Fat to Fit: A Fighter’s Guide

Research says 50% of women report that within six months, they gain back any weight they’ve managed to shed. Many have dieted so many times they’ve lost count. The battle against fat, now has a couple of new weapons in its arsenal.

Fat burns fat

There’s more than one type of fat in your body. White fat, or the bad kind you want to loose; and brown fat, which actually burns calories. According to Dr. Aaron M. Cypess, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, “Up to 80 percent of adults have brown fat deposits in their bodies.” This is good fat, because it’s packed with mitochondria. These parts of cells, generate heat. When activated via exercise, as little as two ounces of brown fat can burn up as much as 20% of your body’s calories. Working out also releases a hormone called Irisin, which converts white fat to brown.

There’s more than one type of fat in your body. White fat, or the bad kind you want to loose; and brown fat, which actually burns calories. According to Dr. Aaron M. Cypess, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Joslin Diabetes Center and Harvard Medical School, “Up to 80 percent of adults have brown fat deposits in their bodies.” This is good fat, because it’s packed with mitochondria. These parts of cells, generate heat. When activated via exercise, as little as two ounces of brown fat can burn up as much as 20% of your body’s calories. Working out also releases a hormone called Irisin, which converts white fat to brown.

Exercising for at least half hour, a minimum of five days a week, can speed up the burn.

The ABC of vitamin D

Vitamin D is said to boost the effectiveness of leptin, a hormone that signals the brain that you’re full. Since it’s difficult to get D from food, evidence suggests that taking a vitamin D3 supplement, can accelerate this process. It’s also been found that people who started a weight-loss program with higher levels of D lost more than those who weren’t getting enough of the vitamin.

Beware of sociotrophy

Sociotropy, or people pleasing, is a common behaviour that can make you gain weight; think about it. Your friends are having dessert, you really don’t want to, but you indulge under social pressure.

It’s shown that women score slightly higher than men on people-pleasing measures, simply because men are raised to be assertive, while women are trained to value relationships and basically be nicer. Being firm and polite with friends or family on issues like food, will get the message across.

Impound your license

Licensing is another behaviour that occurs when we feel we’ve earned the right to self-indulge. This typically happens after eating low calorie meals for a while, exercising, cutting off alcohol, fasting and things of a similar nature. The tendency then is to gorge in compensation or reward.

Exerting discipline, self-control and being alert to the fact that this wasn’t smart behaviour in the past, can do wonders for our self-control in the long run.

A nugget to chew on

Slowing down the eating process is a great way to slimming down. When we eat quickly, chewing each bite just a few times, we consume more food than we realise.

It’s been proven that people who chewed each bite 40 times, ate almost 12% less than those who chewed just 15 times. Chewing longer, causes our bodies to produce less Ghrelin, a hormone that boosts appetite, and more of the peptide hormones that are said to curb hunger.

The more thoroughly you break down food, you release nutrients into your blood faster, and give your brain time to register that you’re full.

Outsmart your appetite.

Our bodies seem to be wired for rich food, simply because they trigger the release of chemicals similar to those experienced by drug addicts.

While it’s hard not to succumb, being surrounded by rich foods everywhere, using a technique called mindful resistance helps. This simply calls for training our brains to focus on the longer term benefits of not having the food, rather than focus on immediate gratification. This strengthens your resistance powers and weakens your need for food rewards.

Eating healthy foods during the day like fruits and vegetables, low-fat yogurt, and whole-grain bread, will enable your glucose levels keep you feeling energised and satisfied.

Nature is the way

There’s something healing and calming about being outdoors. Research shows that people tend to be happier walking outdoors than indoors; they stride faster, feel less exertion, and are better able to curb cravings for calories or rich foods. So try and find a park nearby to bike, run, or hike.

Cut the slack

The physical act of sitting or lying down may actually speed up your body’s production of fat. Getting up and walk around for five minutes, once every hour over an 8 hour stretch, can help burn unto 148 cal and keep your cells slim.

How green is your tea

Regularly sipping green tea can help you shed weight. This is attributed to result the EGCG in green tea, which is known to reduce fat absorption. Green tea also said to increase the amount of fat your body eliminates. So go green and watch the scales; for better results, combining it with exercise works wonders.

Fate does not determine your weight

Exercise can beat your genetics. No matter what your family history is on the obesity quotient, getting just one hour or more of moderate-to-vigorous exercise a week, can work wonders for your weight-loss regimen.