Weight loss for health

In an ideal world everything you ate would go 100% to gaining muscle, and every calorie your burned would come from just fat. You would build muscle, lose fat, and end up huge and ripped. However, we don’t live in that world, which is why it’s so rare to see huge, ripped guys. Instead, we tend to put calories toward both fat and muscle, and burn both as well. The ratio of what goes where is the crux of the matter, and why losing fat and gaining muscle is so hard. What’s going on?

Ever hear about your P-Ratio? This is what researchers call the degree to how much protein you gain or lose when you over or under feed. So a low P-Ratio means that when you diet you burn low amounts of protein, and high amounts of fat. A high P-Ratio would mean the opposite; when you diet you burn a lot of protein, and little fat. It seems that the same is true for when you over feed; people with high P-Ratio tend to gain a lot of protein, and little, fat, while people with low P-Ratio gain a little protein, and high amounts of fat. So a person with high P-Ratio would never seem to gain much fat, while people with a low P-Ratio seem to oscillate wildly, gaining and losing fat, but never putting on much muscle.

How do you change your P-Ratio? It looks like most of it is controlled by your genetics. We can change as much as 15-20% of it, but no more than that. This is where the difference in exercise and diet relative to your P-Ratio come in; your diet allows you to follow the curve of your P-Ratio, losing weight as dictated by it, while exercise allows you to actually change your P-Ratio to a degree.

What are the factors that control your P-Ratio? Hormones, insulin sensitivity, and your body fat percentage. Hormones are crucial to determing how your body reacts to feeding and dieting; high testosterone levels help you gain more muscle and less fat, while high cortisol levels do the opposite (i.e. lots of cortisol = bad for body builders).Thyroid and nervous system activity also effect your fat burning processes, but all these are basically set by your genetics and so out of your control.

Insulin sensitivity is another huge factor in your body’s ability to partition calories. High insulin sensitivity means your body reacts strongly to a small amount of insulin, while low sensitivity is the opposite. What is insulin? It’s a storage hormone that stores energy in your liver, fat cells and muscle. People with high insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle place more energy there as opposed to people who tend to store more energy in their fat cells. Optimizing your insulin usage is key to improving performance, and this can be done in part through diet; eating refined carbs is definitely not the way to go.

As you can see, the ability to gain muscle and lose fat is in great part already determined by your body’s genetics. If you’re not a natural athlete, trying to do so when it doesn’t accord with your P-Ratio can be an exercise in frustration.

Fibre, or roughage, is responsible for giving general overall health and a lack of it in your diet can lead to poor digestion, stomach problems and other related ailments. Fibre helps to push food through the digestive tract and eliminate waste effectively. If waste is not eliminated then undigested food can reside in the stomach and basically rot there and release toxins into your body.

Fibre also helps you to lose weight. You will not eat as much as when fibre reaches your stomach it will, effectively, act like a sponge soaking up water. Due to the fact that the fibre takes a longer period to break down than other food it will give you a feeling of fullness and satisfaction and, therefore, reduce cravings.

Most fibre rich foods are also very low in calories and very low in fat. Another benefit of these attributes is the prevention of cardiovascular disease which is caused by hardening of the arteries because of the consumption of high fat foods. Fibre rich foods are also high in vitamins and minerals which are essential for proper bodily functions.

Other diseases and ailments which fibre can help prevent because of its very effective elimination characteristics include bowel cancer, piles, constipation and improve overall digestion. A high fibre diet also aids in lowering bad cholesterol, soluble fibre has been proven to have cholesterol lowering properties.

The majority of people who eat a western diet do not eat enough fibre, the recommended daily guidelines suggest consuming between 10g to 25g. In countries where the western diet is not followed diets are high in fibre and the inhabitants tend to have less diseases than their western counterparts. In these countries the rate of coronary heart disease is also considerably lower than those countries where less fibre is eaten.

Which foods are the best sources of fibre? There is a large variety of foods including fruits, grains and vegetables, which will give you the recommended daily intake of fibre if incorporated into your diet. Wholegrain foods include wholegrain breads, muesli, baked beans, wholemeal pasta, brown rice, porridge, oatmeal, dried fruits, nuts and breakfast cereals such as Weetabix or Shredded Wheat. Fruits which are are a good source of fibre include apples, bananas, blueberries, pears, strawberries, raisins and oranges.

Some of the best high fibre vegetables include asparagus, broccoli, turnips, potatoes (jacket potato with skin), sweet potatoes, green peas, carrots, cauliflower and spinach.

When one switches to a high fibre diet there may be an increase in flatulence for a short period but this quite normal whilst the stomach adjusts to your new regime. The health and well-being benefits of eating a high fibre diet are many so make a start now and increase your daily intake of fresh fruit and vegetables and wholegrain foods, you will not regret it.

Did you know that nearly 40% of the population of US is classified as obese based on their body weight? With such alarming levels of obesity it is not surprising that weight loss and diet plans are one of the most hotly searched topics on the net. There are many different methods of weight loos and all have their various pros and cons. But briefly to lose weight, you will have to create a negative calorie balance. This means that you will have to expend more calories than you consume.

There are two methods of achieving weight loss- Consume less calories or burn more calories.

Most diets and weight loss plans will advice some sort of diet restriction. But we need to realise that extreme reduction in calorie intake is not beneficial for the body because the calorie consumption advised by these diets is very less to cater to the metabolic demands of the body.

One such diet is the so called 1000 calorie diet. This diet plan is severely limited in calories and nutrition. The energy provided by this plan will suffice only for those people who have bare minimum physical activity. Moreover, it is not suitable of all people, so it is of utmost importance to seek the advice of a doctor or health professional before embarking on this particular diet. Since the diet is so restricted in calories you have to be sure that your body is in a condition to go through with the diet. It is mostly recommended where quick results are expected, as in cases of morbid obesity with life threatening features or in preparation for surgery. It may also be suitable for people who have over indulged with food and would like to cleanse their system. No matter what the reasons are for going on this diet, it is not advisable to continue with the diet for a long time (not more than 3 days in a row). This plan is very deficient in calories and in the long run it will leave you undernourished.

There are a few other things which you must keep in mind while on this. Firstly drink plenty of water. Every time you go on a diet your body goes into an overdrive and starts burning calories. This leaves behind a lot of waste within the body. Drinking plenty of water will aid the flushing of these toxins. Secondly since this diet is so deficient in calories it is imperative to choose the ingredients carefully so as the get the full complement of vitamins and minerals required for the body.

Although there are many different versions of this diet plan with their different menus, those two important things above will be a good start. So what are you waiting for? Take action today.

When we talk about having an ideal weight, you will probably think of a person having a lean body. When we start talking about weight problems, a lot of people would start being offended. Maybe because being overweight is very normal these days. That is the reason why we do everything we could to just shrug some extra weight off. Colon cleansing is said to be a good answer for weight loss.

If you want to use colon cleansing for losing weight, you need to know about the correct steps to colon cleansing for weight loss. This will help you effectively lose that extra weight while cleansing the colon.

Below are the steps to colon cleansing for weight loss:

1. Determine you current weight. You need to know what you weigh in the current moment and how much you want to lose. That way, you will have a plan in performing the colons cleanse for weight loss.

2. There is an ideal weight for each age and gender. Your age, height and gender will tell you what your healthy weight should be. This will help you know how much weight you need to lose. Some people would determine their ideal weight themselves only to end up losing much more than what is required. You have to understand that being healthy is not just about being thin and slim. There is always an ideal weight for everyone.

3. The third step would be one of the most important steps to colon cleansing for weight loss. This is putting on a healthy diet. Here, you need to research for foods that are essential for your body. Since you are cleansing your colon, you will need only fresh fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber. You need to avoid any processed foods and meat. Always stay with fresh and nutritious foods. Be vegetarian. It is a very healthy diet which will help you maintain that ideal weight while also keeping your digestive tract free from any harmful toxins.

4. If you want to successfully perform colon cleansing, you can use cleansing supplements and products from the market. There are capsules and tablet form supplements that you can take together with your diet.

5. Drink lots of water during your cleansing. This is needed so that you will stay hydrated. Also, the water will push all the toxins out of the body. You can also drink fruit juices from the natural fruits. Avoid any processed and powdered juices for this because they do not carry the nutrients that you will need for the cleansing.

6. Make sure that you perform a regular exercise. Because you want to shrug some of that excess weight, you need to burn out the fat from your body. The cleansing will only take care of the toxins inside. With the outside weight that you want to remove, you need to work for it through exercising.

Those are the steps to colon cleansing for weight loss that you need to know. Make sure that you follow them all so that you can really lose weight as well as keep your colon healthy.

Weight is something that almost everyone struggles to maintain, but for many this seems nearly impossible. There are many diets that are willing to help you to lose weight, but there seems to be no education on how you can maintain your weight in the first place. Many people do not know why they are overweight, and if they could only understand what causes them to gain weight, then they could prevent it. Here are some of the causes of weight gain.

Empty Calorie Foods

Eating empty calorie foods, which are otherwise known as junk foods are one of the fastest ways to gain unwanted weight. These temptations are everywhere you go, and they will get you at the worst times, for when you need that boost of energy you cannot say no to these foods.

Overeating

Overeating will also cause you to gain excess weight. However, you should know that people do not just overeat due to lack of self-control, but it is often caused because the body is nutrient deficient. Thus the body continues to crave for more foods, even though the tummy is full. Saturated fats also contribute to overeating as they shut off the signal that tells the brain that you are full, and thus you keep eating even though you have had enough.

Animal Proteins

Animal proteins such as meat, dairy and eggs all contribute to weight gain as they are high in saturated fats, cholesterol and other substances which are foreign to the body. Anything that is foreign to the body will become toxic in the body and has to be neutralized with antioxidants before it can be eliminated. If you do not have the necessary antioxidants then these toxins become lodged in fat cells throughout the body. Thus these proteins contribute to weight gain.

Diseases

Diseases and treatments for the diseases may often contribute you gaining excess weight. This could either be just a side-effect of the treatments, or the fact that you are unable to get enough exercise.

Stress

Stress creates cortisol, which is a stress hormone that puts the weight on in your abdominal area. Thus by reducing or learning to manage stress can help you to achieve a flatter tummy.

Lack of Exercise

Exercise is very important if you want to be slim, and also retain all your muscles. But only that, exercise can also help you to increase your metabolism and burn off excess fat cells.