Fat
Burning Basics
If
you’re overweight, you are not a bad person. You’re simply
overweight.
But it’s important to lose the extra pounds so you’ll
look
good, feel healthier and develop a sense of pride and self-
esteem.
Once you’ve lost the fat, you’ll need to maintain your
weight.
In
this booklet, you’ll discover how to lose 10 pounds a month –
a
nice, safe loss of about two or two-and-a-half pounds a week –
painlessly.
You’ll feel satisfied and more energetic than in the
past
without feeling deprived.
Most
Americans pack on those extra pounds by eating the wrong
things.
Changing these poor eating habits is the key to long-term
success.
Knowledge – along with the right food – is the key.
When
humans lived in caves, they didn’t know anything about
preserving
and storing food. They spent all their waking time
and
energy hunting and gathering food. When they had it, they
gobbled
it down fast. Instead of storing food in pantries or
cupboards,
they stored energy in their bodies in the form of fat
to
burn during periods when there was little or nothing to eat.
Each
year, it was absolutely vital for them to put on a good layer
of
fat during the warm sprint and summer months. That was the
only
way they could guarantee their survival during the lean and
mean
winter months.
And
since women bore the young, they needed more energy to
sustain
themselves and their babies, and that meant they were
usually
heavier.
Even
though we no longer live in caves, we have inherited and
maintained
this basic mechanism for fat storage from our
hunting
and gathering ancestors.
Each
one of us is born with a certain number of fat cells. How
many
of these fat cells you possess depends on genetics. If you
have
a lot of fat cells, maybe your ancestors were the biggest
people
in the tribe, which was a good thing because they had the
best
chances of survival.
You
can never get rid of fat cells, but – unfortunately – you can
add
to them. Depending upon what you eat, your body will
manufacture
new far cells. And like those you were born with,
they
never go away.
That
doesn’t mean you’re doomed to be fat once you put on
extra
pounds. It is possible to shrink fat cells. That’s what
happens
when you lose weight. You burn up the fat stored in
those
big fat cells. Think of them as balloons. Burning off the fat
inside
them has the save effect as letting the air out of a balloon.
A
good weight loss program requires a certain amount of intake
restriction
– the consumption of fewer calories. You burn off the
fat
by eating less fat and becoming more active.
To
guarantee a lifetime of weight-control success, you have to
change
the type of foods you eat, so that you ingest less fat and
still
get the vitamins, minerals, trace elements, protein, fat and
carbohydrates
your body needs to thrive.
Extremely
low-calorie diets may help you shed pounds quickly,
but
they’ll lead to failure in the long run.
That’s
because humans are genetically protected against
starvation.
During food shortages, our bodies slow down our
metabolisms
and burn less energy so we can stay alive.
A
part of our brain called the hypothalamus keeps us on an even
weight
keep by creating a “set point.” That’s the weight where we
feel
comfortable. The hypothalamus determines this point based
on
the level of consumption it’s used to. It seeks to keep our
weight
constant, even if that point is over what it should be.
When
we drastically cut back our food intake, the brain thinks
the
body is starving, and in an effort to preserve life, it slows the
metabolism.
Soon the pounds stop coming off. Consequently, we
grow
hungry and uncomfortable and then eat more. And then
the
diet fails.
answer
is that you have to change the nutritional composition of
the
foods you eat. You will have to cut down on total calories –
that’s
absolutely basic to weight loss. More important, however,
is
reducing the percentage of total calories you are getting from
fat.
That’s
how you’ll avoid starvation panic in your system. At the
same
time, you reduce the amount of fat in your food, replacing
it
with safe, low calorie, nutrient-rich plant foods. This will
convince
your brain that your body is getting all the nutrition it
needs.
while
consuming fewer calories and fats.
Plant
foods break down slowly in your stomach, making you feel
full
longer, and they are rich in vitamins, minerals, trace
elements,
carbohydrates and protein for energy and muscle-
building.
This allows your body to burn off its excess stored fat.
