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Sunday, June 25, 2006
Paquiao: Losing weight safely
By Calixto S. Paquiao
Fitness & you
Are you tired of losing the same weight over and over again?
How many of you have experienced that yoyo syndrome? Almost anyone can lose 10 pounds in two weeks. Just severely restrict your eating and your muscles will atrophy, your strength will plummet, your energy level will nose-drive and your body will absolutely refuse to give up a single ounce of body fat.
Not only that, but weight comes right back when you eat normally again! Obviously, you need a more effective approach to ditch the last stubborn pound once and for all without sacrificing your health. Using several sound weight-loss techniques, here’s an eating plan that will help you lose up to 15 pounds in 12 weeks without difficulty and hunger. And the best part is that the diet works even when you cheat a little!
Every weight-loss plan has rules, but this plan guarantees to be a lot easier to swallow than eating cabbage for a month or overdosing on fatty protein foods. For healthy, sustained weight loss, keep these important principles in mind:
1. Eat food high in fiber. Fruit, vegetables, and whole grain breads and cereals are all low in calories but high in bulk, which help satisfy your appetite. Yes, high-fiber foods are made up of carbohydrates but these aren’t the kind anyone should avoid.
Everyone is trying to do the no-carb thing but I tell you, it isn’t going to work in the long term because you can’t live with it. When you stop, you go right back to where you were. Plus, you can’t exercise on a no-carb diet; and exercise is half the battle in controlling your weight. It helps to tone- and firm-up your muscles, and gives you curves.
No-carb or other quick-fix diets that may radically restrict calories can trigger a downshift in your metabolic rate (i.e., the number of calories you’re your body uses at rest). That’s why eating dramatically less food can cause weight loss via water and muscle loss but leave you at a virtual standstill in terms of losing body fat. Athletes and even us, in particular, risk a lot on such a diet. Some of the health consequences of long-term energy restriction may include poor energy and nutrient intake, poor nutritional status, decreased resting metabolic rate and total daily expenditure, increased psychological stress and increased risk for a clinical eating disorder, exercise-induced amenorrhea and osteoporosis. Besides, if you restrict your energy intake too much, you lose lean tissue and can’t build new lean tissue even when you’re exercising.
2. Drink plenty of water. Hydration is important, not only for good health, but also for optimum workouts. I go through at least 15 to 16 glasses a day.
Water is a nature-perfect, no-calorie solution to thirst; and as a fit person, you need to drink more than the recommended 8-ounce glasses a day. Too little water can worsen performance and health; so consume plenty of fluids throughout the day to efficiently excrete waste products, and promote your body’s ability to sweat and therefore cool itself on a hot day or during strenuous exercise.
3. Not all fats are the enemy. Drastically lowering your fat intake isn’t good for your body. Eating a daily diet of less than about 10 percent calories from fat may harm your exercise performance and prevent your body from absorbing necessary fat-soluble vitamins, like A, D, E, and K. Still, saturated fats and trans-fatty acids—most commonly found in animal products and processed foods—are unhealthful in exercise and should be minimized. Instead, try to get the majority of fat in your diet from mono- or poly-unsaturated forms, including olive, canola and fish oils.
4. Don’t deprive yourself. Don’t be afraid to splurge on a serving of your favorite food, something you really crave, every 10 days or so. In the grand scheme of things, those extra 400 or 500 calories won’t hurt as long as you control the portion size and get right back to your healthful eating plan. This kind of controlled cheating should give you the relief and motivation to forge ahead without completely blowing your diet.
Lastly, don’t forget to exercise. What would a diet plan be without some kind of required physical activity. A fad or hoax, perhaps. Extremely difficult for sure. You must include cardiovascular training and strength training to facilitate greater fat loss.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 25, 2006 issue)
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