The Hindu Business Line : Savour your weight loss

The healthiest way to lose weight is neither crash diets nor bursts of exercise. The body likes slow changes in terms of food and exercise. For example, someone who has not exercised for years should not rush into running miles a day or pounding the t readmill. You’re far more likely to injure yourself and set your fitness levels back further. The same goes for people who suddenly start starving themselves.

A very low-calorie diet actually slows down weight-loss as the body goes into “starvation mode”.

This mechanism, which is thought to have evolved as a defence against starvation, means the body becomes super-efficient at making the most of the calories it gets from food.

It protects its fat stores and instead uses lean tissue or muscle to provide it with some of the calories it needs to keep functioning. This directly leads to a loss of muscle, which in turn lowers metabolic rate so that the body needs fewer calories to keep ticking over and weight-loss slows down.

Diets that severely restrict calories or the types of food “allowed” can lead you to be deficient in the nutrients and vitamins that your body needs.

Check out these principles and see how easy it is to achieve Optimum Nutrition.

Eat breakfast: Fuel the brain and the body. A good breakfast kick-starts metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories during the day.

It might be a challenge to fit it into your busy lifestyles but a healthy breakfast goes a long way in controlling your weight in the long term.

Eat protein with complex carbohydrates: Combining these food groups in every meal of the day, including snacks, will ensure that you get a steady flow of energy as the body converts food relatively slowly to glucose. You can hence prevent triggering insulin production and, in turn, minimising the potential of your body to store food as fat. Protein-rich foods are lentils, legumes, milk (soya and regular), egg, meat, fish and tofu. Complex carbohydrates are unmilled brown rice, oats, whole wheat, jowar, ragi and bajra.

Stay hydrated: It is important to drink plenty of water, at least 1.5 litres a day and even more in hot weather or if you are exercising. Remember, your body is 80 per cent water and by the time your body tells you that you are thirsty, you are already dehydrated. Limiting alcohol (also high in calories), tea and coffee is important, as these are dehydrating.

Enjoy a varied diet: It is very easy to get into the habit of eating the same foods every day. Be experimental and make sure your foods are as colourful as your wardrobe. Try and introduce two new wholesome foods into your diet every week. This will ensure that you get a variety of nutrients each day.

Enjoy your food: Eating has become a chore these days, mostly crammed in between “important” events, and we barely find time to really savour our food. Taking time out to eat is beneficial to our digestive health (that is, we digest better and in turn absorb more nutrients) and far more satisfying.

Avoid sugar: Excessive consumption of foods high in simple sugars (table sugar, fruit juice, fizzy drink, cakes, confectionery) disrupts the body’s blood sugar balance, leading to fat production and weight gain. These foods are high in calories too, forcing you to burn more to weigh less.

Eat the good fats: Not all fats are bad. The body needs the good fats (also known as essential fats) such as Omega 3 (oily fish — sardines, hilsa, raavas, Bandga) and Omega 6(linseeds, sunflower and pumpkin seeds) to function properly. The key is to limit intake of saturated fats (red meat, dairy, confectionery, butter).

Eat little and often: Graze and not gorge! Eating a balanced meal (complex carb 50 per cent, good fats 25 per cent, protein 25 per cent) with healthy snacking (nuts, seeds, fruits) gives you a constant supply of energy throughout the day, making hunger, tiredness and food craving a thing of the past.

Follow the 80:20 rule: It is very natural to stray from these principles, but as long as you are eating healthily 80 per cent of the time, you can indulge the rest of the 20 per cent. This means that you can enjoy all the social occasions without feeling guilty and also escape the boredom associated with “Diet” regimes.

Last but not least — exercise: Losing and maintaining weight does not involve just changing your attitude towards food. Exercise and eating healthy go hand in hand. Your daily energy output must balance your calorie intake. Therefore, no matter how busy you are, plan 30 minutes of exercise thrice a week.

Keep motivated and focus on your goals — everyone can lose weight and keep it off for good.

The author is a nutritionist — www.thenutriguru.com

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