How to help my body lose weight?

How to help my body lose weight?

That constant question keeps spinning in my head. Round and round it goes, on the weekend when I am having a barbeque with family and friends; on a night out with the girls and whenever there food is in my plate. I can’t remember when was it the last time I enjoyed a good meal without thinking that I might put on more weight. I keep thinking of taking on diet but chicken out specially when I remember the feeling of disappointment I get when I fail after putting so much effort in it: That kills me.

What do I do to lose those extra pounds?

I try and try but nothing ever seems to work. What’s even worth is that I know that my life could be so much better on so many ways if I shed some weight but whenever there is a good show on TV for some odd reason I grab whatever I can chew on and sail away.

Recently, I was checking the web for more ideas on ways on how to lose weight and came across this interesting finding: it is not what you eat, it is when you eat it that counts!

Apparently and to my surprise that was confirmed in a recent study (Nov. 2012) carried out at the university of Pennsylvania under one Garret FitzGerald MD, FRS director of the Institute of Translational Medicine and Therapeutics, Perelman School of Medicine.

This study astonished everyone, myself included:  it revealed that there seems be a clock in our fat cells and if this clock is altered or changed the fat cells favor storing its energy intake rather than consuming it. In other words, it is when you eat which matters the most or in layman’s terms: don’t stay up late, and if you do, mind what you eat particularly sugary food because it will be automatically stored in your body as fat.  It appears that when typical daily rhythm is broken changes in metabolism happen; it is related to night-eating syndrome in humans described way back in 1950s by Penn Albert Stunkard.

Mmm, interesting but I didn’t fully understand that!

Since I don’t settle down that easily I had to google it; I needed to fully understand the link between that clock and the food I am eating.

And there it was like a bright star in the middle of a cloudless night: Energy intake = internal heat produced + external work + energy stored. When there is an imbalance between intake and expenditure, it results in energy being stored and since our fat cells’ clock is programmed to unleash energy in day time (as default setup): it tends to store the rest of the energy as fat ( in the night time) since there is no need to consume any more energy…well there you have it.

Frustrating as it was

I am a night owl. I usually stay up late watching TV or surfing the internet,  and to an extent I am the walking definition of night-eating syndrome! I was determined to find a way to make use of that tip. I googled and googled, and finally found some tips that make  sense on how lose weight while avoiding extreme diets that rarely work.

How to burn fat cells and avoid adding new ones?

As I am a not a rich woman: I don’t have someone to cook for me I made a list of what to eat and when to eat it - based on the information I collected from different resources - and most of all why?

1^st Food

Breakfast

Eat. As many egg whites as you can but stick to one egg yolk to avoid increasing cholesterol level in your body. An ounce of skim ricotta cheese, one table spoon of honey, some Oatmeal in low fat milk that should do it till lunch time.

Drink. Coffee with no sugar and / or Orange Juice. Water. No soft drink.

Why?

-          An egg yolk contains 3 grams of protein but “0” cholesterol and “0” fat.

-          Ricotta cheese contains 39 cal per ounce.

-          Oatmeal are high in minerals, vitamins, fiber and helps fill your stomach faster.

-          One table spoon of honey contains 64 cal., you will probably need it for the oatmeal.

-          3~4 times / day consumption of wow fat milk reduces more body fat by 70%.

-          All the above is fat freeing food.   

Lunch

Eat. Avoid fast food instead bulk up you meals with vegetables, salads and soup such as broccoli, carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, and cucumbers besides your pasta plate. Onion soup and tomatoes soup are an excellent choice to make you feel filled again.

Drink. Orange Juice. Water. No soft drink.

Why?

-          Water-rich foods reduces your overall calorie consumption.

Dinner

Eat. Fish whenever you can! Salmon, Tuna, and Sardines. Though I prefer if you cut on the on the red meat, but if some of us do consider it a treat that they are not willing to give up just yet, therefore, if you must keep the portion to the size of your palm

Why?

-          Salmon, Tuna, and Sardines help make your body more responsive to Leptin: fat-burning hormone.

-          Beef contains loads vitamin B-12, iron and creatine

 

Embrace your new dietary system

1.       Switch from regular chocolate to dark chocolate : helps burn fat.

2.       Switch from fruit juice to raw fruits: less sugar concentration.  

3.       Switch from whole milk to low fat milk: whole milk is healthier for building bodies ( as in raising kids) but the focus here is to lose fat.

4.       Eat only when you feel hungry not because it is time to eat!

5.       Eat most of your meals at home instead of restaurants: you are more likely to eat healthier food: most restaurant offer high-fat and high-calorie foods in large portions.

6.       Switch from big dinner plates to smaller ones: the less food in your plate, the less food you will eat. Same applies for liquids.

7.       Make the table: make your food look sexy by serving food on the plates not in bowls.

8.       Eat calmly and slowly: see how the aristocrats eat in the old movies? Act like them! You will digest food in a more efficient manner and you will appreciate its taste.

9.       Walk for a while before dinner: even if it is only till the end of the street where you live. You will burn some calories and most likely you will eat less on the table.

10.   Make walking a habit: walk every day for 10 minutes, then make it 15 minutes until you get the hang of it, then stretch those moments in time. Your goal is 45 min./ day.  

11.   If you consume most of your calories before noon, you will eat less in the evening.

12.   Watch what you eat over the weekend, we tend to over eat while in social gatherings.  Foods To Help Lose Weight fast