THE WEIGHT LOSS REVOLUTION

Your body is a temple – it's no good

To crush it and destroy it with heaps of food.

Jami

Permanent weight loss: is it feasible at all?

Very much so. To shed those nasty extra pounds, however, you must completely forget about weight loss as a goal. Take a different path to your coveted victory, that is, start taking regular care of increasing your muscle mass and the rate of metabolism. This will lead you to success without doing any harm to your body – and, even better, will certainly bring all the vital bodily functions back to normal.

The faster you want to lose weight, the greater are the risks for your body and the chances that all those hated pounds would come back just as fast.

The faster you want to lose weight, the greater the risks for your body and the chances that all those hated pounds would come back just as fast. Why is that? First of all, the metabolic burning of fat occurs primarily in the muscles. Intense metabolism means stronger flames; a large muscle mass means more fat-consuming “furnaces” that help you get rid of excess weight fast (even if you occasionally stray away from a healthy diet). Conversely, what happens if you try to reduce your weight with a meager diet (or even amateur fasting)? You lose not only your fat but also your muscles, those incinerators that prevent fat from filling the voids of your body.

Good food is healthy food. Food is supposed to sustain you so you can live better, not so you can eat more. Some people eat to live, and some people live to eat.

Yolanda Adams

Second, what happens to your metabolism when you start keeping a tight rein on your diet? The body, duped to feel it is on the brink of starvation, panics and launches a rigid austerity program. Food is not burnt any longer, all the nutrients extracted from every morsel are stored for a rainy day. That’s why so many people complain that their strict diet is useless and even counterproductive because they are still gaining weight. That’s why, to become skinny, you need an appropriate amount of good food to nourish your muscles and increase your metabolic rate.

Metabolism management

First, the metabolic rate increases with physical stress, such as exposure to cold or heat or even moderate physical exertion. No pain, no gain –a work-shy body would turn into jelly rather than a frame of steel, and you don’t want that. Blood barely circulates in such a body and metabolism is as slow as that of a hibernating grizzly. Don’t hope to lose even a single pound without a reasonable amount of strenuous activities. Go to the sauna, do some jogging, and frequent the gym. Just make sure you put your soul into this lifestyle, and enjoy it with a spark in your eye – sparks are good for starting a fire.

Flames need to be sustained with air. In contrast to a real fire, all chemical reactions essential to metabolism need water. Without a sufficient intake of water your “internal combustion” will stall without having started properly.

All chemical reactions that are essential to metabolism need water.

Flames also need good dry firewood carefully split into kindles, especially if your metabolism is still weak. Firewood in this case means good healthy food in small quantities. Don’t worry, you won’t be restricted to kale and tofu. French or Italian cuisine is world-famous and diverse, yet few people in France or Italy suffer from obesity. You may eat virtually anything, albeit in moderation and never just before going to bed. The night and the early morning are especially good for “self-immolation.”

Pasta doesn't make you fat. How much pasta you eat makes you fat. Giada De Laurentiis

Now your body starts to naturally switch to endogenic nutrition. Catch this wave and ride it to paradise. Take nothing (except for unlimited quantities of water) after 6 or 7 pm. In the morning, have a glass of juice or tea, probably with some honey but never any sugar. Then, from 11 am till evening you may consume whatever food that takes your fancy – if you carefully listen to the sounds of your burning "furnace". If your light and cheerful mood disappears after a meal, you have somehow overindulged your gluttony. Note this mistake and never repeat it, if you still want to reach your ultimate goal.

Thou shalt love thy muscles as your stomach

The devil is in the details: it’s easy to read about nurturing your muscles, less so when you try doing it. Come to love your muscles as your stomach. Think about their nourishment and growth day and night. Muscles grow when they are fed, and they get food only if they work. Develop an exercise program for various groups of muscles (on your own or with the help of a professional) and make sure the number of repetitions grows steadily from week to week. If you do this, your muscles will grow, and their capacity for burning fat will increase.

The answer is clear: serious long-term efforts are the only way to lose weight and improve health. As for any shock therapy, don’t forget that haste makes waste.