SO YOU are overweight. Have you been on a diet? Statistics say you probably have. Why did your last diet fail?
Nutritionist Donovan Grant notes that being overweight is a serious problem that is increasing in Jamaica.
Overweight is also associated with some very serious health consequences and disorders including diabetes, hypertension, and arthritis, to name a few.
To be at the best weight for your body type is not only a matter of appearance, it is also a matter of good health and economics.
It may be easy for you to restart your weight loss programme, but you are tired of the diets that make you so hungry, miserable and sugar-starving crazy.
Maybe you are thinking about using one of the diet drugs. If you are, think before you do.
There are many diet drugs on the market and many have side effects or even cause life-threatening conditions. There have been recent reports of vascular damage in patients taking Fen-phen, for example, for over one year.
Other side effects include stroke and hypertension which have also been reported. Also, there are some types of slimming pills which will suppress your appetite and make you feel full throughout the day.
However, these diet drugs can cause infertility if sufficient body mass is lost to decrease or stop menstruation.
There is also some speculation on the negative effects of these drugs on the kidneys. The kidneys are responsible for removing the diet drugs from the body after they have been absorbed from the intestinal tract.
The other question to be answered is: Is it going to be possible to suppress your appetite for the rest of your life? If your appetite comes back, so will your weight. You would have wasted your time and money. Can you afford it?
What is it about weight loss that makes us so hungry?
In order to lose weight, one must cut calories and run a caloric deficit. This happens naturally in most cases when we are sick. The appetite cuts, we eat less and the body is forced to take some food from the body. Hence, weight loss usually takes place.
On a regular weight loss programme, calories from food are usually reduced. However, better results can be obtained by doing calorie-burning (not muscle-building) exercises.
In order to lose one pound per week, one would have to run a caloric deficit of 500 calories per day. And to lose weight, one would have to force the body to eat some of the food you have in storage (your extra weight).
However, in most cases, the body is totally against doing this, so we get great resistance in the form of hunger, tummyaches and headaches.
It is natural that on a weight loss programme, you are going to feel hungry at times, especially in the first week. However, there are some simple and natural ways to reduce your appetite, while you do your weight loss programme:
Periodically squeeze a half lime in a glass of water and drink. Add a tip of salt in the lime water if it makes your body acidic.
Eat a number of very small meals over time, compared to fewer larger meals spaced further apart.
Put a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in water and drink.
Drink one glass of green juice (vegetable-based) in the morning and one glass of non-green juice (e.g. carrots) in the evening. This will nourish the body while we do our weight loss programme. You will feel less hungry if the body is properly nourished.
Try to be busy and engage yourself in as many activities as possible.
Most of all, be determined. You will succeed.
Information provided by Eden Gardens-based
nutritionist Donovan Grant.
Email: Donovang2000@yahoo.com
