Many people who face obesity problems often think that the first thing I need to do is to starve myself and exercise vigorously to slim down and see the weight drop. Little do they know that this is a misconception because the essence of losing weight is to reduce fat
When we eat more than the amount that our body burns or uses, it will be stored as fat everyday until we gain weight and ultimately become obese. Thus, losing weight means you have to eliminate excess fat. Moreover, excess fat is also a dangerous threat as it clings to the skin layers and infiltrates various organs such as the liver, pancreas, intestines, and heart. The harmful side effects that come along with obesity include diseases like diabetes, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, and mental health issues, such as dissatisfaction with one’s own body or being judged by society.
Know how to replace fat with muscle
The goal of losing weight should be to reduce excess fat and replace it with muscle. The more muscle mass you have, the more you enhance the metabolic process to burn nutrients, especially fat. Thus, the food you consume will not accumulate and transform into excess fat, which causes weight gain. Therefore, losing weight isn’t about starving yourself to reduce the scale, as many people misunderstand.
The numbers on the scale cannot accurately measure proper weight loss but are merely a supplementary tool to let us know the overall weight change.
Clearing doubts on why “yo-yo” happens
Check if you have these behaviors:
- Exercising intensely
- Skipping meals occasionally
- Avoiding carbs and fats
- Eating only vegetables and fruits
- Etc.
When doing this consecutively, the body adjusts to get used to the food consumed. The metabolism slows down, leading to nutritional deficiencies, slimming down, losing a significant amount of muscle mass, and if you stop this behavior, your weight will quickly increase, encountering the “yo-yo” effect. Metabolism crashes, returning to being overweight as before, making it hard to lose weight, and it will take a long time for the body to normalize again.
Correct ways to reduce (fat) weight
Eat wisely
The principle is simple: “heavy in the morning, light at noon, avoid the evening, skip late-night”. Breakfast should be the main meal because it’s the start of energy consumption for the day. After a full breakfast, you will feel less hungry at lunch but should still eat half of what you had for breakfast. Dinner should be before 6 PM, focusing on vegetables, lean meats, fruits with less sugar, avoiding strongly-flavored foods, high-fat foods, and limiting high-sugar drinks each day. Try choosing plain water, Chinese tea, black coffee (no more than 1 glass per day), lemon water (without sugar), and go to bed around 10-11 PM. Try doing this every day, and your body will start to look firmer.
Exercise 30 minutes every day
Besides controlling your diet, exercising regularly will make the effects more visible, with fat decreasing and muscles taking their place. For those new to exercising, start with brisk walking, long strides, and arm swings, about 30 minutes consecutively for 5 days a week.
***Did you know… that walking fast for 1 hour or about 6 kilometers can burn up to 350 calories? Or you might try cycling, swimming, coupled with weight training to help improve your body’s metabolism.
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