Nutrition and Weight Loss Ideas

What Makes Us Fat?

How was your weekend. I know mine was very productive. Got a lot of work done and made some headway on new ventures. I’ll add some links about those once they’re ready.

So, where are we?

So far we’ve talked about how much water we drink, how many miles we walk, what effect genetics might play, how getting older might play a role in our nutrition and weight loss goals, what that awful junk food will do to us, our need to avoid calorie-rich foods, how eating out can be fun if we use some caution about what we order and how much we eat, how alcoholic drinks can have a major effect on the size of our waistlines, what it can mean if we don’t pay attention to the details on those food labels, and how not getting enough exercise can show up on our waistlines in a hurry.

Let’s talk a little bit about weight gain in women. One of the times when women have a strong tendency to gain weight is when they’re pregnant.

There is a reason for that, you know, and some weight gain is necessary. When a woman is pregnant they need some extra fat to protect their baby and they also need plenty of nutrients to keep the baby healthy.

The problem comes in when a woman uses their pregnancy as an excuse to eat unhealthy food. This will happen with those cravings that often occur during pregnancy. You know the kind — “Oh, honey, please go get me some ice cream, dill pickles, potato chips and a bag of french fries.”

There isn’t much in that list that will do anything as far as the nutritional needs of the mother or her baby. Yes, those items will provide some fat, but all the wrong kinds.

Check in with your doctor if you’re pregnant. The doctor should be able to tell you, in specific terms, what a safe weight gain will be for you based on your current weight, your body type, and your diet. For example, a woman of normal weight and normal height should gain around 25 to 35 pounds during pregnancy. This extra weight will get distributed throughout the body. It will go to places like the breasts, the placenta, and some of it will also be “water weight” which will be lost when the baby is delivered.

The point here is to remember that even if you are pregnant, you still need to follow a good, healthy nutrition and weight loss program. You still need to stay away from the simple carbohydrates and pay attention to the type of fats you eat. You’ll be much healthier and so will your baby if you don’t stray from your program.

Pregnancy is also a good time to add a nutritional supplement to your diet, if you’re not already doing so. I highly recommend the products from the company where I get mine. (See the box below.)

Until then, remember to follow a good-fat — good-carb diet and stay with your regular exercise.

Here is some information about the nutritional supplements I add to my nutrition and weight loss program. These have helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I’m not kidding. Click on the links in the box below — you won’t be sorry!

Have a great day. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more nutrition and weight loss thoughts for you.

And give the South Beach Diet a try. That’s what I follow. Here’s where to go to learn more:

Shanti,

Ron
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What Makes Us Fat?

What makes us fat?

So far we’ve talked about how much water we drink, how many miles we walk, what effect genetics might play, how getting older might play a role in our nutrition and weight loss goals, what that awful junk food will do to us, our need to avoid calorie-rich foods, how eating out can be fun if we use some caution about what we order and how much we eat, how alcoholic drinks can have a major effect on the size of our waistlines, and yesterday, what it can mean if we don’t pay attention to the details on those food labels.

(Have you noticed how long that paragraph is getting? I do that just in case you’ve missed a couple of days so you can go back and read.)

Now for today — let’s focus on how much exercise we get.

Lack of exercise is just one of the many reasons why we are getting so fat in this country. We spend way too much time on our butts — and not enough time doing the things that will help us to burn off some of those calories.

When you think about what happens in the average home in the USA at the end of a normal workday —

(1) — We get home.
(2) — For many of us we make a drink, have a glass of wine, or have a beer to help us relax after a hard work day.
(3) — For many of us (even if we don’t make a drink) we have a snack before dinner.
(4) — Again, for many of us, while we’re sipping our drink and having our snack, we begin the preparation for our big meal of the day. (Even though the snack will often fill us up.)
(5) — Then we eat the dinner — and it’s usually the largest meal of our day.
(6) — Then, for many of us, we settle down with a full belly, very relaxed because we have a drink in us, and we sit and watch TV until its time to go to bed.

Now, I used the phrase “for many of us” because I do know the above routine is not the same in every household. In fact, in some households, particularly those who farm for a living, the “big meal” is eaten at lunchtime. with only a “supper” after the workday is done.

The main point here is that we tend to live very sedentary lives. In fact that is the rule, rather than the exception, in the United States.

When we don’t get enough exercise, our metabolism slows down and our bodies cut way back on the calorie-burning when we’re at rest. When you don’t burn the calories, your body will automatically start to store those extra calories as fat, and you’ll gain weight. Not only that, but if you don’t exercise, your body will begin to break down your muscles — and you need those muscles to burn fat. The cycle then replays — lack of muscle-mass causes the metabolism to slow down even more — and on and on and on.

You see, if you are an active person, and you get plenty of exercise, your metabolism will keep your calorie-burning furnace working even when you’re not exercising and your nutrition and weight loss objectives will be reached.

So, up and at ‘em folks — let’s go for a walk!

I’ll be back the first of the week.

Until then, remember to follow a good-fat — good-carb diet and stay with your regular exercise.

Here is some information about the nutritional supplements I add to my nutrition and weight loss program. These have helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I’m not kidding. Click on the links in the box below — you won’t be sorry!

Have a great day. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more nutrition and weight loss thoughts for you.

And give the South Beach Diet a try. That’s what I follow. Here’s where to go to learn more:

Shanti,

Ron
_______________________________________________________________________________

What Makes Us Fat?

What Makes Us Fat?

So far we’ve talked about how much water we drink, how many miles we walk, what effect genetics might play, how getting older might play a role in our nutrition and weight loss goals, what that awful junk food will do to us, our need to avoid calorie-rich foods, how eating out can be fun if we use some caution about what we order and how much we eat, and yesterday, how alcoholic drinks can have a major effect on the size of our waistlines.

Today I want to revisit a topic that I’ve talked about rather frequently in these articles — Reading Food Labels

I guess my mantra is something like this:

Just as an example — the other day I made the mistake of NOT reading the food label on a product. I try really hard to avoid products that have a lot of sugar in them, and I am also careful to stay away from anything that has bad fats in the ingredients.

There I was in the “health food” section of a large supermarket and saw a package of “Sugar-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies”.

Oh, my!

Back in the days when I was busily putting a rather sizeable spare tire of fat around my middle, I was an avid “cookie-monster” — especially when it involved a chocolate-chip cookie. I loved them!

So, to find a chocolate-chip cookie that was SUGAR-FREE was the ultimate discovery — so I bought them — and I did so without taking a minute to read the label.

When I got home — and after eating a few of these cookies (they really tasted quite good, by the way!) — I noticed that the hydrogenated fat content was much higher than good health would allow. Since I also try to avoid anything that isn’t whole wheat, this package of cookies also lost in that regard — they were made from the usual enriched, bleached flour.

No — I didn’t eat any more of them! But, I should have read the label.

For anyone who is working on their nutrition and weight loss goals, not knowing what the calorie count is for the food they are consuming is a pretty silly way to meet your goals.

If you don’t read the labels, how do you know if the food you’re buying is even healthy? Just because the big print on the package says “fat-free” or “sugar-free” doesn’t mean a hill of beans if you don’t check the label to see the calorie count or how many other refined carbohydrates there are.

And when you look at the list of ingredients, pay attention to how long the list is. Those really long lists are a major clue that there’s a bunch of glop in that product. And — if you can’t pronounce most of the ingredients, then you’re probably better off just not eating them at all.

So, why not adopt my mantra — you will lose weight!

I’ll be back on the weekend.

Until then, remember to follow a good-fat — good-carb diet and stay with your regular exercise.

Here is some information about the nutritional supplements I add to my nutrition and weight loss program. These have helped me more than I would have ever imagined. I’m not kidding. Click on the links in the box below — you won’t be sorry!

Have a great day. I’ll be back tomorrow with some more nutrition and weight loss thoughts for you.

Shanti,

Ron
_______________________________________________________________________________