Steps that only you can take
Diets make you fat!
Today's nutrition experts know that those who diet frequently are not only more susceptible to eating disorders, but also put weight on again after every slimming diet. After a few weeks, they very often weigh even more than they did before the diet. And so begins the vicious circle, for the stricter the diet, the greater the response of the metabolism when normal eating patterns are resumed - the body stores extra fat against the 'lean' times ahead.
Lowering the set point
After a (possibly unsuccessful) diet there comes a point when the weight levels off. Doctors call this the 'set point'. It is all a matter of lowering this set point - continuously and in the long-term - until the ideal weight is reached. Those who eat more than the body uses in energy will inevitably put on weight, day by day, week by week, year by year. The only way to maintain weight loss successfully is a long-term change in eating habits coupled with a metabolic rate that burns more fat than it stores.
Many overweight people have a particularly economical metabolism which stores every excess calorie as fat.
Changing the habits of a lifetime
The only successful way to take weight off and keep it off in the long term is if the necessary changes can be comfortably incorporated into your normal lifestyle. The more you go without something, the greater the craving for it becomes. Therefore you should allow yourself your favourite foods now and again and make a deliberate point of enjoying them. The following are little changes you can make to your daily routine that are particularly beneficial on the road to the new, slim-line you.
Cut out fat as far as possible
Fat makes you fat - too much of it and your already overtaxed metabolism gives up and you become a couch potato: you have no energy for sport or exercise, muscles waste away and the fat piles on.
Eat complex carbohydrates
Carbohydrates satisfy hunger, raise the spirits and give the metabolism a kick-start. The effect is particularly good with complex carbohydrates in wholemeal products, potatoes, pulses, fruit and vegetables. More than 55% of the daily energy requirement should come from these carbohydrates. But do be careful with carbohydrates from white flour and sugar - they raise the blood sugar level and also activate enzymes that can fill the lipocytes and trigger hunger.
Exercise - nature's own 'happy pill'
When you exercise, you get your metabolism going and release 'happy hormones' in the brain that make you feel good. You should allow yourself fifteen minutes of physical activity a day. Choose something that you will enjoy - no matter what the weather - and you will be much more likely to stick to it. Muscles also burn up calories and if you can increase your muscle mass by 1 kilo, that extra muscle will burn up between five and ten kilos of body fat a year.
