Fat Facts: Wisdoms on Weight That May Surprise You
There’s no need to struggle your way through the latest fad diet or spend a small fortune on miracle diet pills or formulas. The key to losing weight is to understand some of the real reasons behind why you pack on the pounds.
Here are some fat facts and wisdom on weight that could change the way you view your weight loss efforts.
Stress Can Cause Weight Gain
When you’re in the middle of a stressful situation, your body releases a flood of cortisol into your system. Cortisol triggers your body to begin storing extra fat to help you survive the stressful situation.
If you don’t find positive ways to manage stress levels, it’s possible that being stressed all the time could be contributing to your weight gain. Find some time to take a yoga class to learn how to control stress and reduce cortisol levels.
Yoga is ideal for toning muscles and building core strength at the same time as reducing stress levels. Research also shows that yoga can promote a sense of relaxation as well as improve flexibility and mobility. The same research also indicates that people who practice yoga could also reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression, as the gentle form of exercise can also trigger your body’s natural response to release endorphins.
Low-fat Diets Could Make You Fatter
Buying low-fat meals or food options in an attempt to lose weight could be working against you. Many foods labeled as being ‘low-fat’ contain much higher levels of sugar that could increase your cholesterol levels and boost your risk of having a heart attack.
Read the label on pre-packaged “low-fat” meals or snacks and check the amount of added sugar and salt in the package. Then think about choosing healthy food options that don’t contain hidden sugars that could sabotage your weight loss efforts. Add more fresh fruits and vegetables into your meal plans and learn to make simple meals and snacks where you can control the amount of sugar you’re really eating.
Replacing Fat with Muscle
It’s common for many dieting tips to advocate replacing fat with lean muscle. However, the advice leads some people to believe that the fat magically disappears and new muscle emerges. In reality, you still have the same amount of fat and muscle as you always had. You’re simply reducing the size of those fat deposits and increasing the tone of your muscles.
Other people take the advice to mean that fat somehow weighs more than muscle. In reality, they weigh exactly the same.
Think about this: one pound of fat weighs exactly the same as one pound of lean muscle. They still both weigh one pound, just as one pound of feathers weighs exactly the same amount as one pound of bricks. However, one pound of flabby, dimply fat has greater size and mass than one pound of taut, trim, lean muscle.
If you work on building muscle tone as part of your weight loss efforts, it’s possible to tone up and trim down a couple of dress sizes without shifting the numbers on your bathroom scale. The difference is that you’re replacing fat with newly-created lean muscle, which makes you look and feel much healthier overall.
Short-term Weight Loss vs. Long-term Weight Loss
Lots of people work on ways to lose an extra pound or two before a special occasion or to fit into a favorite outfit before a date. Sites like Vixen Daily publish quick tips for losing a few extra pounds easily without the need for joining a gym.
However, shedding a couple of extra pounds now and then isn’t the same thing as aiming at losing weight through a healthy, long-term weight loss plan. Following special diets for a few days or a week might result in losing a few pounds on the bathroom scale quickly.
What you may not realize is that you could be losing muscle mass and fluid. You’re not actually losing any fat. The moment you stop your special diet and go back to your regular eating habits, you’ll put all the weight you lost right back on again.
The key to long-term weight loss that stays off for good is to work on developing a healthy lifestyle. Make smart food choices and watch your portion control. Get a little more physical activity into each day and do some simple exercises that tone your muscles. You should find the weight comes off more easily and stays off.
Megan Holt is a researcher at heart and is always on a quest for knowledge. She writes about women’s lifestyle topics whether it’s dating or dieting.
