Eat Complex Carbohydrates for Correct Weight Loss

Knowing the difference between complex carbohydrates and refined carbohydrates is essential for anyone wanting sustained and correct weight loss. Often, not being able to distinguish the difference is one of the main reasons that most people are not able to lose weight. In desperation, most people cut out carbohydrates all together.

What is a Carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are an important source of energy while protein is a very important building block. Fat can be used as a source of energy and also as a building block.

The body’s preferred fuel choice is glucose which is a very simple sugar molecule derived from carbohydrates. Glucose is the brain’s preferred fuel. Your brain cannot burn fat for fuel. Glucose is also an excellent source of energy when sudden and quick exertion is required such as a 100 m sprint.  Fat is a better source of energy when a long and sustained energy source is required such as going for a 5 km jog.

Carbohydrates are made from simple sugar molecules such as glucose or fructose (fruit sugar). These simple sugar molecules are bonded together to form longer chains of sugar in a carbohydrate.

Complex Carbohydrates and Refined Carbohydrates

Digestion of carbohydrates require the breakdown of the longer chains into simple sugar molecules such as glucose and fructose. The body can only utilize carbohydrates for energy when the longer chains are broken down to glucose molecules. Only simple sugars such as glucose can be absorbed through the intestine.

Complex carbohydrates are made from 3 sugar molecules and more to form longer sugar chains.  Complex carbohydrates are food  found in its natural form. These include fruits, nuts, seeds, unprocessed or whole grain and vegetables.

The largest source of complex carbohydrates is unprocessed or whole grain. Whole grain essentially means eating the grain on the whole as it is harvested. If a grain can be sprouted, it is a complex carbohydrate. If you cannot sprout it, it is refined grain and probably contains lots of simple sugar. Examples of whole grain include oats, rye, hulled and de-hulled barley (not pearl), brown rice and wheat.

Refined carbohydrates are also known as simple carbohydrates or simple sugars. Refined carbohydrates are easy to identify as it comes as a refined powder in its raw state. Most of the time it is white in colour. Common examples of this include white rice, white flour and white bread. Most junk food, pastries, fruit juices, colas, sodas and desserts are made of simple or refined carbohydrates.

Complex Carbohydrates Provide a Steady Source of Energy

Digestive enzymes have to work much harder to access the bonds to break the chains of complex carbohydrates into individual sugar molecules. The break down of these long chains require time and energy. For this reason, digesting an oat meal takes much more energy and time than digesting a doughnut even though the portions eaten could have the same energy content.The slow and steady digestion process of a complex carbohydrate ensures that there is a steady supply of energy to meet your needs.

Excess Calories from Digestion of Refined Carbohydrates are Stored as Fat

Refined or simple carbohydrates need very little digestion effort. Refined carbohydrates are broken down very easily and are rapidly absorbed through the intestine. The in rush of glucose into the blood stream is rapid and usually results in excess available energy. The body stores the excess glucose as fat. Once all the excess glucose is used up by being stored as fat and used to meet the immediate energy needs, you will become hungry again. Eating refined carbohydrates will result in very rapid weight gain.

The sudden influx of sugar molecules into the blood stream requires that your body over-release insulin into the blood stream to control the blood sugar levels. The body tries very hard to keep blood sugar within a very tight range and it achieves this via the insulin hormone.

Insulin Hormone and Fat Storage

Insulin is a hormone that is produced in the pancreas. It allows the transport of glucose into cells that require energy. Without insulin, glucose cannot be absorbed into cells and the level of blood sugar would increase. This leads to type 1 diabetes.

The body could also become less sensitized to insulin thus resulting in more and more insulin being required to force the same amount of glucose into cells. Eventually, the increasing demand for insulin puts such a strain on the pancreas that it is not able to cope with the insulin demands. This results to type 2 diabetes.

Insulin is a very potent fat storage hormone. When insulin levels are high, it is impossible to burn fat. Instead, every little bit of food you eat ends up getting stored as fat. Eating lots of simple sugar causes insulin level to remain elevated.

Complex Carbohydrates are More Filling

Consuming complex carbohydrates also have a higher satiety index. It simply means that complex carbohydrates are more filling than simple carbohydrates. It is more filling to eat oat meal rather than a doughnut even if both food portions have the same energy content.

Eat Carbohydrates in its Natural Form

Eat an apple instead of drinking apple juice. An apple is a complex carbohydrate while apple juice is full of simple sugars. Eat whole wheat or rye bread instead of white bread. Eat brown rice instead of processed white rice.

Ensure that 90% of your carbohydrate consumption consists of complex carbohydrates. This will help normalize blood sugar, insulin levels as well as allow you to lose weight. Complex carbohydrates will enable you to achieve correct weight loss.

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Not all carbohydrates are created equal

Carbohydrates are the most widely consumed substance in the world, after water. It is cheap, plentiful and often sweet. Sweetness has an important evolutionary bearing on our food choices as it was a signal that the food was safe to consume. This evolutionary programming returns to haunt us in these modern times as excess refined carbohydrate consumption is one of the causes of obesity.

Insulin Hormone

Insulin is the hormone secreted by the body to transport glucose into cells when energy is required. Insulin is the key that unlocks the door in the cells to allow glucose to enter. In the absence of insulin, glucose cannot enter cells and accumulates in the blood stream.

Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance is a condition where the body becomes desensitized to insulin. Imagine that 2 units of insulin can drive 100 grams of glucose into your blood cells. As your body becomes insulin resistant, you will soon need 3 units and later 5 units and so on. The more resistant the body becomes to insulin, the more insulin is required to drive glucose into your cells. Insulin resistance cannot be picked up by your doctor unless your doctor specifically tests for fasting insulin levels. This test is very rarely done.

With insulin resistance, there is excess insulin circulating in your blood. Excess insulin causes a host of health problems. It also contributed to central obesity.

Glycemic Index

The Glycemic Index is a scale to measure how fast carbohydrates are released into the blood stream after being eaten. Carbohydrates that are quickly digested and rapidly release glucose into the blood stream, have a high GI.

High GI carbohydrates very quickly flood the blood stream with excess sugar. This requires a larger dose of insulin to regulate the blood sugar levels.

The Effect of High GI Food on Weight Loss

As mentioned earlier, insulin promotes the storage of fat. Insulin spikes caused by consuming high GI carbohydrates make weight loss extremely difficult. Insulin is also a very potent fat storage hormone. In its presence, it promotes the storage of fat. Fat burning is almost halted. Anyone wanting to lose weight should normalize their insulin levels by minimizing food that cause insulin spikes.

The Correlation Between GI and Satiety

Satiety is the measure of fullness after eating a particular food. Low GI food have higher satiety levels and create a feeling of fullness. This reduces hunger pangs and reduces excess binges.

Typical Range for GI

Low GI is typically 55 and below – This consists mostly of fruits and vegetables (except potatoes and watermelon), grainy breads, pasta, legumes/pulses, milk, yoghurt, products extremely low in carbohydrates (some cheeses, nuts)

Medium GI is typically 56 to 69 – Whole wheat products, basmati rice, sweet potato

High GI is typically 70 and above – Corn flakes, rice krispies, baked potatoes, watermelon, croissants, white bread, extruded breakfast cereals, most white rices (e.g. jasmine)

Your diet should be based on food that have a GI of 60 and below. This will help to reduce insulin resistance and aid in weight loss.

Glycemic Load

The Glycemic Load (GL) is a ranking system for a particular carbohydrate’s portion size on blood sugar levels. It is based on the food’s glycemic index (GI) and the portion of carbohydrate that the food contains.

In other words, GL = GI x carbohydrate contained in the food (measured in grams)

As an example, Kellogs corn flakes has approximately the same GI as a French baguette. The GI of these two items is typically in the 90s. But the GL of corn flakes is almost twice as much as that of the baguette even though each serving has the same approximate weight. Corn flakes has a longer sustained rise in blood sugar levels. As such, not all carbohydrates are created equal.

Download an extremely detailed list on the GI and GL of a wide variety of food from Mendosa’s website.

Understanding the Glycemic Index

Most high GI food consist of refined carbohydrates. These include white bread, white flour, pastries, sweets and pastries. Adding protein or fat to a meal, reduces the GI of a meal.

Anyone wanting to lose weight should understand insulin, insulin resistance, glycemic index and glycemic load. This will create an increased awareness of one’s dietary habits. Increased awareness of dietary habits is essential to lose weight and keep it off.

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Lose Weight Correctly

A lot of people make some very common mistakes that keeps them on a downward spiral in their weight loss journey. They eventually get frustrated and give up on weight loss all together or spend all their time and money on one weight loss gimmick after another.

Here are a list of 10 weight loss mistakes that could be holding back your weight loss success;

1.  Unrealistic Goals

People are more optimistic about their weight loss goals than they are about other goals. They are conservative about their financial goals but set ridiculous targets for the amount of weight they want to lose. They pick a number out of nowhere and set it as their goal. One must remember that with a proper diet and exercise regime, typical weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds per week is possible. Hoping for anything more than this is going to lead to frustration and disappointment.

2.  No Exercise

A lot of people look for all kinds of diets and weight loss programs that do not require any exercise. It is not common to try to starve all day rather than exercise for an hour. Any regime or program that does not include exercise, will not be able to provide sustainable weight loss.

3.  Starvation Diets

It seems logical that if we consume less food, we should lose weight. Unfortunately our bodies do not operate in a logical manner. Trying to reduce calories drastically could cause your body to shut down fat burning. Do not reduce your calorie consumption to more than 10% of your daily requirements.

4.  Very Strict Diets

Do not attempt to go on very strict diets unless you are looking for temporary results. Do not waste your time with diets that you could not practice for the rest of your life. A lot of athletes and models go through extreme dieting for that one occasion where they need to be lean. They are not able to sustain that physique for a prolonged period. If you are going to go on a diet which you are going to eventually come off, don’t bother going through it unless you need momentary results such as preparing for a wedding or another occasion. Instead, choose a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and a healthy diet which will help you lose weight and keep the weight off.

5.  Lack of Knowledge

There is no excuse for being ignorant in the information age. Information is available at your finger tips via the internet. One has to educate him or herself about the basics of weight loss. One should be aware of the basics of weight loss such as starvation diets, rate of healthy weight loss, building muscles to lose fat and other useful information. When you educate yourself, you will less likely fall for weight loss gimmicks that can cause psychological stress and financial strain.

6.  Looking for Quick Fix Solutions

Some people spend their entire lives going from one quick fix solution after another. They keep thinking that the next gimmick would give them the weight loss that they desire. This is no different from a gambler who keeps thinking that the next roll of the dice will go his way. The only way to attain sustainable weight loss is via dedication, perseverance and hard work. If there was a quick fix for weight loss, Oprah would had found it by now.

7.  Lack of Social Support

Social support is essential for weight loss. Ideally, you should be getting this from your immediate family. If you are not able to get support from the people who are close to you, find a friend who wants to go down the same road as you. Support each other and see each other through until the finish line.

8.  Lack of Time

Weight loss is going to require time and effort. Most people want weight loss but do not set activities such as exercise as a high priority. They try to do exercise if they can find the time. Obama found time for exercise during the run-up to the presidential elections. It just shows that you can get anything done once you set it as a high priority.

9.  Weight Loss as a Destination and Not a Journey

Most people see weight loss as a destination. It’s a number on the scale that they want to achieve. They fail to realize that weight loss is a journey. You need to always work at sustaining a beautiful and well-defined body. Once you hit your target, set a new goal so that you are continuously in pursuit of a goal. Set goals to become fitter, stronger and leaner. As the saying goes, you cannot be rich enough or lean enough.

10.  Not Losing Weight Correctly

Correct weight loss essentially means weight loss that comes from losing fat. You should maintain or build on your muscle stores. Correct weight loss is sustainable in the long run. Unfortunately or fortunately, it requires discipline, perseverance and effort.

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Choose a Lifestyle Not a Diet

The low-carbohydrate diet craze had been prevalent in the last few years. Many had found it as an effective means to achieve quick weight loss. A lot of people follow this diet as there is little need for exercise.

Low Carbohydrate Diets

Most people follow a variation of low-carbohydrate diets. This includes from reducing the amount of carbohydrates to almost completely eliminating it. The almost complete elimination of carbohydrates is the Atkins Diet.

Rapid Initial Weight Loss

Low-carbohydrate diets do produce quick weight loss. Most of the weight loss comes from the loss of your body’s carbohydrate stores which are called glycogen. The weight loss is also attributed to the loss of water as glycogen bonds with water when stored in the body.

There will be a big weight gain when someone comes off a low-carbohydrate diet. This happens as the body tries to replenish its glycogen stores. The body will even over-compensate by storing more glycogen then necessary in certain situations.

Sustainability of Weight Loss from Low Carbohydrate Diets

While the Atkins Diet, does produce quick results, the long-term sustainability of the weight loss is questionable. The challenge is to keep off carbohydrates in a world where carbohydrates are in abundance in all forms.

The Atkins Diet is also a life of deprivation and most people will not be able to endure it for long. People who go off carbohydrates would have strong cravings. When they start eating carbohydrates again, the weight usually comes back.

A study was published in the 2005 issue of the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association that compared the effects of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone Diets on weight loss. The researchers concluded that there was only a modest weight loss for each popular diet. The weight loss was between 2 – 3 kgs after a year.

Another study published in the 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the Atkins, Ornish, Zone and LEARN diets.The findings were based on data collected from the A to Z weight loss study.

The researchers concluded that the women who followed the Atkins diet, lost more weight at 12 months than women assigned to follow the Zone diet. The women on the Atkins diet also experienced comparable or more favorable metabolic effects than those assigned to the Zone, Ornish, or LEARN diets. While its true that there was more weight loss with the Atkins Diet, the average weight loss after 12 months was 4.6 kg and this was considered the better result. This is not very impressive, considering that the women were obese.

In 2008, The New England Journal of Medicine reviewed the effectiveness of weight loss with a low-carbohydrate, Mediterranean or low-fat diet. After 2 years, weight loss among the 272 participants who completed the intervention, was 3.3 kg for the low-fat group, 4.6 kg for the Mediterranean Diet Group, and 5.5 kg for the low-carbohydrate group.

Do bear in mind that none of the above studies incorporated exercise. This could be a reason why none of these diets obtained significant weight loss.

Adherence to a Diet is the Key

In another study published in the 2008 issue of the International Journal of Obesity, researchers investigated dietary adherence and weight loss among overweight women. The findings of the study were based on data collected from to A to Z weight loss study.

This was the same data used to conclude that the Atkins diet was more effective after 12 months as compared to the Zone, Ornish and LEARN diets. The researchers concluded that regardless of assigned diet groups, 12-month weight change was greater in the most adherent compared to the least adherent participants. These results suggest that strategies to increase adherence may deserve more emphasis than the specific macronutrient composition of the weight loss diet itself in supporting successful weight loss.

What is important is not the diet. What is important is the adherence to the diet. But even the adherence to a particular diet does not produce consistent results. A healthy lifestyle is the key to losing weight and keeping it off.

Exercise and Eat Healthy

Exercise should be an essential part of any weight loss initiative. Effective weight loss can be achieved via exercise and a healthy diet. A healthy diet should consist of complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar or white flour should be avoided as much as possible. Exercise is an essential part of sustainable weight loss.

Choose a Lifestyle Instead of a Diet

The key to long-term and sustainable weight loss is a lifestyle. Research has shown time and time again that diets only provide short-term results. Long term results are obtained by inculcating the correct habits. A low-carbohydrate or Atkins diet may produce very quick initial weight loss. But the weight comes back just as rapidly once someone comes off the diet.

One should instead focus on correct weight loss by eating healthy and not forgetting exercise.

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Life is a battle field. We face all types of battles everyday. Some are minor battles such as going through traffic and getting to work. Others are major battles such as regaining health or losing wealth.

None of life’s battles are won without fighting. The same goes for weight loss. When trying to lose weight, you have got to change the mind-set with which you enter the battle. Weight loss is a battle. For most people, it could be one of the hardest battles of life. One should come to the realization early on that losing weight is going to take perseverance. Losing weight is simple. Simple because weight loss can be achieved by creating a calorie deficit.

But make no mistake. Weight loss may be simple, but it is not easy. Its is most likely going to take all you have got. Most of the time, people need a strong enough “why”, when going into a major battle such as losing weight. “Why” do you want to lose weight? What will happen if you do not lose weight? Will it affect your self-esteem? Is it affecting your health? Is it affecting your quality of life? Until this “why” is identified, you will find your body to be a very formidable foe. It will wear you down eventually.

With a strong enough “why” any battle can be won. Knowing clearly “why” you must lose weight will keep you going when the going gets tough.

Before you attempt to lose weight, find your “why”. Next learn how you could lose weight correctly. Proceed to fight the weight battle and persevere until you emerge victorious.

Watch this timeless video from Jack Lalanne that elaborates this point further.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iT0q7tCSUZM&]

Make Swimming Work for Weight Loss

Swimming is one of the most intensive exercises available and yet most swimmers find it difficult to lose weight.  Research has shown that professional swimmers carry more body fat than professional runners.

Apparently, the reason for this discrepancy has to do with none other than the total calories consumed.

Water Temperature and Increased Energy Intake

A previous article entitled “Does Swimming Work for Weight Loss” looked into lots of research on swimming and weight loss. Yet the cause for swimmers carrying more body fat than runners had eluded researchers for years.

Tanaka suggested in his 1997 study that the ineffectiveness of swimming could be attributed to excess calorie intake after exercising. Tanaka theorized that swimmers consumed excess calories post-exercise, to compensate for the huge energy gap created by swimming.

In 2005, researchers from the University of Gainsville studied the effects of cold water temperature exercise on post exercise energy intake. 11 young men exercised for 45 min on a submersed cycle ergometer in 33 degree C (neutral) and 20 degree C (cold) water temperatures. After the exercise, the subjects had free access to a buffet.

The researchers found that energy expenditure was similar for the cold and neutral water conditions. The cold water temperature stimulated post-exercise energy intake resulting in 41% more calories consumed than the resting condition.

Calories in Vs Calories Out

The fundamental concept of losing weight is by consuming fewer calories than calories spent.

Swimming is in fact an extremely effective exercise provided that one is vigilant about post exercise calorie intake. Apparently, the excess calories consumed after a swim could easily negate the beneficial effects of the exercise.

Post Swimming Calorie Consumption Affects Weight Loss

Dr Louise Burke stated in his article;

“Do energy discrepancies really exist in swimming? Why do swimmers seem to have drawn the short straw of body fat management? It could be that swimmers have higher energy intakes than other athletes and eat more energy than they spend. It has been suggested that swimming doesn’t cause the appetite drop that accompanies heavy running and cycling training. Many people observe that they feel like “eating a horse” after they have finished a swim training session, and may overcompensate for the energy they have just burned. Some research suggests that this is due to the cool temperatures in which swimmers train. By contrast, runners and cyclists usually experience an increase in body temperature during training, which may serve to suppress appetite – at least in the short-term.”

Swimming creates a huge energy deficit in the body. The energy deficit comes from the energy used for swimming and the energy used to generate heat. Moving your body in water requires tremendous amounts of energy.

The body very quickly adapts to cold water which is why you would only feel cold the first instance you get in the water. After a minute or so, the body would have ramped up heat production.

The body’s hunger to make up for this energy deficit is the reason a lot of swimmers do not get the desired weight loss. The increased appetite results in an increased calorie consumption.

Making Swimming Work for Weight Loss

Research from the International Journal of Sports Medicine has shown that swimming has more post exercise fat oxidation than running. This increased fat oxidation is very quickly offset by the increased food consumption afterward. Anyone wanting to achieve weight loss from swimming, should be very mindful of the food he or she eats immediately afterward.

Increase Awareness of Post Swimming Calorie Consumption

Research has shown that people always underestimate the quantity of food that they eat. The over consumption of calories  after swimming, negates the positive effects of swimming. It comes back to the golden rule of weight loss. Total amount of calories consumed must be less than calories expanded.

One way to increase awareness is by writing all that one has consumed in the meal after swimming. This should be recorded in a journal. One should not wait too long to do this as there is a very high tendency to underestimate the amount of food consumed.

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Make Swimming Work for Weight Loss

Swimming is an amazing cardiovascular exercise that involves the entire body. A lot of earlier research has shown that swimmers have less weight loss than runners or cyclists.

Effective weight loss can only be achieved if the calories consumed are less than the calories burnt. It seems that this could also be the reason most swimmers do not get weight loss.

The Earliest Research

A lot of research has been carried out on the effectiveness of swimming for weight loss.

Some of the earliest research was done by Dr Grant Gwinup. His findings were presented in a paper entitled “Efficacy of different forms of aerobic exercise”

Dr Gwinup enlisted minimally to moderately obese women who wanted to lose weight. They were made to do the following 3 exercises;
- Brisk walking
- Stationary bicycle
- Swimming laps

All women slowly but progressively increased the time spent in daily exercise to 60 minutes. After 6 months , the women assigned to walking lost 10% of initial weight, the women who cycled lost 12%, but the women who swam lost no weight at all.

Swimmers Carry More Body Fat Than Runners

Jang published a paper in the Journal of Swimming Research in 1987 that consisted of college swimmers and runners. He stated that despite the exercise energy expenditure of the runners and swimmers being similar, the swimmers carried more body fat. Male runners averaged body fat of 7% as compared to male swimmers at 12%. Female runners averaged body fat of 15% as compared to female runners at 20%. One of the shortfalls of this study was that it depended on the participants to self-report food consumption. Research has shown that people under-estimate food consumption by up to 40% when self reporting.

Swimmers and Runners Have Similar Energy Expenditure During Training

It was also postulated that difference in hormonal patterns and fat oxidation mechanisms may explain the difference in fat levels in swimmers and runners. Flynn published the findings of his study in the International Journal of Sports Medicine.

Both the swimmers and runners showed no difference in total energy expenditure during training or recovery. There were some differences in substrate utilization and hormone levels. Flynn found that swimming resulted in lower blood glucose levels than running. There was apparently a greater reliance on carbohydrate as a fuel during swimming. Also, it was found that fat oxidation tended to be greater after swimming than running. Flynn concluded that  these differences were small and could not explain why swimmers have higher body fat levels.

The Effects of Swimming on Body Weight

Tanaka conducted a study in 1997, where one of the objectives was to investigate the effects of swimming on body weight. The training group swam at 60% of maximal heart rate reserve for 45 min per day for 3 days per week for 10 weeks. The control group remained sedentary. Tanaka did not find any substantial decrease in body fat.

“It is regrettable that swimming does not seem to be as effective as other exercise modes in reducing body mass or body fat since swimming would be an ideal exercise for obese individuals”, Tanaka said. Incidentally, Tanaka is conducting a further study to investigate the effects of swimming for body fat reduction and cardiovascular health improvements.

Swimmers Need Land Training to Trim Fat

Dr Louise Burke, head of Nutrition at the Australian Institute of Sports has quoted in his article as follows;

“Swimmers, especially female swimmers, face an energy balance conundrum. Elite swimmers typically undertake 4000-20,000 m per day in training, burning thousands of calories. However, the typical body fat levels of these athletes are significantly higher than runners or cyclists who spend similar or even smaller amounts of energy in their training. Many female swimmers have fought well-publicized battles with their body fat levels and with their coaches! They are generally prescribed “land training” (running or cycling) in addition to their many laps of the pool in the belief that it is a necessary treatment to produce lower skinfold levels”

Do Not Discount Swimming Yet

Swimming is still a fantastic exercise. It is very energy intensive and is extremely beneficial for weight loss. Watch out for Part 2 which elaborates further on how someone could actually make swimming a very effective exercise for weight loss.

Follow the Cheat Meal Rules

A cheat meal is a meal where someone trying to lose weight, can eat and drink what ever he or she wants. It is a meal without any dietary restrictions. The cheat meal is a psychological escape that most people may need when they start a weight loss program.

It has no physical benefits. People have to realize that the excess calories from cheat meals will be stored as fat. The excess calories from a cheat meal will set you back somewhat and negate some of the effects of your weight loss efforts in the preceding week.

You should avoid cheat meals if you do not need them. Do not take a cheat meal just for the sake of taking it.

If you ever do need a temporary reprieve from the intense discipline of diet and exercise and need a psychological outlet, here are a set of cheat meal rules. These rules should allow you to relief the built-up pressure with minimum negative effect on your weight loss efforts. The intent of these rules is to satisfy your cravings while minimizing the impact of the excess calories.

1.  You Only Deserve a Cheat Meal if You Have Been Diligent the Entire Week

The cheat meal is a reward for sticking to your weight loss program. You should have adhered to your diet plan and done all the necessary exercises. Make a plan or follow a program. You are only entitled to the cheat meal if you have followed your plan or program.

2.  You Must be Exercising

Cheat meals are not allowed for those who are not exercising. People who are meagerly dieting are not entitled to cheat meals. If you want a cheat meal, get on an exercise program.

3.  Cheat Meal is Limited to 1 Meal per Week

Limit your cheat meal to a single meal and not an entire cheat day. Do not make the mistake of going on a prolonged binge. There is a high tendency for a prolonged binge so you have to be weary.

4.  Eat All You Can With One Fill of a 9 inch Plate

Fill all the food that you can eat on a 9 inch plate. Limit your cheat meal to this. A lot of food can go on a 9 inch plate. Most of the time, the cravings reduce dramatically when a few bites of a particular food is taken. In order to minimize damage, have a variety of the food you most craved during the week.

5.  Limit to 1 Serving of Sweetened Beverage

You can take any type of sweetened beverage so long as it is limited to one serving. 1 serving is limited to a regular 8 ounce glass. Skip dessert if you take a smoothie, milk shake or yogurt based drink. These drinks have high calories and should not be taken with dessert.

6.  Take 1 Serving of Dessert

Take only 1 serving of dessert. As mentioned above, forfeit dessert if you take a smoothie, milk shake or yogurt based drink.

7.  Have Your Cheat Meal for Lunch instead of Dinner

It is not advisable to have your cheat meal for dinner. The overload of calories will cause more damage at night as your metabolism slows down when you go to sleep. A heavy meal taken earlier in the day has the potential to cause lesser damage.

8.  Avoid Alcohol

Alcohol is prohibited with a cheat meal. Alcohol halts fat burning and this is the last thing that you want to do after consuming all the excess calories. It was found that even a single drink of alcohol had the potential to cause massive disruption to the metabolism.

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Tapering Calories Helps Weight Management

Tapering calories is an effective way of losing weight and keeping the weight off. This is a correct weight loss habit that should be cultivated for healthy and sustainable weight loss. You may have heard of the saying “Eating breakfast Like a King and Eating Dinner Like a Pauper”. There is some merit in this.

Tapering calories essentially means reducing the amount of calories as one progresses through the day. The largest amount of calories should be consumed at breakfast and the smallest amount of calories should be consumed at dinner.

The body is better adapted to handle carbohydrates in the morning rather than later in the day. In the morning, the body has higher levels of cortisol and is depleted of glycogen. This is after a prolonged period of fasting since the dinner meal from the night before. The body is in dire need of calories to meet its energy needs.

Calories consumed in the earlier part of the day have a higher chance of being used up within that day.

The body becomes very much more sensitive to calories in the later part of the day. Calories consumed too close to sleeping time have a high chance of being stored as fat. As we sleep, our metabolism slows down and our energy needs reduce. All the excess calories consumed at this time has a high likelihood to be stored as fat. This is one of the reasons why it is prudent not to consume anything within 2 hours of sleeping. This 2 hour window also give enough time for the food that you ate to be digested.

Unfortunately, most people have their largest meals at dinner and have their smallest meals at breakfast. A lot of people also go to the extent of skipping breakfast. These habits should be changed as it makes it very difficult to lose weight by doing this.

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Be aware of your eating habits

If there was ever a secret to losing weight, its having an increased awareness of one’s eating habits. Weight gain occurs because one consumes more calories than one burns. Inculcating the correct eating habits is of paramount importance to healthy and sustainable weight loss.

The challenge is that most people are in denial about their eating habits. They know what unhealthy eating is. They know when others do it. They just don’t see it when they do it.

8 in 10 Americans Say They Are in Control of Their Eating Habits

Glaxo Smith and Kline recently conducted an interesting survey to gauge how Americans perceive their eating habits. The results did not come as a surprise. The gist of the findings are as follows;

• 79% (8 in 10) were satisfied with the state of their personal eating habits
• 67% (2 in 3) admitted to practicing poor eating habits on at least a weekly basis. These include among others, skipping meals or eating when they are not hungry
• 75% surveyed said that Americans have an unhealthy relationship with food
• 52% believed that an immediate family member had an unhealthy relationship with food
• 44% were concerned about their spouse’s eating habits

The results of the survey showed the contradictory behaviour with regards to eating habits. Everyone thinks that he or she eats well while thinking that almost everyone else has a problem. Everyone thinks that he or she is in control but at the same time think that everyone else is not.

The Obesity Epidemic in America

2 out of 3 Americans are currently overweight or obese. By 2030, this could balloon to 9 out of 10. That looks like an epidemic spiraling out of control. This may not be limited to Americans as most developing and developed countries have increasing obesity rates.

Judging from the perception of the people surveyed, it does not look like the 9 out of 10 obesity rate prophesied for 2030 is very far-fetched. This survey hits the nail on the head for the obesity epidemic. Everyone is aware of what is going on around them. They can even tell when someone else is eating unhealthy. They just do not believe that they are the ones with unhealthy eating habits.

Denial About Eating Habits

Anyone who wants to lose weight needs to have a higher level of awareness about their eating habits. People have very short-term memory when it comes to their own eating habits.

Other research has shown that people do tend to underestimate their calories consumption. The GSK survey further validates that people are mostly in denial about their bad eating habits.

People who exercise may also be guilty of this. People who exercise think that exercising will set everything straight. An occasional binge here and there could be compensated by doing more in the gym the next day. The bottom line is that when the calories consumed exceed the demand for energy, the excess calories will be stored as fat. This could be happening to a lot of people who are exercising vigorously and yet are not able to achieve their weight goals.

Increase Awareness of Your Eating Habits with a Food Diary

The GSK survey shows that most people already know what they should do to cultivate healthy eating habits. They are aware when others eat unhealthy.

You could increase the awareness of your eating habits by keeping a food journal. Other know it as a food log or a food diary. Everyone shudders at hearing about a food journal. Keeping a food journal may only need to be a temporary measure until you have raised your level of awareness of your eating habits. It’s just a means for you to look at your eating habits in retrospect.

Keeping a food diary for a longer period would help you enforce and inculcate positive eating habits.

Food diaries have been shown to increase the success of a weight loss initiative simply because it increases awareness of one’s eating habits. Everyone at every aspect of fitness would derive some form of benefit from the added insight obtained from keeping a food diary.

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