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Health, Fitness and Nutrition Articles

Habits Not Diets
By Tom Venuto, GHF’s Fat Loss Expert

With swimsuit weather right around the corner, like many of us, you're 
once again faced with the daunting task of shedding the layers of 
flab we have accumulated over a long winter of eating and drinking.
Of course this comes as no surprise because removing our "winter 
coats" has become a ritual for us every spring. This year, instead 
of wondering "how can I get rid of this belly in time for the 
beach," why not ask yourself a totally different question: "How 
can I lose this excess baggage permanently so I don’t have to 
keep taking it off every year?"

If you are having a difficult time keeping fat off permanently, 
it is probably because you foster the entirely wrong attitude 
towards nutrition. For most of us, our idea of a summer shape-up 
program consists of jumping on the latest diet bandwagon, which 
we inevitably end up falling off of when the summer is over. 
Losing weight is easy; the hard part is keeping it off. Instead 
of looking for quick fixes, we need to focus on developing better 
eating and exercise habits that we can maintain for the long haul. 
Instead of going on and off diets, we need to completely change our 
approach and make exercise and good nutrition our way of life. 
Small changes in our daily habits, over time, can produce quantum 
changes in your body and your health.

The first habit you must develop is to keep track of your daily 
caloric intake. Calories do count! Human physiology dictates that 
losing fat is a simple matter of consuming fewer calories than you 
burn up. Too much of anything gets stored as fat. However, it is 
not necessary to starve yourself. In fact, you can actually eat 
more and still become leaner by eating small meals more frequently. 
Five small meals, each eaten three hours apart, will speed up your 
metabolic rate, allow your body to absorb and utilize more nutrients, 
stabilize blood sugar and insulin levels, and increase your energy 
levels. Most importantly, small frequent meals will decrease fat 
storage by controlling your portion size and never giving your 
body more calories than it can utilize in one sitting. 

The trick is to decrease your calories slightly below your 
maintenance level but not to cut them too far. Women can usually 
eat as many as 1400-1800 calories per day and men 2200-2600 per day 
and still lose body fat. Most diets are based on severe calorie 
restriction, often dipping well below 1000 calories per day. This 
approach may work initially, but it will never work in the long run. 
Many people believe that they can just skip meals or "starve the fat 
off" by hardly eating anything at all, but it’s not that simple. Your
body is an extremely efficient fat storing machine during times of 
famine or deprivation. The direct and unavoidable consequence of very 
low calorie diet is a reduction in lean body mass and a decrease in 
metabolic rate. When this occurs, your progress will grind to a 
screeching halt. Once this dreaded plateau strikes, most frustrated 
and discouraged dieters end up falling off the wagon and gaining 
all the weight back.

The next habit is to divide your calories into the correct portions 
of protein, carbohydrates and fats. Each meal should contain 
approximately 30% of the calories from lean proteins and 55% 
from natural complex carbohydrates. The remaining 15% will come 
from fat. For high energy levels, your best sources of carbs 
include 100% whole grain cereals and breads, potatoes, yams, brown 
rice, oatmeal, beans, legumes, vegetables and fruits. Great sources 
of protein for muscle development include egg whites, lowfat dairy 
products, chicken, turkey, fish and lean cuts of red meat. Fats 
should be kept to a minimum, but cutting all the fat out is not 
necessary. Essential fatty acids are just as important as amino 
acids, vitamins and minerals. Your diet must contain a wide 
variety of natural, unrefined foods. The less processed your 
food choices are, the better; eating foods in their natural 
state the way they came out of the ground is ideal. 

Plan on losing weight slowly. Everyone wants fast results, but 
you can’t undo a lifetime of inactivity and poor nutrition 
overnight. If you lose weight at a rate of 1-2 lbs. per week 
you will be more likely to keep it off permanently. Many diet
programs promise rapid weight loss. High protein, low-carbohydrate 
diets for example, can take off pounds very quickly, but much of 
the weight loss consists of water and muscle. Instead of worshipping 
the almighty scale, measure your progress in terms of body composition. 
Use your bodyfat percentage as the ultimate yardstick of your success. 
This will help you distinguish between fat weight and muscle weight. 
It does you no good to lose 5-6 lbs. per week if it is mostly muscle!

Arguably, the most important habit of all is exercise. Nutrition is 
only half the battle; the other half is working out. Cardiovascular 
exercise is the real secret to burning bodyfat. Aerobic activities 
such as bicycling, walking, jogging, stair-climbing, cross country 
skiing and rowing are all terrific fat burners. Shoot for at least 
thirty minutes, three to five times per week for optimal results. 
Weight training is also essential because the more lean muscle 
tissue you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate will be. 
In other words, by developing more muscle, you will be burning more 
body fat all day long, even when you’re not working out. 

It is human nature to look for quick fixes. However, when it comes 
to fat loss, there are no shortcuts. It is easy to fall for the 
hottest diet craze, the newest workout gizmo, the trendiest class 
or the latest miracle pill, but the results they produce are often 
short-lived at best. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably 
is. Short-term diets never work! Dieting for a few weeks or months 
just to get in shape for summer, only to put the weight right back 
on makes absolutely no sense at all! Get off the diet roller coaster 
once and for all by developing habits that you will be able to 
maintain for the rest of your life. If may take a little more 
discipline, patience and hard work this way, but it the end it 
will all be worth it.

Article courtesy of Global Health and Fitness
 

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