"I eat like a bird
- honestly!" This is what many of my weight-loss clients tell me, while looking
at me all wide-eyed and innocent. "
I've no idea how I've put on so much weight. I must have a slow
metabolism, surely. It's not my fault." Well,
ok, I'm a reasonable human being (although not according to some
of my clients and my daughter).
Perhaps it isn't their fault. Some people do indeed suffer from
a slow metabolism.
About 1% of the population, and that's usually linked with a
medical condition. So what's the excuse for the other 99%? That's
right.
There isn't one. It is their fault! It wouldn't be their fault
if they were being force-fed like Foie Gras geese, but not even
the most innocent-looking of them (who are usually the worst
offenders when it comes to telling porkies to their Personal
Trainer) has
tried to convince me of that one. The unpalatable truth is that we put on weight in the form of
bulky, unsightly, adipose tissue - aka Fat - because we eat too
much and exercise too little. And that's it. That's what the billion-dollar
diet industry is built on - packaged up in far more complex terms,
of course. But for pity's sake don't get me started on diets, or
we'll be here all day! No, I don't like them. No, they don't work
for anything but the shortest of times. Do you know when this country
(the UK) had the healthiest population and the lowest levels of
obesity? During World War II.
I'm not joking. Obviously we're not talking about the death rate
here. But the folks back home had to grow their own food and dig
for it. True, the fare was plain, but, boy, was it healthy. And
digging burns around 500 calories an hour and works all your muscles!
And even more importantly, there was very little sugar around.
Sugar is a simple carbohydrate. The body does not need refined
sugar for nourishment, despite what The Sugar Bureau says. We get
all the natural sugars we need from fruit, vegetables and - in
very small quantities - honey. Refined sugar gives us a short-term
energy rush, that's all, and then our blood sugar levels come crashing
down and we crave more. Excess sugar is stored as guess what? You've
got it. FAT!
Back to the point. (There's a point??) You bet there is!
Put simply; people kid themselves about how much they eat. "Such-and-such
doesn't count" I hear them say. Well, listen up. If it goes
in your mouth and it's got calories, it counts! If you are eating
too much, whether it's healthy food or complete junk, you're going
to put weight on. And if you don't burn calories by getting some
exercise, you'll put more weight on. Think of it as a trade-off;
if you burn off more calories than you shovel in through that hole
in your face, you'll lose weight. And vice-versa.
You can fool yourself. You can fool your Personal Trainer (expensive
and pointless, but, Hey - people do it all the time!). You can't
fool your body.
Most of us consume far more calories than we need. And what we
eat is not good nourishment for our bodies, most of the time.
So
much food is processed; full of additives, preservatives and colours.
We have fast, busy, stressful lifestyles, and the food industry
makes an absolute fortune catering to demands for "instant",
easily-prepared meals. We sling them in the microwave and consume
them mindlessly. And because they don't nourish us well, we're
hungry again a short time later. So we reach for crisps, sweets
and so on. And by the end of the day we've taken in far too many "useless" calories
and starved our bodies of the proper nourishment they need. How
crazy is that?! So when that particular client of mine tells me she eats "like
a bird", while shoving an empty Cheetos bag under the sofa
with her foot, I reply;
"
What kind of bird? A vulture, maybe?"
I know her well! I'll give some advice on eating properly next time. All the best
Carol
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