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There are endless reasons why people gain weight. The reasons can range from simply overeating and not getting enough exercise to burn off the calories from the food to as complicated as being passed from one generation to the next genetically.
To have a true understanding of how a person will lose weight, you first have to understand why you gain weight. Next I am going to describe some of the reasons why people gain weight.
Calories We Consume: Don't Eat More Than You Can Burn The simplest reason why we gain weight is that we consume more food, giving us more calories, than we can use in one day. Anytime you eat anything your body converts the food into sugars. This is something our bodies have learned to do over the millions of years the human species has existed. Your body knows that it must store excess 'energy' so if food is scarce the body can keep functioning. If, for some reason, food is no longer available the body draws upon the resources of sugar to provide fuel for our bodies. This meant that if a human had to continue to hunt and forage for food their body would be able to perform everything they asked of it.
The advantage our predecessors had over us is that they had to work very hard to find food so that excess fat was burned off very rapidly. That meant that they didn't experience the same problems with obesity that we do Today, for most of us, food is readily available, so we can over eat and indulge ourselves. This means that now we must find ways to burn off the extra calories to allow us to maintain our weight. When we understand how the body stores and burns fat we then have the tools to understand how not to gain weight. Our society and our standard of living has made it too easy to eat too much, too often.
4 Reasons For Weight Gain:
(1) Low Metabolism
Whether you have a slow, normal or fast metabolism can be attributed partly to genetics. However we can increase our metabolism by taking some simple steps.
When you can't remember why you exercise just think about this, muscles burn fat and they continue to burn fat after you have finished your exercise. That's right our muscles are like having a fat burning furnace inside our bodies. When you sit all night in front of the TV or computer your muscles are not burning any fat which also means that your body isn't burning any calories. The result is that the calories our muscles should be burning, but aren't because we are sitting around, are now turned into fat by our bodies. This is exactly what we don't want.
If you exercise the following occurs:
You build and/or tone your muscles.
The muscles in your body need fuel so they burn the stored fat.
As you exercise you raise your heart rate which is beneficial to your entire body.
You finish your exercise but your muscles continue to require fuel so they continue to burn the stored fat. When you are active your entire body benefits, heart, lungs, muscles, joints, and mind, and all this will increase your metabolism which makes it easier for you to lose weight.
To Increase Your Metabolism:
Start out with an exercise routine that lasts 20 minutes and repeat the routine 3 times a week. This will begin to raise your metabolism and get you on the right path to lose weight.
Portion control. We have developed a distorted concept of the amount of food that we should consume at each meal. To make it easy always think smaller. Begin to plan for 5-6 small meals a day. The plan would include a healthy breakfast, then a small healthy snack, lunch, another small snack and then a healthy dinner. The healthy snacks will keep your metabolism at a good rate and will also prevent you from having a craving to go get something sweet and unhealthy.
EAT!!!! Never starve yourself because you will force your body to go into
‘starvation mode’. We spoke briefly about this but it bears repeating, if your body senses that it is not receiving adequate nourishment it will begin to store fat. This is a recipe for disaster if you are trying to lose weight. Your body will win and the pounds will not come off.
Walk. At every opportunity find a reason to walk. It can be as simple as parking your car far away from the building you work in so your walk is long or you can walk up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. Be creative and find opportunities to walk. If you can schedule the time a 30 minute walk at least three times a week will work wonders for your health and metabolism.
Never and I mean NEVER skip breakfast. Your body has been resting and repairing for the last 8 hours and now it needs fuel to get you going for the day. Take the time to plan a healthy breakfast and don't settle for the easy route of grabbing a donut or other pastry.
Understand your eating habits. How and what you eat will determine, to a large extent, your ability to lose weight. Do you sit down for a huge dinner loaded with carbs, fats and sweets? At meal time do you have a smaller portion of lean meats, veggies and carbs? Do you take your time enjoying your meal or do you eat as fast as you can? Examine your patterns of eating and see which patterns you can alter the easiest and then begin making the necessary changes.
(2) How You Eat
What does a typical meal look like? Is your plate filled with fatty foods that are high in calories? These foods are difficult for your body to utilize and you put yourself at a greater risk of the FATAL FOUR if this type of food is on you plate. Examples would be deep fried foods, fast food French fries, rich creamy sauces.
Are you a fast eater? The rate at which you eat your dinner is important. If you eat too fast your brain does not get the signal that you are full until you have over eaten. The easiest method to slow yourself down at a meal is to put your fork down between bites. Take the time to taste your food and enjoy what you are eating before you pick up your fork for more.
When you take your time to chew your food that allows the saliva in your mouth longer to break down the food. Give your body every chance it has to break down the food and extract all the nutrients it can.
Portion size: Eat smaller but more often. We discussed this earlier; you can increase your metabolism by giving it a constant source of fuel to break down. It is also easier on your stomach and digestive system to have smaller amounts of food to break down. Be nice to your body and it will pay you huge dividends.
(3) Genetics
What you family has given you to work with: It is true that genetics play a role in a person's ability to gain or lose weight but genetics are not the entire story. By taking the right approach you can make sure your body is nourished and healthy and not gain weight despite what your parents and grandparents look like. Your genetics play a role in determining your metabolism and your tendency to gain weight but do not let this stop you from taking the steps you need to live as healthy a life as possible. Remember, this is your life so you are responsible for taking care of yourself.