Chose to lose weight to a level that doesn't compromise your health nor quality of life.
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It surprises me the medical fraternity is still debating which is worse – a high fat diet or a high sugar diet? The question is irrelevant. What we know is a diet high in bad fats and/or refined sugar is bad for you. We also know we benefit from a certain amount of good fats and complex carbohydrates.
It is very easy to obtain the foods to provide a balanced diet. We can eat daily foods that provide protein from both meat and non-meat sources, fat which is large poly- or mono-unstaturated and unrefined sugars.
A piece of lean meat fried in olive oil and a variety of steamed vegetables – carrots, beans, broccoli and spinach. Whack on one or more herbs and you have taste sensation thats great for you.
I see two main challenges. Firstly, many of us currently rely on bad fats to give taste to our food. To address this we should move to healthy AND tasty meals. While low-glycemic diets have been developed for people with diabetes they are appropriate for everyone. They ensure we get a steady stream of ’fuel’ that avoids the fluctuations in blood sugar associated with foods high in refined sugar.
Secondly, whatever we eat we eat too much. This is a double whammy when the food we eat is high in fat and/or sugar. This is probably the harder challenge, both initially and in the longer term. We need to train ourselves to eat smaller meals and limit the in-between snacks. While there is no alternative to eating only what we are going to burn up during the day we can mitigate over-eating by changing what we eat. If you are going to have a blow out then eat food that is lower in fat and/or sugar. For example, fill up on salad greens rather than potatoes.
With attempts to change any ingrained behaviours it does take persistance. With something as central to our lives as eating most of us do not have the discipline to stick stick to a regime that isn’t pleasurable. So enjoy losing weight and stick with a healthy and tasty diet.
Keith
Why are some many people persisting in using diet pills? Do diet pills work to help you lose weight? I am stunned to visit some sites where the discussion is all about comparing pills.
Without having tried them I can’t comment on the effectiveness of diet pills. However I know, through experience, you can lose weight permanently and safely through eating well.
Interested to hear people’s feedback, Keith
It seems whenever we move from one season to another we are faced with managing our diet. Perhaps moving into Spring is easiest with salad vegetables becoming increasing available. Conversly Autumn and Winter are seasons of starchier foods and cold weather is a temptation for fatty comfort food. As I increasingly believe in eating local, fresh food as a preference there is a need for some discipline. Winter greens are a great source of nutrition and allow you to maintain a low glycemic diet during this period.
While fat enhances flavour continue to cut fat off meat and cook in good oil. This coming Winter is going to be season of the slow cooker! Ok, so I’m following the current fad – but not all fads are bad! An early trial will be some very lean goat meat I picked up at the local supermarket. This would probably be tough as old boots if done as a quick fry. The thought of a rich casserole has me full of anticipation. I just need to decide on the veges to gone into the pot – don’t want too much carb.
Eat well, Keith
I have found to lose weight I need to focus on what I am eating. Exercise has not been that helpful in directly losing weight. For unfit people my suggestion is you can improve your overall health by losing weight through managing what you eat.
While low glycemic diets are generally only recommended for people with diabetes I believe they provide excellent eating principles for all of us.
However you should not avoid exercise for ever. Consider slowly increasing your activity levels. You do want to exercise regularly as long term health is dependent on being moderately fit. Putting my money where my mouth is you will note from my other blogs I keep myself fit through regular and varied exercise.
The importance of exercise has been reinforced by a study that compared dieting with dieting and exercise. While the weight loss was similar across both groups the group that exercised improved their blood pressure, cholesterol and insulin sensitivity more than the group that did not.
Reference: Enette Larson-Meyer, Ph.D., R.D., assistant professor, family and consumer science, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyo.; Walt Thompson, Ph.D., professor, kinesiology, Georgia State University, Atlanta; January 2010, Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
Eat well and consider what exercise you would enjoy doing and how you can motivate yourself to undertake this exercise regularly.
Follow my guidance in Enjoy Losing Weight if you are over-weight.
Regards, Keith
We are bringing up a generation that will need to lose weight.
As parents we are concerned about road safety and stranger danger. However we seem to be less vigilant about a widespread danger to our kids. We appear to be compromising their health at an increasingly younger age. While historically many adults have drifted into obesity in middle age we are raising a generation that will enter adulthood obese. Not the proudest of legacies!
An investigation of children’s meals at fast food outlets found only 3% met the standards set by the National School Lunch Program. The average energy density of the meals that failed the standards was 2.3 calories per gram compared with 1.5 in the standards. Of the meals that failed 65% had too much fat while the levels of a number of key nutrients were inadequate.
reference: J.M. Mendoza, “Kids, Fast Food, & Obesity: Menu Reviews From a Houston Pediatrician” Agricultural Research, October 2009
To read the article click on: article
Lets make sure our kids eat well and enter adulthood healthy. It will then be up to them to determine their future health and hopefully they will follow the guidance provided to them in their formative years.
regards, Keith
Researchers have found adequate sleep levels were a factor in workers making healthy food choices.
reference: O.M Buxton et al, Vol 99, No. S3, American Journal of Public Health, November 2009,
While the research has relevance for workplace practices we can take the finding on board personally. If we are not sleeping properly we are more likely to make poorer choices about what we eat.
Sleep well, Keith
While you may have a natural tendancy to put on fat easily you can lose weight and control weight loss whatever genes you have.
A review of an article in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Nutrition reported on research regarding a possible link between genes and the propensity to develop belly fat. It was found the presence of various genetic factors increased the ease at which individuals put on body fat. It was noted some participants were consuming excessive saturated fat.
While there were genetic links to obesity there was not a link between genetic traits and the risk of developing metabolic syndrome. (See blog on metabolic syndrome)
Probably the most interesting comment from the study is – “while we may have a genetic disposition to obesity we are largely in control of our weight.”
According to Health Day the orginal source can be found in Journal of Nutrition, November 2009.
To source the article click on: Health Day review of article
regards, Keith
According to research 100,500 cases of cancer in America each year are due to overweight/obesity. Obesity also affects the recovery rate after cancer treatment.
One of the authors, Melinda Irwin, recommends exercise for cancer survivors. It would appear exercise assists to regulate hormones, with regular activity improving survival rates for both obese and healthy weight individuals.
To read the article click on the link: American Institute for Cancer Research article
source: http://www.aicr.org/site/News2/
regards, Keith
If you are obese lose weight to reduce the risk of damage to your heart.
Left atrial enlargement of the heart can lead to atrial fibrillation, stroke and death. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology reports obesity is the most important risk factor for left atrial enlargement. The authors conclude early intervention is important if young obese people are to avoid premature changes to their heart.
If you are obese it would appear important to lose weight, what ever your age, to avoid or minimise left atrial enlargement. A change in diet and possibly lifestyle could be life saving.
To access the article click: JACC article abstract
regards, Keith
A recent study reported participants on a low fat diet had an improved mood compared with those on a high fat – very low carbohydrate diet. While both diets had contributed to similar weight loss over a year the better mood may contribute to more successful long term weight loss for those on the low fat diet.
Click here to access the article: Archives of Internal Medicene, November 2009 article abstract
What I find amazing is that science is still spending so much resource investigating low fat and low carbohydrate diets in the first place. It is increasingly clear low fat/carbohydrate are only short term fixs. Until the mindset is firmly on adequate / balanced eating habits the results of diets will be short lived and disappointing.
Eat good fat, carbohydrate and protein in moderation…
The only low diet I recommend is a low glycemic diet and the main things that this diet is low in are the high sugar foods that are the major contributors to the health crises we face today – including obesity and metabolic syndrome.
regards, Keith
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