essential) fats. Although our bodies are capable of producing monosaturated fats, polysaturated or essential fats need to be acquired from foods as our bodies are not capable of making such fats. Healthy fats typically tend to be a liquid at room temperature. Unhealthy fats include saturated fats and trans fats, and are typically solid at room temperature. Saturated fats should be eaten as little as possible, however, trans fats are associated with the most negative outcomes and cardiovascular difficulties and should be completely avoided if possible.
Below I have made a list of foods which typically contain the different types of fats
Healthy fats
Monosaturated
nuts (almonds, cashews, peanuts, pecans)
vegetable oils (olive oil, peanut oil)
peanut butter and almond butter
avocado
Polysaturated/essential fats
Omega-3
Fish: Salmon, herring, sardines, trout
Seeds and nuts: walnuts, flaxseed, chia seeds, canola oil
Omega-6
Tofu, roasted soybeans and soy nut butter, walnuts
seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds)
vegetable oils (corn oil, safflower oil, sesame oil, sunflower oil)
soft margarine (liquid or tub)
Unhealthy fats
Saturated fats
fatty cuts of beef, pork, and lamb, dark chicken meat and poultry skin.
high fat dairy foods (whole milk, butter, cheese, sour cream, ice cream)
tropical oils (coconut oil, palm oil, cocoa butter)
lard
Trans fats
fried foods (French fries, doughnuts, deep-fried fast foods)
margarine (stick and tub)
vegetable shortening
baked goods (cookies, cakes, pastries)
processed snack foods (crackers, microwave popcorn)
How is fat stored in the body?
Now that you have an understanding of what different fats can be eaten, the story is far from done. Fats are stored in our bodies slightly differently. Fat groups found in the body can generally be split into 6 categories (white, brown, beige, essential fats, subcutaneous and visceral fat). Each of these fat groups usually have specific functions, however, too much or too little fat is usually associated with health problems.
White fat
Found: This fat is typically found in the belly, arms, buttocks and thighs, usually stored under the skin, and around the organs.
Function: stored energy for later use and hormone functioning.
Brown fat
Found: Usually found around the neck and shoulders.
Function: Fat that keeps you warm
Beige fat
still currently being researched, beige fat is found between white and brown fat, but it's function is not yet fully understood.
Essential fat
Found: brain, bone marrow, nerves and cell membranes
Function: plays a role in organ functioning and nervous system functioning
Subcutaneous fat
meaning fat found under the skin. is a combination of white, brown and beige fat and you can typically pinch this fat with your fingers. this is the kind of fat professionals use to determine your body fat percentage.
Visceral fat
typically known as "belly fat". Visceral fat is found around abdomen and all the major organs.
function: protection of organs.
How much fat is healthy?
According to the American council on exercise a non-athlete male should typically have a body-fat percentage between 14 - 24 and a non-athlete female between 21 - 31. These are of course rough guides, but I can guarantee you if you have had one too many cocktails and bread platters during the holiday you will most probably be above these maximum upper limits. Maintaining a body-fat percentage below the maximum range limits is by no means an easy task, especially if you have unhealthy eating habits and do little to no physical exercise.
Now that we have all the necessary information we need, I will share the science behind how you can force your body to use up unwanted fat reserves. I have divided decades of research into 6 tips which can be used as a guideline and incorporated into your lifestyle.
Tip 1: You need to burn more calories than what you consume. This may sound intuitive to some but the truth is most people are terrible at calculating how much calories they consume in a day. Furthermore, most people are not sure what their BMR is, i.e., the calories your body burns to just stay alive. BMR can be guessed by using mobile applications or by visiting a health professional. It might be a tedious task at first, but calorie counting with a smartphone application is the best approach to track your daily calorie intake. You will be surprised to find out that sauces, crackers and even a teaspoon or two of sugar in your coffee drastically increases your calorie count when added together. To play it safe you need to roughly consume 200 - 500 calories less than what your burn per day.
Tip 2: Try and exercise at moderate to high intensity for at least 4 times per week. Also, never skip leg day (I will not discuss the reasons for this in the blog as they are too lengthy). By exercising at a moderate intensity you force your body to access fat reserves and if you can keep an exercise routine constant for a long enough period your BMR and daily calorie allowance could significantly increase. This is because the more muscles you have the more calories your body needs to maintain it.
Tip 3: Eat less carbohydrates and unhealthy fatty foods, and eat more protein rich foods. Having a low-carb diet simply means your body needs to use reserved fat more often as an energy source. Let me explain. When you eat carbohydrates, especially simple carbs (candy, sugary beverages, syrups, and any product with added sugar) your body can rapidly break it down into simple sugars which enter the blood stream. As the sugar level rises in your body, the pancreas (a body organ) releases a hormone called insulin. Insulin is needed to move sugar from the blood stream into the cells (where the sugar can be used as a source of energy). Because simple sugars are processed so quickly your body ends up with too much energy too quickly. As a result excess energy is stored for later in the form of fat (mainly white fat). Complex carbs such as, legumes, starchy vegetables and whole-grain rich foods are more difficult to break down, but in the end any excess energy still gets stored as fat. When you eat proteins your body needs to work much harder to break it down, hence, more calories is used. A healthy serving of protein is around 20 - 60 grams per meal. It should be noted you body can only absorb approximately 20 - 25 grams of protein per serving. Furthermore, a massive benefit of protein is that unlike carbs and fats, there is no stored version of protein and so any excess protein is simply eliminated from the body. By maintaining a protein-rich and a low-carbohydrate diet with plenty of physical exercise is a highly effective combination to force your body into using up fat reserves.
Tip 4: Breakfast is definitely not the most important meal of the day. The idea was sold to consumers by American breakfast product companies looking to make sales. Research has shown that by doing intermittent fasting, i.e., having your first meal after 11:00am is one way to force your body to run on reserved energy (fat). By simply doing some simple mathematics we can deduce the following: If your last meal (yesterdays dinner) was eaten around 7pm, the total time your body did not have any food would be 16 hours (if your first meal would be around 11am). That is 3 hours longer than if you would have had breakfast around 8am. Doing intermittent fasting 2 - 3 times a week is a great way to force your body to burn fat and is completely healthy without any side effects.
Tip 4: Life can sometimes be challenging! sometimes the work or study routine comes along with many challenges. A major downside in todays societal structure are the increased levels of stress. Stress does not only effect your mental health but can be detrimental to your physical health as well. Studies have shown that prolonged levels of stress can increase hunger and make people crave sugary foods. Furthermore, the high levels of cortisol obtained from prolonged stress can contribute to belly fat. Learning to reduce stress through exercise and meditation—while also being more mindful about food—can have a large impact on your well-being and help you keep weight off in the long-term.
Tip 5: Get enough sleep. Sleeping is extremely important especially when you are trying to shake of stubborn fat. Not only does it provide you with the energy to exercise, it also reduces stress and you most probably will make better health decisions when you are not tired.
Tip 6: Consistency! It is easy to eat healthy, exercise, practice mindfulness, and sleep well for a week or two. But in all honesty it is not enough! The best way to see long lasting changes is to keep the momentum going for at least 2 months. The best way to make sure you are eating right, exercising enough, reducing your stress levels, and getting enough sleep is to set clearly defined goals for yourself. For example, it is easier to follow and complete a diet, sleep, and exercise routine if you know exactly when it will start and end; Also try and plan what you will eat, and which specific exercise you will do on a specific given day. This strict routine and planning will contribute to consistency and as a result you will see major improvements over a longer period of time. Unfortunately, there is no such thing as a one or two week body transformation which you so often see on social media. These are all sales techniques in a hope that you will buy a "miracle product" or health plan.
The take home message: By understanding the science of how your body works is the key to achieving your health goals. Do not fall victim to the many miracle health plans out their but trust in scientific literature. Losing excess weight and achieving your fitness goals is not an easy task, but if you stay consistent you will definitely see results. Remember, it is not a sprint, it is a marathon.
As some bonus content, below you can find 6 myths of weight loss along with the scientific explanations
Debunking some weight loss myths
Eating carrots means your body spends more calories breaking it up than what it contains. 100g of carrots usually contain 41 calories +/- Your body needs roughly 10-15% of the calories to break it up, thus you still gain calories from eating carrots (even though it is a tiny amount compared to other foods). The only "food" where your body spends more calories breaking it up then what it contains is iced water. Water is a zero calorie substance but iced water needs to be heated up by the body before it is metabolised thus the body needs to spend a few calories doing so.
There are zero calorie foods/beverages such as coke zero. Although, such foods contain very few calories, legally if a food product has less than 5 calories they are able to advertise as a zero calorie food. Thus, zero calorie foods do not exist (except for water)
Diet soda's are good for weight loss. Diet and regular sodas are equally bad for weight loss. Even though diet sodas contain artificial sweeteners they still raise insulin levels in the body which in turn raises your glucose levels and locks fat. Furthermore, because your body does not detect any sugar you start to crave it and might end up eating sugary foods anyway.
Starving yourself is the best way to lose weight. This is a very short term strategy that is bound to backfire. After a few days your food cravings will go out of the roof and eventually you might end up binge eating which will only make you gain weight in the long run. If your calorie deficit is too low your body can also go into "survival mode". In this mode your body is quicker to store excess energy into fat in case it might need it for later.
Foods labelled 'low fat' or 'reduced fat' are always a healthy choice. These labels are used relative to the full fat versions, but this could still mean that the reduced fat version has a lot of fat regardless. Always read the nutritional information on the package if you want to be sure.
Drinking water helps you lose weight. Water does not cause you to lose weight, but it does keep you hydrated and might help you snack less. Water is essential for good health and wellbeing. Sometimes thirst can be mistaken for hunger – if you're thirsty you may snack more, so make sure you keep the H20 flowing.
A special thanks to healthline.com, menshealth.com, the American health association, Nutrition: science & everyday application and healthcare Utah for making this blog possible.
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