Why are We Fat?

Why participate in this evil concept of a diet when the results are always the same. First come the hunger pains, cravings, and the always unavoidable crash after only losing about six pounds that people always say is water weight. I have witnessed the trends of the low carb diets and the low protein diets and the high fiber diets and even the diets that consist of taking pills that keep you from eating. The fact is, these may seem like solutions to the obesity epidemic but they will never actually work. The problem comes from a surplus of opportunities to gorge ourselves with tons of food which we make time to scarf down. If we look at the rest of the world, that many see as less fortunate that the great USA, we will notice one thing that separates our eating habits from theirs. That one thing is what makes heart disease one of the top killers in the United States. It is the concept that Americans eat for pleasure instead of survival like many other parts of the world have to struggle to do. 

Food has become a convenient delicacy to Americans and that can be seen on just about every corner of every street in every city. Our society has turn eating into a past time for every social event, sporting event, and any ole gathering where there is somewhere to place a table cloth. So, with this convenient delicacy comes the need to burn off those extra extra extra calories that have been consumed. But that in itself is a problem because Americans do not have time to do the necessary exercises to burn off excess. That is where diets come in to play. Now, the problem with that is that diets take a lot of preparation and determination to perform. One has to buy certain foods and count certain elements of food to insure proper consumption. This grows very tiring on the dieting community and eventually becomes the reason for backsliding. Another problem is that for the ones that actually succeed with their diet to achieve their target weight loss quit and fall right back into the pit of death known as pleasure eating and gain all their weight back plus more. The problem is with our mentality.

The way to conquer this is simply changing our mentality towards how we view food and the way we consume it. We only need food to supply ourselves with enough energy to survive. To find out what is needed to perform your daily activity there are a few calculations that need to be performed. First, you must calculate your “resting metabolic rate” (the # of calories needed to breathe, pump blood, etc). To do this you multiply your body weight by ten (ex: 200lbs x 10 = 2000rmr). Next, you must calculate your “daily activity burn”.  Take your new RMR and multiply that by twenty percent (2000rmr x 20% = 400dab). Since the previous calculations do not take in consideration the amount of calculation needed for excercise you can estimate about five hundred calories extra are needed for that. Add you RMR, DAB, and your estimation of 500 together to get the amount of energy needed on a daily basis which in return is the amount of calories needed each day to live. (2000 + 400 + 500 = 2900) This person only needs 2900 calories a day to survive. Of course each person is different and some might have a higher daily activity burn because of their lifestyle or occupation. But this is a general figure to get started with.

So in order to lose weight, a person must lose the mentality of pleasure eating and create a new eating habit and mentality of eating what is necessary to survive. Another necessity is water. I recommend drinking about eight liters of water throughout the day. Yes i know that a gallon of water weighs eight pounds so if you step on the scale you might not see a drastic reduction in the number of pounds on the screen but it is healthy and good for you. It is however unhealthy to consume more than ten liters.

The most important meal of the day is breakfast, we have heard it all our lives. The fact is that if you eat a high protein breakfast you will burn around 60% more calories than you would without it. So eat! I recommend two boiled eggs, that’s it. About two hours later i eat a little less than an average hand full of raw vegetables, without the beloved ranch dressing. About two hours later i will eat about three unbreaded chicken tenders, season as needed but no condiments. About two hours later i will eat another hand full of veggies or fruit ending with dinner a couples hours later eating around 6 ounces of red meat or chicken, or fish. I never eat after 8:00 pm except for maybe a jello pudding snack or the equivalent. On the weekends i allow myself to eat one or two meals that i love so that i never crave them in excess. The trick is not to over do it. Do not eat multiple helpings that would feed a giant. Eat slow and get your fill and leave the table. This may not seem like a lot of food but trust me if i do not complain then its ok. I have played sports all of my life and have been fed tons of food to maintain an ideal weight for the ones i played. Now that all that is over it was time to consider my health and so far, so good. I might add that the water helps fill the stomach so when in doubt, drink the water.

I am neither a doctor nor do i have any accredidations in the field of science, my input here comes from personal experience and experience of others. My recommendations are merely suggestions of things that i believe work and have worked for me. They are not harmfull in any way.