I recently heard a woman tell a friend of hers that although she was trying to stay on a calorie restricted diet, she felt that when she went off of her diet more, she lost more weight. Although she was on the right track, her observation that eating more meant more weight loss has the potential to get this woman into big trouble if she chooses the wrong foods while trying to lose weight. In our not too distant past, prehistoric man often was subjected to feast (when there was a good hunting and gathering season) or famine (when droughts, insects or other problems killed crops) in their world. When times were good, prehistoric man and woman packed ate large amounts of food and packed on the pounds. Remember too that they didn’t have refrigerators and microwaves and other means of storage other than salting and drying. So, to make a long story short, our bodies are geared to jealously guard those extra pounds in “good times” (what we experience all of the time with modern grocery stores and restaurants) and use them during times of famine to keep the person alive. If we drop below, what your body thinks is “starvation” level by eating too few of calories, then your body slows down weight loss. This is why the lady is right that when she eats more, she also loses more. Where this can go very wrong though is with the daily food choices that she might make. If she adds ice cream and sweets to her “starvation” diet, she will not lose weight. Instead, she will probably begin gaining weight even though she thinks she is eating very little. To avoid this problem, the lady should monitor the types of foods she eats and eat more helpings of green vegetables to fill her body and keep it thinking that the good times will continue to keep rolling on. In this way, if she monitors her total calories but eats a healthy amount of food, the weight will continue to drop off as she desires.
With diets like Atkins and South Beach, you may think that cutting back on carbs is the answer to losing weight. While some people do lose weight on diets like these, the reason is because they have also cut back on calories at the same time. The secret to losing weight is simple – eat fewer calories each day and increase your level of exercise. While you shouldn’t go below 1200 calories per day or your body will go into “starvation” mode, cutting back to a reasonable level of carbs for your sex and body type will allow you to lose weight if you consistently stick with your plan. Eat smaller portions of lean meats, darker fruits (like cherries, blueberries, etc.), green, yellow and green leafy vegetables and get whole grains into your diet and you will lose weight. Keep track of your calories so that you know how much fuel you are putting into your body. Increase your exercise so that you are getting an extra 1/2 hour to 45 minutes more activity per day than you are currently are getting. This will begin healthy weight loss that goes off and stays off.
For many people, preventing weight gain as the years go by is a challenge. This can be because we become more sedentary and get less exercise, we have poor eating habits (like continuing to eat burgers and fries as we did in our 20′s) or because as our body ages, we lose muscle mass and our bodies require fewer calories so more is stored as fat. Some people can actually eat very little, yet still gain weight because the body goes into “survival” mode and begins to store fat to help the body stay alive. So, the solution? Take a hard look at your eating habits and determine how many calories you are eating a day. You can do this by keeping a food journal where you write down everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) that goes into your mouth for a couple of weeks. After you have your daily intake recorded, get a calorie guide and figure out how many calories you are eating. Many people underestimate the amount of calories they eat in a day so this is a great place to start. Most adult women in their 50′s can get by just fine on 1400 to 1800 calories per day depending on how physically active they are. Once you know how many calories you are currently eating, it is much easier to determine how many calories would help you lose weight. Weight gain is a matter of simple arithmetic. You must burn more calories than you take in. The best way to lose weight is steadily and gradually. Shoot for eating 300-500 less calories and increasing your exercise by 200-400 extra calories per day. This will help you lose a half of a pound per week as long as you stick to your plan of less going into your mouth and more daily exercise for your body . Just like the turtle, slow and steady wins the weight loss race.
A great lunch alternative for those trying to lose weight is to replace the bread with large lettuce leaves. Wash the leaves thoroughly and then fill with your favorite meats, fish, cheese and veggies. A big plus is that these sandwiches are not only healthy and low calorie, but they also taste good and fill you up. Experiment with different fillings to add variety to your lunch menu.
