Secrets to Weight Loss

Secrets To Weight Loss A Special Report

Table Of Contents 1. Introduction

2. How body gains weight?

3. Why it is important to control weight gain? 4. Weight Loss Techniques

4.1 Physical Exercise

4.2 Therapy or Drugs

4.3 Surgery



4.3.1 Liposuction

4.3.2 Stomach Stapling

4.4 Crash Dieting

4.5 Consuming Low Fat Diet

4.6 Low Carbohydrate Intake

4.6.1 First Phase

4.6.2 Second Phase

5. Role of Dietary Supplements in

Weight Loss

6. Weight Loss Industry

7. Some Weight Loss Exercises

7.1 Resistance Training

7.2 Brisk Walking

7.3 Swimming



7.4 Cycling



8. Weight Loss Pyramid



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Introduction This report presents a general overview of weight loss issue, why body weight control is important, how weight gain occurs, what are problems of weight gain and how weight loss can be achieved by losing extra pounds to prevent health issues that can arise of weight gain. Being over-weight does not only affect your over all figure but also creates a lot of health issues that may grow into serious health problems in future. In this report, we will cover the mechanism of weight gain, the causes of craving (always feeling urge to eat), weight loss techniques, healthy diet that supports weight loss without putting extra pounds on you as well preventing weakness associated with dieting, authentically tested weight loss products available in market, and the relation of weight loss with your sex life. In order to understand why weight loss is important to keep your body fit and free from diseases, let us look at briefly at the mechanism of how body gains weight and how it can be controlled.

How body gains weight? The main contributor to body weight gain is Carbohydrates, the main food component received by the human body from foods prepared from wheat and other cereals, for example, the bread, which is essential part of food in North America, Europe, Middle East and South Asia. The other sources of carbohydrate are potatoes, sweet potatoes etc. In order to understand the main cause of weight gain, or alternatively obesity, we will discuss the mechanism in our body to digest and ingest food intake. Carbohydrates are essential element of food that provides use energy to perform day to day tasks and movements. The body converts carbohydrates to Glucose after digestion that is directly absorbed into the blood. Now the actual mechanism starts to turn this glucose into energy. The glucose in blood has to be transported to cells where it is converted into energy. This transportation is carried out by Insulin, a powerful hormone secreted by Pancreas. The insulin attaches itself to glucose molecules and transports them to body cells where a chemical reaction called oxidation takes place resulting in production of heat energy that is subsequently utilized by human body to sustain itself and to perform work. But as you know, every process has its own limitations. Now if the quantity glucose ingested into blood is in excess to what is required by the cells at that time, it cannot 3

be burnt immediately and this excess glucose is then transported back to liver where it is converted to glycogen and again distributed to body where it is stored in muscle tissues. Some of the glycogen is also stored in the liver. Next, when you need more energy, this glycogen is re-transported to liver and cells to get burned and converted to energy. But since the intake of carbohydrate is unending process, the glycogen produced in this process also exceeds the storage capacity of muscles and other organs. Once your body runs out storage capacity for glycogen, another recycle begins. The access glycogen is again circulated to body and ultimately to liver where another conversion process takes place, i.e. conversion of glycogen into Triglycerides, in other words, the FAT. This fat is distributed to body. The human body has unlimited capacity to store fat and it is stored in belly, thighs, hips, arms and anywhere it can inside human body. This is how weight gain process begins and continues if not controlled adequately by conscious effort. Another contributor to weight gain is Syndrome-X, which is also related to insulin. Syndrome-X is also called Insulin Resistance and leads to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases. Insulin Resistance is also second major contributor to weight gain by fat accumulation not only on body but also in the blood in form of cholesterol. The causes of Syndrome-X are aging process, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, excessive stress lasting for longer periods etc. Another byproduct of syndrome-X is desire to eat constantly or constantly craving for food. While body is unable to utilize glucose produced from carbohydrate to produce energy, it will desire more carbohydrate to convert it to glucose in order to fulfill need for energy, but since the mechanism itself is faulty, i.e. the glucose that is meant for conversion to energy is being converted to fat, intake of carbohydrate will only be a temporary fix for a few hours. To cure this, the cause, i.e. insulin resistance is to be treated.

Why it is important to control weight gain? Weight gain or obesity is widely known as mother of diseases. There are several health related problems that arise out of poor weight control. To name a few, diabetes, high blood pressure, early effects of aging, heart diseases, osteoarthritis, cancer, impotency etc. are mainly contributed by obesity. In order to prevent from these and many more diseases, a reasonable weight loss plan is essential. We have to adopt a lifestyle with adequate weight control.

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Weight Loss Techniques The intentional weight loss is meant for reduction of total body mass for improving overall fitness and well being, or to look smarter. For an obese individual, weight loss can be attained by attaining negative energy balance, i.e. consuming more energy than gaining from food etc. This kicks off a reverse cycle of using fats and glycogen stored in muscles to recycle back to cells to produce energy. Weight loss is intended for preventing diseases, improving athletic performance and looking attractive. There are several approaches recommended by different health and nutrition specialist to attain optimum weight loss. We will discuss most common approaches here:

Physical Exercise Physical exercise, especially aerobic exercise, is a good option for attaining weight loss. However, only exercise won’t help. The purpose is to bring the body into negative energy balance; hence if you start exercising and increase your diet to multiples of your normal diet, you won’t be able to lose weight. The body weight can also be reduced without exercise only by controlling food intake, but an aerobic as well as weight training exercise is necessary to have a healthy and fit body. Exercise along with diet control is an excellent combination for optimum weight loss

Therapy or Drugs Drugs and medicines interacting with body’s processes responsible for weight gain are also used for weight loss as advised by a qualified physician. This can be combination of supplements and drugs that reduce appetite, reduce the absorption of fat and reduce body mass. The food supplements used for the purpose are normally fiber-based and contain cellulose that can satisfy appetite but is not absorbed during digestion. Such drugs or supplements are also known as Appetite Suppressants. Bee Pollen is one of the natural appetite suppressants. Now days, there are many TV commercials and internet advertising promoting several weight loss drugs, but usually these drugs don’t address actual causes of obesity. Instead, they provide temporary solution as they recommend reduction in consumption of carbohydrates and fats. The use of such drugs for indefinite periods without proper guidance of qualified physician may increase the risk of side effects that are normally not covered in advertisements promoting these drugs. However, this doesn’t mean that all the drugs that claim weight loss are of no use. There are several natural therapies and drugs with demonstrated weight loss effect naturally and used by humans since ages, but it is very difficult to establish the 5

authenticity of claims and find the right drug. Hence, reliance on a qualified physician and adopting other methods of weight loss are recommended.

Surgery With advent of modern medical sciences and surgical procedures, surgery has also become popular method of weigh loss now days. There are two main types of surgery that are performed for the purpose of weight loss.

Liposuction In this procedure, the fat is sucked from beneath the skin by using a device inserted in the skin. The nozzle of the device is connected to suction pump. The nozzle is moved under the skin to come into contact with the fat, which is then sucked by suction pump. This process can result in considerable cosmetic problems as it may leave ripples under the skin. The results are also temporary as the actual cause of weight gain is not addressed.

Stomach Stapling In this procedure, a substantial portion of stomach is removed and remaining portion is stapled resulting in very small stomach. This process is very dramatic and reduces the physical size of the stomach. Thus the recipient of this treatment will be able to eat less after stapling. When the food intake is reduced, the weight loss can be achieved permanently. Although after effects of this procedure have not been studied in depth, hence nothing can be said about long term health hazards associated with this procedure.

Crash Dieting Crash Dieting refers to intentional restriction on eating for more than 12 hours except drinking water. The body burns fat stored in the body to get required energy resulting in significant weight loss in short time. The side effect of this technique is that the body tries to preserve stored fat as its defense mechanism and dissolves lean muscle tissue to produce energy. Thus, this technique is not regarded as better option for weight loss.

Consuming Low Fat Diet There is a misconception that intake of fatty foods do increase weight. No doubt fat has big role in weight gain, but it is not the intake of fat that contributes mainly in 6

weight gain. Hence, the effect of eating so called low fat diet, which is itself quite heavy in fat, does not contribute significantly to weight loss.

Low Carbohydrate Intake This is a recent technique advocated by Dr Atkin and claimed to be the most effective method to lose weight permanently, safely and without suffering pain of hunger. It is also claimed to be good for general health. As the name suggest, low carbohydrate intake means restricting the intake of carbohydrate in diet. It does not suggest, in any way, eating high fat diets. Several studies show effectiveness of this method without any considerable side effects. The method suggest phases of restricting carbohydrate intake:

First Phase The first phase is about converting your body to burn fat in order to get energy instead of burning carbohydrate. To achieve this state, drastic cut in carbohydrate intake is required. This phase lasts for a few weeks to a few months depending upon individual objectives.

Second Phase If you are a little over weight and just want some weight loss to maintain you figure, you can directly go to this phase bypassing the first phase. There are a few do’s and don’ts of eating. The tips are summarized below: Don’t eat processed food, i.e. any food you get in a packet. The processed and preserved foods contain high levels of hydrogenated fats, carbohydrates, and sugar. Hence they are not regarded as healthy foods Don’t eat margarine. It contains many chemicals that have unknown effects. Instead, you can eat natural butter, but in limited quantity Don’t eat white flour products like breads, muffins, doughnuts, and other bakery items. These foods can activate your fat production mechanism and don’t contain any essential nutrients. Also avoid whole grain foods like rice Don’t eat processed meats or farmed salmon. These meats contain high levels of antibiotics and other chemicals that may disturb natural balance of body Don’t eat genetically modified foods 7

Don’t drink carbonated drinks as they contain harmful chemicals worse than sugar itself Drink a plenty of water Eat plenty of meat and fish grown in natural environment. The meat of animal nurtured naturally contains less harmful chemicals and pure at most Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Although it is difficult to get natural fresh vegetables and fruits in many parts of world, especially in USA, they can be got with a little effort. At least, you can easily find fruits and vegetables that are certified for being spray-free Eat eggs, the pure organic or free range type. Organic or free range eggs are easily available. It is wrong notion that eggs mainly contribute to cholesterol. It is only 20% of total body cholesterol that comes from food intake, the rest is produced by liver

Role of Dietary Supplements in Weight Loss The dietary supplements are good for general well being and play an important role for individuals on weight loss mission. The need of dietary supplements is further increase if you are exposed to a polluted environment or have more work related stress. However, there is no dietary supplement that can act as magic pill for your weight loss objectives. While you are on weight loss campaign, a good quality dietary supplement containing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbal extracts, and enzymes may be helpful. These elements reinforce foundations of body and support essential processes inside human body. The fish oil supplements are also good for strengthening mucous membranes and exhausted tissues. Calcium supplement is also good for weight loss. Studies suggest that calcium has significant role in normalizing weight.

Weight Loss Industry The weight loss industry has a great scope in today’s world where unnatural eating habits has made obesity a common problem. There is a substantial market for products claiming to attain weight loss quicker, easier, reliable, less painful and economical. These products include various tutorials and guidelines in form of books and CDs. The readymade products like fat reducing lotions, pills, rings, belts and other material also have great potential to sell and are being sold without adequate support or evidence of authenticity. Several fitness centers, personal coaches, food products and supplements, and weight loss groups are seen advertised on all types of media including TV, internet and press. 8

Some studies suggest that hundreds of billions are spent annually on products and services including medical procedures claiming weight loss. There is also a trend of looking towards professional dietitians among professionals in America for achieving their weight loss goals.

Some Weight Loss Exercises There are some exercises that may help weight loss objective of an individual who aims to lose weight. Exercises that are most popular and have demonstrated results in weight loss are described here:

Resistance Training Resistance Training is a form of exercises in which an extra weight or resistance is added to the activity you can perform easily. In resistance training a weight is added to muscle as it flexes and relaxes during a workout. The resistance or weight is added to muscle movement when it is relaxing. For example, while standing, if an arm is bent to touch the shoulder of same arm, it can be done easily without any resistance. In resistance training, a dumb bell with weight ranging from 3 Kg to 10 Kg (depending upon practice and strength of person performing this exercise) and the hand is lifted to reach the shoulder bending the arm. This cannot be done easily, thus a resistance has added to an activity. The resistance training requires more force than usual and thus more energy is required, thereby burning more glucose or glycogen stored in muscle tissues. This helps reduce weight.

Brisk Walking

Brisk walking is also a good exercise to burn extra calories. If a regular walk is done 4 to 5 times a week for at least 40 minutes per walk, it can help reduce weight. Brisk walk is generally regarded as easiest way of losing weight and does not require any extra aid to perform.

Swimming Swimming is also a good exercise that helps weight loss. Swimming for about 20 to 25 minutes daily for 3 to 4 days a week is sufficient to have considerable effect in weight loss objective. Water itself acts as resistance and moving through water requires more strength than walking, thus it is more effective than walking. Swimming slowly and adding new styles can further increase effectiveness.

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Cycling Cycling is also a good exercise to burn energy. Cycling also adds a resistance to legs movement and requires extra force, thus it is also a resistance exercise. Cycling is more effective then walking and helps greatly in weight loss. Running a bicycle for half an hour daily for 5 days a week is regarded as best exercise for weight loss. There are many other exercises like specific Yoga training, water aerobics, hitch hiking, and weight training that help greatly in weight loss but they need specific training under supervision of qualified practitioners. Some exercises do also need extra aids.

Weight Loss Pyramid PreCon "Prevention Concepts" company that supports healthcare with diet and nutritional programs has designed as pyramid known as BCM (Body Cell Mass) Weight Loss Pyramid categorizing food in three categories, i.e. to saturate, to enjoy, and to avoid. The pyramid shows food types that fall under each category. The PreCon claims that BCM program is scientifically tested to yield best weight loss results.

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