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Step by Step - Healthy Weight Without Dieting

To achieve and maintain a healthy body requires consistent habits in three areas: nutrition, physical activity, and sleep. It may be difficult to eat correctly, exercise regularly, and get the proper amount of sleep in our fast-paced lives, but it is impossible if you don’t know exactly how. Here are the quick ABC’s and 123’s of how to do it.

A. NUTRITION

1. CALORIES IN = CALORIES OUT

It does not matter whether you are a pro athlete or a working mother raising a family of four, the rule of nutritional fuel is the same: CALORIES IN MUST EQUAL CALORIES OUT. A calorie is a measure of energy (actually heat). More specifically, according to the American Heritage Dictionary, it is a unit of energy-producing potential equal to this amount of heat that is contained in food and released upon oxidation by the body.

There it is again. Who knew? Even the dictionary explains a fundamental principle of weight management. Your body burns energy all day (even a little at night). Food is the energy. If you add too much energy (more than your body burns), your body will store it for use later (in fat cells). If you put in too little energy, your body will use the energy it stored earlier.

2. HOW MUCH TO EAT?

FIRST, CALCULATE YOUR TARGET DAILY CALORIE CONSUMPTION. How do you determine how many calories your body needs per day? The amount of energy your body needs each day is based on information like your age, height, weight, and typical daily activities. A health calculator, such as the SIMPLEBEAN HEALTH GUIDE (it’s FREE) for your Windows PC (download it at www.simplebean.com), can quickly calculate the calories in grams that your body needs per day and break them down into carbohydrates, proteins, and fats components. It will also tell your target weight for your age, height, and frame size.

As your weight drops, your calorie requirements change. Another factor in calorie requirements calculations, your activity level, tends to change as you see results from your new habits. Therefore, you should RECALCULATE YOUR TARGET DAILY CALORIE CONSUMPTION OFTEN. If you do not, you may find yourself over or under eating.

3. WHAT TO EAT?

First of all, let’s distinguish between diet and Diet. The lowercased diet refers to the usual food and drink consumed by a person as sustenance. The uppercased Diet refers to a plan with commercial value, promising quick and lasting results with little or no effort. Since we are here to learn how to eat correctly, we’ll talk about the lowercased diet.

Food calories are broken down into three major components: carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. A healthy diet is made up of the correct ratios of these components. For the purpose of this article, we’ll set that ratio at 50% carbohydrates, 30% proteins, and 20% fats. Your body may benefit from a slightly different ratio, but this is a great start. Use your health calculator to change these ratios later if you need.

a. CARBOHYDRATES

AT LEAST HALF OF YOUR DAILY CALORIES SHOULD COME FROM CARBOHYDRATES. Well, so much for the quick-fix, non-sustainable, low-carb Diet. Carbohydrates are your body’s preferred energy source. Carbohydrates are simple and complex sugars, starches, and dietary fibers. This group is made up of foods like fruits and vegetables; starches like potatoes, pastas, and rice; legumes like peas and beans; and grains like oatmeal, cereals, and breads.

Carbohydrates can be further divided into simple and complex carbohydrates. Simple carbohydrates like sugars are quickly absorbed, raising your blood sugar level, and thus your energy level. If this quick energy is needed for physical activity, that’s great. But if it is not, it becomes a signal for energy storage. You know what that can mean: fat cells.

Complex carbohydrates like OATMEAL, WHOLE-WHEAT BREADS AND PASTAS, AND BROWN RICE must be broken down before the energy is released. This provides your body with a slow and steady stream of energy. These carbohydrates tend to have more dietary fiber which helps control cholesterol and transports toxics out of your digestive system. Your diet should include 25 TO 35 GRAMS OF FIBER PER DAY.

Want to lose weight and get healthy? EAT AT LEAST TWO FRUITS AND TWO VEGETABLES EACH AND EVERY DAY. That is just the way it is. If you can eat more, that’s even better. You will not get fat from overeating fruits or vegetables. On the other hand, you will have a lot of trouble achieving a healthy weight without them.

b. FATS

YOU SHOULD PLAN FOR HEALTHY FATS TO TAKE UP ABOUT A FIFTH OF YOUR DIET. This may at first be a bit misleading. Fats are more than twice as energy dense as carbohydrates and proteins. Carbohydrates and proteins are about 4 calories to the gram. Fat weighs in at 9 calories per gram. So you should remember that a little goes a long way.

What is healthy about fat you ask? First, let’s not confuse fatty acids with fat cells. Fat cells are your body’s energy storage mechanism. Well before supermarkets and SUV’s, fat cells were a wonderful thing, allowing the human body to store excess food energy to survive the undeterminable lengths of famine between feasts. Today, these cells are not appreciated as they do their job around our midsections or thighs.

When we talk about fat in your diet, we are not talking about fat cells. We are talking about fatty acids which are an important part of your diet. They perform critical tasks within your body. Some are even essential. Strangely enough, these are called essential fatty acids.

There are good fats and bad fats. THE GOOD FATS, THE ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS, ARE MONOUNSATURATED FATS SUCH AS OLIVE OIL AND AVOCADOS AND POLYUNSATURATED FATS SUCH AS THOSE FOUND IN NUTS, SOYBEANS, AND FATTY FISH. You need these essential fatty acids in your diets.

The most commonly consumed fat, and a dangerous fat, is saturated fat. This is found in animal products, whole dairy products, and palm and coconut oils. Diets high in saturated fats are associated with higher risks of heart disease, stroke, and certain cancers. YOU SHOULD MINIMIZE SATURATED FATS. Trans-fatty acids are the other bad fats. COMPLETELY AVOID TRANS-FATS IF YOU CAN.

Trans fatty acids are found in commercially packaged goods such as cookies and crackers, commercially fried food such as french fries from some fast food chains, other packaged snacks such as microwaved popcorn, and in vegetable shortening and some margarines. If you see "partially-hydrogenated vegetable oils" or "shortening" on the package, it probably contains trans-fats.

c. PROTEINS

NEARLY A THIRD OF YOUR DAILY CALORIES SHOULD COME FROM PROTEINS. Protein rich foods include animal meats as well as some carbohydrates such as legumes, corn, and rice, and fats like nuts. Protein is what your body uses to build muscles and bone. Protein can also be broken down for energy. That is why low-carb Dieters typically lose muscle tone.

Red meats are typically high in saturated fats (minimize). Its consumption should be limited to a few times a month. CHICKEN IS A GREAT LOW FAT PROTEIN SOURCE. It is a favorite item for feeding lean muscles. COLD WATER FISH IS HIGH IN ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS. It is also a great protein source.

d. VITAMINS AND MINERALS

YOU SHOULD TAKE A GOOD NATURAL MULTIVITAMIN, not a cheaper drugstore brand typically made of synthetic vitamins. Your vitamins should come from natural sources such as fish oil for vitamins A and D, yeast or liver for the B vitamins, and rose hips or citrus for vitamin C. CAPSULES ARE THE BEST CHOICE IF AVAILABLE. They disperse the nutrients quickly unlike tablets that may pass though your entire system, never relinquishing all of their nutrients.

Calcium is an important mineral for both men and women. In addition to building strong bones and teeth, calcium has been shown to help prevent high blood pressure, heart attacks, and cancer. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium. Your body needs about 1000 mg of calcium each day. 16 OUNCES OF SKIM MILK AND A 500 MG CALCIUM SUPPLEMENT DAILY will meet your calcium requirements.

You need to be careful of your sodium intake. The recommended dietary allowance of sodium is 2400 mg. That is only about one teaspoon of table salt. As you know, sodium enhances flavor. You may be surprised at how much is in your favorite foods, even sweet foods. Canned soups, canned vegetables, and frozen dinners are often high-sodium meals.

e. WATER

How important is water to our diet? By weight, our body is about 72 percent water. Our blood, the very substance of our existence, is more than 83 percent water. Our brain is over 80 percent water.

YOU SHOULD DRINK ABOUT A GALLON OF WATER EACH DAY. Let the color of your urine be your guide: dark-yellow indicates too little, clear indicates too much, and pale-yellow is just right. Also, the colder the water, the more calories your body will burn just to heat it up to body temperature. That’s like getting something for free!

4. WHEN TO EAT?

EAT FOUR TO SIX MEALS PER DAY. Fewer meals per day encourage your body to store energy in fat cells for use later. (Sumo wrestlers eat two huge meals per day!). If you know how much to eat, and you eat more often during the day, your body will stop trying to store energy.

BREAKFAST REALLY IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY. Though your metabolism has slowed during the night, your muscles have not been fed for eight hours. Your body also uses energy to get started again. If you don’t supply this energy in the form of food, your body will have to breakdown tissue (usually muscle) for fuel.

YOU SHOULD INCLUDE PROTEIN IN EVERY MEAL. Among other things, protein feeds your muscles. As you will read later, keeping your muscles fed is a good thing.

MINIMIZE CARBOHYDRATES AND FATS IN THE LAST FEW HOURS BEFORE BED. You don’t need the energy because your body is already preparing for rest. You don’t want to risk triggering fat storage.

B. PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Eating a healthy diet will not do it all. You have fat cells inside your muscles (making them round and toneless) as well as outside your muscles. A proper diet will address the fat cells outside your muscles. Physical activity will target the fat cells inside your muscles. To make your muscles lean and strong, your body needs exercise.

REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY INCREASES YOUR METABOLISM. An increased metabolism burns more calories. Burning more calories is a good thing. As you replace those calories with good, healthy food, you will get leaner.

REGULAR PHYSICAL ACTIVITY MUST BECOME A HABIT. You should perform some type of physical activity every day for at least thirty minutes. On days that you do not exercise, at least take a walk, wash the car, or vacuum the house.

STRENGTH FOCUSED ACTIVITIES BUILD MORE MUSCLE. More muscles require more calories. With more muscles helping you, you will burn more calories, even when you are not being active.

Using dumbbells for an hour, three times a week will truly help you. Don’t worry about those muscles getting huge. Bodybuilders work long and hard to get their physiques. It will not happen to you accidentally.

IN ADDITION TO BURNING FAT, AEROBIC FOCUSED ACTIVITIES STRENGTHEN YOUR CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM. Three, 20-30 minute sessions per week get you in shape and keep you that way. Use the following formula to determine your target heart rate (beats per minute) during your aerobic activities: target = (220 – age) x 0.65.

C. QUALITY SLEEP

Sleep is an important part of weight maintenance. MOST PEOPLE NEED EIGHT HOURS OF UNINTERRUPTED SLEEP PER NIGHT. Getting too few hours of sleep can cause you to still feel hungry after you are full. Lack of sleep can also cause higher levels of insulin in your system which promotes fat storage.

Physical activity breaks down muscle tissue. Most of the muscle repair takes place while you sleep. This is another reason for that last meal of the day to include a good protein source.

Proper sleep is also a stress reliever. It is easier to deal with a stressful day after a full night of quality sleep. You will find that falling asleep after a stressful day is easier if you have consistent sleeping habits.

MAKE IT WORK!

You have just read a step by step guide to achieving and maintaining a healthy body. Follow these steps, and it will work! If you are not seeing results, go back with a pen and check off each item, one by one. If you reach a plateau and feel stuck, go back and see which items you may have relaxed.

IMPORTANT

The information in this article is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. If you have a medical problem or symptoms, consult your physician. Always consult your physician before starting a new diet or exercise regiment.

COPYRIGHT. 2004 fore royal, llc

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