The Health and Fitness ChannelMay 2003 IssueYour Truth In Fitness Source
THOUGH I'D HATE TO SEE YOU GO, IF YOU WISH TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION PLEASE SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS EMAIL AND FOLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS THERE. Do you realize that 60% of Americans are either overweight or obese? And that most of those people have been on numerous types of diets -- many of which have failed? Do you think the diet failed them or that they failed the diet? Traditional dieting doesn't work -- here's why... WHY DIETING FAILS When you diet (by simply lowering your calories), your brain - in an
act of With each repeated cycle of dieting, it takes longer to lose weight and it comes back quicker. What's more, you are likely to accumulate extra fat pounds each time. Important: Taking off weight isn't the main problem -- keeping it off is. Despite the best nutrition, exercise regimens and diet plans in the world, 90% of dieters regain one- to two- thirds of lost weight within one year and almost all of it within five years. Getting out of the diet mode requires that you accept that obesity is a complex problem that requires a multipronged solution. Being very overweight is not a result of a lack of will-power or discipline. So stop beating yourself up for your size and stop deluding yourself that you won't wake up hungry tomorrow. You will, because your brain sabotages your best efforts at psychological control and makes it impossible to resist cravings. Also recognize that constant dieting can perpetuate your weight problem by adversely affecting your metabolism. THE SOLUTION A chronic overweight problem can only be managed, never cured. To keep your weight in "remission," you must be constantly vigilant, eating healthfully and exercising regularly. A HEALTHY EATING PLAN Here's how to start on a healthy eating plan for life... 1. STOP OBSESSING OVER YOUR WEIGHT AND YOUR APPETITE. Rather than keeping you "in control," mental preoccupation with dieting is practically guaranteed to keep you overweight because you're constantly thinking of food. 2. ADHERE TO THE FOLLOWING EATING GUIDELINES 5 days per week eat 50% of your calories from protein sources, 30-40% from fat, and only 10-20% from carbohydrates. People that are overweight need to reduce their carbohydrate intake the majority of the time - and eat mostly "fibrous" carbohydrates (brocolli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, you get the picture) along with fruits that are "tart" in taste such as apples, grapefruit, raspberries, and blueberries, to name a few. Next, you need to up your "good" fat intake to 30-40% of your daily calories. Many dieters have a hard time eating this much fat reasoning it's not possible to lose fat by eating this much fat. It's not only possible but almost certain you will. Because of your lowered carbohydrate intake you are literally forcing your body to burn fat as fuel instead of the carbohydrates it prefers. 2 days per week eat 70% of your calories from carbohydrates, 20% from protein sources, and only 10% from fats. Eating this way 2 days out of the week can help you lose fat even quicker than if you stayed on the high protein, high fat, low carb approach indefinitely. Without getting too complicated into the reasons why, I'll just say that your primary fat-burning hormones are optimized when you occasionally add higher calorie, higher carbohydrate (and lower fat) days into your dieting program. I usually tell my clients to eat this way on Mondays and Thursdays. Also, try and eat about 50% more calories on these days than you normally do [that's right...eat more food on these days -- yum!]. The most important point to remember (on these 2 days only) is to KEEP YOUR FAT INTAKE LOW. If you don't then this eating technique will backfire on you. The best part about these high carb days is you can eat a lot of your favorite foods AND STILL LOSE FAT. Bread, jelly, low-fat frozen yogurt, low-fat sorbets, spaghetti, oatmeal mixed with a small amount of protein powder (my personal favorite), rice are all acceptable - but only on these 2 days of the week. This alternating way of eating can easily be applied for life. Because you're not depriving yourself on a long-term basis, you will less likely succumb to the dreariness of traditional dieting. 3. DON'T SKIP MEALS Not eating at regular intervals is a foolproof way to get fat - it convinces your body you're starving and need to conserve fat. This doesn't give you a license to pig out at each meal however. You need to practice portion control if your efforts at losing fat and weight are to be successful. 4. DON'T EAT TOO FEW CALORIES Almost as bad as eating too many, when you go on a very low-calorie diet, your body starts to break down muscle tissue to use for energy so it dcoesn't have to dip into its fat stores (the last thing it wants to do). You'll lose weight, but you'll lose muscle as well as fat, which means that after your diet you'll end up with a higher percentage of body fat to muscle mass. That will make your metabolism slow even more. 5. START OR CONTINUE AN EXERCISE PROGRAM In order for this eating program to work best you're going to have to exercise such that your preferred muscle fuel (glycogen - stored carbohydrate) is depleted. The best way to do that is by moderate amounts of weight training and specific, high-intensity forms of cardiovascular exercise. Remember, weight-training is the only form of exercise that can actually change the way your body looks. Most other forms of exercise only reduce your overall size but keep your starting "shape" the same. Cardiovascular-only training will shrink a "pear-shaped" persons size, but will not change their overall "pear-shape". In addition, weight-training can help you speed up your metabolism which can quicken the rate at which you burn off fat, and help you ward off osteoporosis as you age. IMPORTANT: Unless you are willing to exercise regularly, you will not succeed in keeping weight off. IN SUMMARY: DON'T OBSESS OVER YOUR
WEIGHT AND APPETITE See you next month! The "Fitness Corner": Your fitness questions answered.**QUESTION: Hank, I have recently started walking 3 miles per day. I am 36 and I weigh
148. I I also would like to know if there are certain excerises that would
be good for losing inches from my hips, tummy (below my belly button),
slim my thighs and shape up my tush, and is there a good solution for
helping with the nasty cellulite on the back of my legs? Thank you,
Lisa ***ANSWER: Which program should I choose? How do I know it will work? Will I waste time or money? Is it healthy? For me, the best way is to ask others that have tried a particular method of dieting. Ask them what they felt were the strong points of the diet, and what did they not like. Also, look for testimonials from others that have tried the program you're interested in started. The best testimonials are before and after photos. Because someone saying they've lost 35 lbs sounds great, until you realize that person is still 50 lbs overweight, and looks it too. Finally, don't get stuck with "analysis paralysis". The old adage, "just do it" applies here as well. Try any diet...if after 2 weeks max you don't see success then drop it. If you don't get results straight from the start then the diet won't work for you. Just make sure not to modify it to your taste and follow it as the originator intended. This is a mistake most people make. As for your problem areas, congratulations on at least starting with an exercise routine. This is a good start, but only a start. I can tell you from experience that it takes a lot more than walking to get into the kind of shape most people are trying to achieve. You'll have a very hard time losing inches from the areas you're looking to lose it from unless you step up the intensity and try more taxing forms of exercise - like weight lifting and higher-intensity forms of cardiovascular exercise. I wish there was an easier way...there's not. This is not meant to discourage you, only to show you that there is hope in getting the body of your dreams, provided you are willing to do what it takes. Understand this doesn't mean you'll spend your life in the gym. On the contrary, the very best forms of weight-training and cardiovascular exercise will have you in and out of the gym in less than 1/2 hour. This means for less than 3 hours per week you can achieve exactly the goals you're looking for (assuming 4 days per week of weight training and another 3-5 days of higher-intensity cardio). Finally, don't worry so much about finding exercises that target your problem areas, just concentrate on eating correctly (per my guidelines in this month's newsletter) and exercising and you'll find those areas will all slim down quite nicely. Good luck Lisa, and great success! Please send your questions to The Fitness
Corner
I hope you enjoyed this latest issue. See you next month with more tips and solutions to achieving your best body. Good luck, God bless, and all the best in health and fitness, Harry "Hank" Johnson Jr,
President
Harry is the creator of the "Amazing Fat-Loss/Ultimate Results Program" - specifically designed to help you lose fat quickly and easily. "When you want to lose 20 pounds of fat (or more) in 6 weeks (or
less) --
Also,
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