Corporatemonk » Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle

Weight loss – Why 95% Of Diets Fail

Darren Wise — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 11:34:43 +0000

Today everywhere you look, quick fix weigh loss solutions are being sold and marketed as the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, losing weight is not all that easy, and many of the quick fix solutions do not have long-term benefits. As with most things in life, if you expect quick results, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. When you look at weight loss and the mechanics behind it, weight loss is simply just maths, energy consumed and energy burnt. If the burning of energy is more than the consumption of energy, then the body will use fat stores as energy, and you will start to lose weight, simple really.

The real problem with losing weight for most people is that they reduce the consumption of their food intake way too much in the first weeks. Doing this triggers the body’s survival mechanism to kick in to gear slowing your metabolic rate down. You may be aware that you are living in the 21st century with an abundance of food to access, but your body doesn’t. By reducing your food intake too much, your body naturally thinks that you are going to starve, so it slows your metabolism and energy consumption to preserve fat stores just in case you need them.

Now the biggest problem comes down the track in a few weeks or a few months when you may not be seeing the weight loss results you expected. You may feel disheartened so lose interest, or just fall back into your previous lifestyle routine and eating habits. If this occurs, you may find you put weight back on faster and sometimes even more weight. The reason this occurs is that your metabolism is now much slower and your energy consumption is greater giving you a positive energy intake which will be stored as fat.

The above summary outlines in very basic details why nearly 95% of diets fail. Your body is just trying to do the right thing by preventing you from starving, but its actions are making it more difficult to achieve great results.

I know how hard it can be losing weight, as I personally lost over 30kg after losing balance in my life. I worked too hard, had a bad lifestyle and just lost focus in other areas of my life. I know how easy it is to do, but I also know that if you are determined enough, you can achieve just about anything. I reduced from my weight from just over 100kg at my heaviest to a constant range weight range now of 70kg-75kg. I have gone also one step further by getting my fitness to the point that I can attempt to climb the 7 highest summits on each continent around the world. My best mate of I have completed 2 of the summits with 5 more to go. Having been overweight and not having the right balance in my life, I can now say that it is hard to ever imagine how I lived life my life before. The benefits of how I feel now are priceless, and I know there is no amount of money that can ever buy the feelings and the energy for life I have now. In the end, it was just plain hard work and determination, but the results and benefits are definitely worth it.

There are ways to combat the body going into the survival mode by slowing the metabolism, but I will cover these training and fitness methods in future posts on this blog under Weight Loss & Healthy Lifestyle, so stay tuned.

Breakfast Like A King

Darren Wise — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 11:31:29 +0000

Almost everyone wishes to stay healthy and live healthy. However, living a healthy life requires major effort on your part. You will need to diet, you will need to exercise, and you will need to look out for yourself in order to be healthy. However, there is one thing that you can do that will contribute to your health. That one thing is eating a healthy breakfast every day of your life, to start the day. It is essential for weight loss as well as for staying fit.

Most people unfortunately skip breakfast for sake of weight loss and sometimes to save time on their way to work. Actually, this is one of the worst things that you can do to your body. A research done by scientists showed that when the body doesn’t start with a healthy breakfast, the metabolic rate will drop down considerably and thus this will also cause a spike in your blood sugar levels. This will also cause you to eat bigger meals and unhealthy snacks during the day and because your metabolism has reduced itself in the morning, you will be able to burn less calories. Thus, you will not only gain weight, but your body will also be thrown in an imbalance when you don’t eat breakfast.

However, eating breakfast will solve your problems as your body will feel full and satisfied. Your metabolic rate will increase along with thermo genesis (the rate of energy burning by your body). Your blood sugar levels will balance out and you will not feel the craving for extra snacks and foods for 4-5 hours.

In any case, you should take care to eat a healthy breakfast. However, it will need to be balanced in order to be healthy. This means that a huge plate of scrambled eggs and lots of bacon is out of the picture. You should take care to eat things like fibres, proteins, and in general nutritious food. Here is a list of things that you can eat in order to make a health breakfast. In total, what you eat for breakfast should not be more than 2 or 3 servings

1. A bowl of cereal (wholegrain).
2. A bowl of oatmeal.
3. An apple or an orange (or apple juice or orange juice).
4. Hard-boiled egg (don’t fry them for health and weight loss purposes).
5. Skimmed Milk.
6. Low-fat cheese.
7. Brown bread – toasted (never eat white bread).
8. Walnuts, pecans and any nuts in general.
9. Any raw vegetables like carrots, tomatoes, peppers etc.
10. A low-fat protein shake or a nutrition shake.
11. A cup of tea with no sugar.

As you can see, a healthy breakfast is comprised of healthy food. Eating a balanced breakfast will also help you in your quest for losing weight. It will restore the balance of your body, so you will not feel the need to eat snacks or huge meals during the day. Moreover, you will also feel better during the day, compared to people who skip breakfast.

At Today’s Pace, Keep It Simple

Darren Wise — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:54:54 +0000

As a society, we seem to be moving at a much faster pace in our daily lives. This change in pace is more or less driven by the pace that communication and entertainment are spinning around us and the expectations and demands of others. Time is our own worst enemy, as we are racing against the clock from day-to-day to fit in all our work and individual priorities, as well give the people around us some time and attention.

This race against the clock can almost become overwhelming, stressful and can also lead to anxiety. It is nice to be busy, but there has to be some time out to gain some perspective and control back in your life if it is all getting too much. One way to avoid feeling overwhelmed is to make sure that you develop some simplicity in your day-to-day life. Try not to over complicate your life too much, and try to unclutter it as best you can. Also, make sure that you are well organised, if you plan to be busy, map the day out and prepare for it. Some people say that they thrive on the rush, excitement and the complexity in their lives, but often, burnout would be the most likely outcome in the medium to longer term if some balance is not eventually achieved.

The real side effects from a life that has no balance is the effect on others around you, your family, friends and loved ones, not to mention the possible effect on your health. Time is not a commodity that we can buy back no matter how wealthy you are, so make sure you use your time wisely. I will provide you with a vision into your future now, when you are on your deathbed, you are not going to wish that you had another BMW parked in the garage and another investment property down the road.

What will you be reflecting on?

Weight Loss – A Lifestyle Choice

Darren Wise — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 11:43:26 +0000

In today’s fast paced world, time seems shorter and seems to go much faster. In a previous post, I indicated that we are moving into an age where society is pretty much addicted to or transfixed to some form of instant entertainment fix either in the form of television, computer or PDA. I will explain at a later time on another post as to the reasons for this trend, but it is becoming obvious the western world is developing some bad habits, and some of these habits are starting to take their toll. One of the biggest tolls seems to be in the health department. Latest statistics show that 67% of men and 52% of women are overweight, and the statistics are moving up at an alarming rate.

The current fix for this is to promote quick fix diets and sell exercise fads that give people hope of overnight weight loss success. In this post, I will not go into why 95% of diets fail and the real reasons why, but there is a solution that works, not just a short-term fix, but for life, it’s called lifestyle weight loss, and it simply means you change your lifestyle and make some different choices. It may sound a little dramatic, but it is actually easy if you are 100% committed and focus on the mind and understand how the mind is controlling your actions. There is an old saying that whatever the mind can conceive it achieve, well with weight loss it is no different, and it is either won or lost in the mind.