Always look on the light side of life -
A slim, athletic and healthy body
Looking good comes from a healthy mind in a healthy body and also from a general feeling of well-being. But bad habits often stop us from looking as good as we could. A poor diet and too little exercise are the main enemies of health, beauty and a slim figure.
The Link between well-being and body weight
Calculate your personal ideal weight
The pressure of a society that equates slim with beautiful and successful is the driving force for many who desperately want to lose weight. Do not allow yourself to be led into temptation! What really counts is your ideal weight - within sensible limits, of course.
Nutrition experts now use the BMI (body mass index) to determine whether a person is overweight or underweight. In contrast to earlier formulas, this method does not work to the disadvantage of short people. For women, the BMI should be between 19 and 24; for men, between 20 and 25. However, very muscular people and the elderly may weigh a little more.
Body mass index
Would you like to know your BMI?
All you need is your weight and height:
Formula: BMI = weight : height (m)2
Excess weight is a health risk
Overweight people run the risk of falling victim to one of the many nutrition-related illnesses. Medical research has shown that increased cholesterol levels and raised blood pressure - and even some forms of cancer - can be ascribed to excess weight. In addition, the heart and blood vessels can be overstrained and become damaged.
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, fruit and vegetables. More than 55% of the daily energy requirement should come from these carbohydrates. But do be careful with simple carbohydrates from sugar - they raise rapidly 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.
Have you got a sweet tooth?
In contrast to 'bitter', 'salt' and 'sour', 'sweet' tickles our taste buds and gives us a feeling of well-being. With any diet that does not take account of your individual preferences, you will sooner or later 'backslide'. The products from Hermesetas help you to keep your long-term calorie intake at a reasonable level or even to reduce it - without having to cut out sweet foods and drinks.
Sweeteners help you to reach your ideal weight - and keep it
Long-term studies have proved time and again that sweeteners and food containing sweeteners not only play a part in achieving the desired weight loss but also help to maintain it. Control groups of test subjects who followed the same diet and exercise programme but did not use low-calorie products found it more difficult to maintain their weight loss afterwards.
Tips on Nutrition
To help you shed those pounds
Eat mainly complex carbohydrates, such as wholemeal products, potatoes, fruit and vegetables.
Cut down on fat by:
- Cooking without fat: baking, roasting, boiling, steaming.
- Using lean pâté and cooked meats. Cut off any visible fat from meat.
- Serving low-fat fish and poultry with skin removed.
- Using low-fat or fat-free milk products.
- Using less butter, margarine, oil, salad dressings, mayonnaise. Avoid nuts, ice cream and chocolate.
- Sweetening low-fat desserts with calorie-free sweeteners.
Drink a lot of fluids - but only the sugar-free kind, such as mineral water or 'light/ diet' drinks.Sweeten coffee or tea with sweeteners.
Don't make any total bans for yourself - becoming ravenously hungry is counterproductive.
And get those muscles moving! Keeping fit activates the metabolism and helps to lower the set point.
Don't be disheartened - small steps lead to big results. And even if you have a little lapse, it isn't going to stop you from reaching your ultimate goal.
Little steps that go a long way
| Every Day | Calories saved/ used per day |
Calories saved/ used per year |
Potential annual weight loss |
| Climb a flight of stairs | 5 | 1.825 | 240 g |
| Pull up five weeds from the garden | 5 | 1.825 | 240 g |
| Stand up and stretch 5 times | 8 | 2.920 | 380 g |
| Run on the spot for 1 minute after meals | 5 | 1.825 | 240 g |
| Brisk, 15-minute walk | 75 | 27.375 | 3.600 g |
| Don't butter your toast | 30 | 10.950 | 1.420 g |
| Drink one less beer | 100 | 36.500 | 4.740 g |
| A sugar-free soft drink instead of a “normal” one - twice a week | 13.520 | 1.750 g | |
| Use a sweetener instead of sugar in 3 cups of tea per day |
90 | 32.850 | 4.270 g |
| Source: ISA / Weight in Lb. Divide by 2.2] | |||
| (Figures stated are theoretical. Weight loss depends on individual factors and varies from person to person.) | |||
Questions about weight-watching
For questions on the subject of weight-watching, please use this link to Questions and Answers or contact us direct at our consumer service department.
E-Mail: info@hermesetas.com
