There is a way to lose weight, but it takes time, motivation and some basic food facts. Here is an approach based on nothing but pure science...
First of all, are you genuinely overweight, or just wanting to lose some fat from selected areas of your anatomy? Don’t mess with Mother Nature, if she gave you big bones and upholstery to match - it was for a reason.
The Importance of the Hip to Waist Ratio
- Measure your hips at the broadest point, and then your waist at the slimmest point. Pull the tape measure fairly tight - but not to stretching point.
- Relax normally before taking the measurements. Do not pull in (or push out) those tummy muscles!
- Divide the result for the waist by that for the hip and you have your personal Waist/Hip ratio, which should be no more than 0.85 for females and 0.9 for males.
- If it is much bigger than this, you are overweight in at least one area, and the medical profession agrees this “apple shape” is a strong predictor for poor heart health for adults, whatever their gender or race (1).
Why Do We Become Overweight?
The most likely reason is that the energy consumption from our diet is consistently greater than our energy expenditure - both physical and mental. There are a few other reasons for being overweight, such as:
- Hormonal problems caused by thyroid and adrenal disorders, but these are relatively rare and can be picked up in a specific blood test if you suspect a problem.
- The onset of the menopause in females causes a sudden fall in oestrogen levels and a tendency for fat to move from the hips to the waist, but weight gain as such is not inevitable but read on...
- As we get older, our metabolic rate drops slowly, so that there is a need for less food as our muscle mass falls. If we exercise less at the same time, the weight will pile on. This applies to both men and women.
- Obesity does seem to run in families. The tendency for children to put on weight depends on family patterns of eating and exercise. Some children survive better than others to the temptations of the current “obesogenic environment”, surrounded by a surplus of snack foods and large portions. Place a child in a different family setting, and the trend will reverse. So much depends on parental example. The rise in the prevalence of obesity in children has happened too fast for it to be caused by a sudden change in our genetic make-up (2)
The answer is to try to keep our bodies within a strict energy balance, just like a bank account...
A Financial Overview of Weight-loss
If you have a swollen overdraft, your bank will offer advice and suggest keeping an eye on your expenses for a few months. They will need to know how much you earn and what you are spending before mapping out a suitable strategy. Existing financial problems would have to be declared and any areas of heavy spending highlighted. A new weekly and monthly budget would be needed!
If you speak to a doctor or dietician about losing weight, they will follow a similar train of thought:
- Exclusion of other health problems before suggesting a realistic weight-reducing regime.
- Keep a food and exercise diary to monitor your intake and activity levels.
- Suggest a list of foods to eat - and a list of foods to avoid.
You guessed it – cut down on surplus fats, sweet sugars and alcohol (the nice things) and increase your intake of whole-grains, pasta, fruit, vegetables and lean meat ( the sensible things).
In addition, try cooking “from scratch” for a change, but avoid frying foods. Finally, discuss a sensible exercise regime which is within range and easy to follow week by week.
The Relationship Between Exercise and Weight-Loss
Cutting back on food intake is a more effective method of weight loss compared to taking exercise.
To burn off a pound (450g) of fat requires approximately 3500kcals of energy expenditure, which is equivalent to the energy consumed by a healthy active adult in one day. So starving for a day will lose you a pound of fat? Not a good idea.
Over 2 weeks, 60mins brisk walking per night (approx 250kcals), will add up to 3500kcals, assuming you do not increase your food intake afterwards! This is still a lot of exercise for most people to fit into their daily routine, and not a huge amount of fat lost by way of a reward.
The best solution is to combine gentle exercise with a reduction in calorie intake. Eating 250kcals less per day adds up to a 3500kcal deficit over 14 days, and once again that adds up to a pound of fat (3). You can find 250kcals anywhere in the kitchen, eg 50g (half a bar) of chocolate!
The Ultimate Solution?
After a few weeks you can use a bit more science to monitor any changes. Get on the bathroom scales and use Newton’s Law of Gravity to convert your body mass into the physicist's unit of weight calculated by multiplying your mass in kilograms by the Earth's gravitational field. Now travel to the moon where you can lose "weight " due to reduced gravity...but your mass will stay exactly the same. Nice try!
References
- Yusuf S, Hawken S, Ounpuu S. (2005). Obesity and the risk of myocardial infarction in 27,000 participants from 52 countries: a case control study. The Lancet Vol 366 1640-49).
- The Oxford Handbook of Nutrition and Dietetics (2006). Oxford Medical Publications.
- Bean A. (2006) The Complete Guide to Sports Nutrition. A & C Black, London.
 |
