Pure and simple
Pure and simple
Successful
weight loss through good nutrition
Course
Lead for Advanced Nutrition Courses
For the past thirty
years there has been a gradual increase in the levels of obesity in
the UK and other
developed countries.
To paint
a clearer picture, in 1980 the obesity rate in the UK was approximately 6%; in
2010 it was 26%. As of 2010, according to the Health Survey for England (HSE),
the percentage of
There
are many reasons why people want to lose weight, including health factors and
Important
considerations The weight loss industry has a very good business model.
However, despite the short term success, research shows that all too often the
weight creeps back on over a period of 3-5 years. Why does this happen? The premise
behind calorie restriction is that it produces a reliance on using fat stores
for energy – therefore more fat will be burned.
Unfortunately it’s not that simple.
This
may work in the immediate short term,
but
soon enough the body will begin to elicit a ‘starvation’
response, especially if fat stores are used up quickly. This results in a drop
in metabolic rate as the body then begins
to hold onto
fat stores - making weight loss very difficult. This is seen all too often in
commercial weight loss programmes, with early successful weight loss, followed
by a gradual slowing down of weight loss after two to three months. It’s also
interesting to note that many individuals use exercise to kick start their
weight loss programme.
However, while
studies repeatedly show favourable outcomes in terms of health Benefits and
Reduced risk
factors for disease, long term weight loss through exercise alone is largely ineffective.
So what can be done?
Don’t
get caught up in over-complicated and unnecessary advice when it comes to
nutrition.
Here
are our top five tips for successful, long term weight loss:
1 Don’t starve yourself – the
moment you initiate the ‘starvation’ response, it will
become increasingly
challenging to keep your metabolic rate up and lose weight effectively.
2 Control your portion sizes
– if you’re eating 3000 - 4000 calories per day and not doing
lots of
exercise then you will gain weight! Eat normal portions of food for your size.
3 Control your blood sugar –
if you’re overweight, you’re likely to have some level of insulin resistance (a
precursor to Type 2 diabetes). It’s extremely important that you’re not letting
your blood sugar fluctuate too much – if it goes up, so too will insulin,
causing your
body to go into
a fat storing state. To control blood sugar more effectively, consider choosing
foods that have
a low glycaemic index (GI) and low glycaemic load (GL) such as honey,
fruits, and nuts;
and avoid/limit foods with high GI and GL, such as fruit juices, ice
cream,
chocolate, sweets, and cakes.
4 Don’t eat low fat - when
food manufacturers remove the fat from foods, they often replace it with sugar
– making it harder to control blood sugar. If you’re worried about eating fat in
your diet, it’s important to understand that fat is an essential nutrient that has
many functions in the body.
5 Eat good quality foods –
the trigger for hunger arises out of a need to consume
nutrients, not
because your body wants to store calories or cause disease. Choosing poor
quality,
nutrient deficient foods that are high in processed fats and sugar, creates a
challenge
to long term
weight loss and health. Therefore, eat high quality, nutrient-dense foods, and
you
will discover that
the maintenance of a normal weight is a natural by product.
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