Obesity occurs
when a person consumes more calories than he or she
burns. What causes this imbalance between calories in
and calories out may differ from one person to another.
Causes
junk foods: supply lots
of calories but very little nutrition.
Physical inactivity.
The United States is a
sedentary nation. In spite of a decrease in average
caloric intake of 40 percent in the last 130 years, the
decrease in physical exertion has been even greater. In
the majority of obese people, caloric intake
exceeds caloric loss from physical activity, movement,
and exertion.
An
excess-starch diet
The most fattening food
is starch. People who eat excessive amounts of starch
are prone to gain weight. The foods such as bread,
pasta, rice, and beans contain an excess of starch. A
healthy diet should include thyroid-stimulating foods
such as adequate protein, sea salt, fruit, and coconut
oil, in addition to organic vegetables.
Not Knowing the source
of your weight problems :
A lot of women complain about their weight
but do nothing about it. For some people weight gain is
never an issue. I was one of those women until I
relocated to the US. In 6 months of moving here I added
15 Pounds. I immediately knew something was wrong
with the available food and the lifestyle. Oh I must say
the 15Ibs only put my weight at 140 which is very good
for a nearly 6 feet tall woman. I also know that if I do
not change something about what I had been doing the
last 6 months I could keep gaining 15lbs every 6
months.
Oliver Twist factor: Satiety,
The biggest Cause of overweight is not
Knowing when to stop eating .This is a very though issue
since this is a land of plenty. Food is surplus even
when you are poor the Government will give food stamps.
So there's never a shortage of chops . In Africa there's
a popular saying that goes thus "this is a case of
my child have you eaten not are you full/satisfied"
. This is one of the best kept secrets of weight control
. I am not talking about dieting or starvation here as I
never diet I just watch how much of something I eat and
I am naturally anti fatty foods even before I knew How
to spell fat.
FACTS
Law of Diminishing returns: Although this is
an economics term I have personally chosen it as my
watch word when I am tempted to eat more than necessary.
This law in lay man's term states that "as you
continue to consume a substance you will get to the
point of maximum level of satisfaction and this maximum
level starts to drop with every other bite you take
after this point. People seize or shall I say refused to
realize that the body can only absorb and utilize so
much nutrients at any point in time so when you over
stuff it, it takes what it wants and store the excess.
So when next you are eating that wonderful pizza or
pastries, stop once you get to that point where you no
longer taste what you are eating or your stomach no
longer appreciates it . In Africa you learn to it
just enough and keep the rest for another time or day.
The benefit of doing this is such that you can burn that
food off instead and when you come back to eat the rest,
you will be starting afresh. When you overeat, you can
only burn so much fat off, bear in mind you have the
excess food still inside of your stomach, then you eat
your next meal and what have you done? you have added
more food to the one your body is carrying about
and if you over eat this time as well your excess goes
and add up to the previous excess and this pile up with
time . Giving you a Zero pack
instead of nice abs or 6packs in the
case of a guy.
Fat Burning Foods
Carbohydrates: Since the beginning of time African's
have rely so much on Carbohydrates and we still do. I
have seen all sorts of anti carbohydrates campaign and I
can't stop to wonder why the people that are obese are
actually the ones telling us what not to eat. Why would
you choose to listen to doctor this or doctor that
especially if the so called doctor is carrying nothing
less that 25lbs around his stomach alone. Africans
say "if someone wants to buy
you clothes you should first look at the clothes on that
person's body" then you decide if the person
that wants to clothe you have enough clothes for
himself/herself. This is exactly the case of these
ignorant people. Firstly African's body
composition is totally different. I have Caucasian
friends who can not digest any form of starch and
there we are the black nation with the ability to digest
and ingest any form of starch. I won't eat creams and
the likes but my friends savor every moment they get
with cheese. Carbohydrates are energy giving food
and for you to be able to burn off the fats or the food
you have eaten you need the energy to burn them off. So cutting
off carbohydrates in your daily meals is one of your
open invitation to weight gain. foods
such as bread, pasta, rice, and beans of starch. Eat
these foods in moderation enough to give you the boost
not too much. A healthy diet should include
thyroid-stimulating foods such as adequate protein, sea
salt, fruit, and coconut oil, in addition to organic
vegetables.
COCONUT OIL
Coconut oil has been shown
to reduce the symptoms of digestive disorders, support
overall immune functions, and to help prevent bacterial,
viral and fungal infections
Increased metabolic rate is a key to healthy
weight management and could account for the leanness of
people living in areas where coconut oil is consumed on
a daily basis.
PALM OIL: palm
oil is a rich source of pro-vitamin A in the form of contains
about 15 times more carotenoids than carrots, which
gives the oil its deep red color. Palm oil is also rich
in vitamin E and is free of cholesterol. . The deep red
color will add an interesting tint to your cooking. It
is also use to counter the effect of poisons
Fibers: Fruits
Fiber goes hand in hand with Healthy
Eating and Losing Weight. Fibrous foods such as fruits
and vegetables make up a large part of the Losing Weight
and Healthy Eating food programs.
Fiber, chemically, is a polysaccharide, a sugar-like
substance. Fiber comes in thousands of forms.
Every vegetable and fruit has some fiber. That is why
eating the whole fruit or vegetable is so much healthier
than simply the juice which has just the calories,
minerals and vitamin
Protein: In
Africa Protein consumption is average.
I remember when growing up that we the
children were giving little or no meats. It's a common
knowledge that the dads and the mums are the ones who
eat the big meat and even the big meat is noting compare
to the normal portion of steak served here in the US. We
eat more fruit, daily carbohydrates and medium portion
of dairy foods. Fish is far better than meat, if you can
not do without too much protein then substitute the meat
for the fish but beware some fish are very fatty.
High protein diets,
often marketed as low carb or low carbohydrate diets,
are in vogue today and are heavily promoted.
Unfortunately, they are also high in fat and dangerous
as they promote mainly the intake of meats ,eggs and
dairy products.
Exercise:
also boosts your BMR. It helps you burn calories even
when you're not exercising. Exercise elevates mood,
reduces stress, and improves self-esteem, all of which
also helps in weight loss. Studies show that careless
dieting - extreme weight-loss plans as opposed to
carefully considered eating plans - leave us heavier
than we were when we started. Weight-loss diets
(including pill-popping) have failure rates nearly as
high as drug addicts in recovery. Between 90% and 98% of
dieters will regain some of the weight they have lost
within five years; a third of dieters will gain more.
Even those poor souls who elect to have radical surgery
- gastric bypass or "stomach stapling" - will
lose only between 50% and 80% of their excess weight
before stabilizing (and then usually gaining a small
amount).
if you're simply a little overweight and want
to manage it? "It's the usual things," says
Kullmann. "If you're going to lose weight, lose it
slowly; you want to lose one to two kilos a week,
maximum." You'll also need to go back to the
basics: energy in, energy out.
The most effective, sustainable weight-loss
techniques combine some calorie reduction (we're not
talking radical amounts here) with regular exercise.
Other tips include eating a regular breakfast, cutting
out bad fats and keeping a food journal. Oh, and skip
the super-size "extra value" fast-food meals -
with looming risk of early mortality, adult-onset
diabetes and heart disease, they don't come cheap.
Fasts
Africans have been fasting since biblical times as
an mainly due to religious reflection. More recently,
people have adopted fasts consisting of fruit, tea and
water, as a diet tool.
There is a simple way to lose weight: eat less and
get active. Think of it as an equation: eat fewer
calories + increase activity = weight loss. And
successful weight loss means you keep it off.
Love Dancing
some of us are just not into diet and extra
exercise but if you love dancing you will nicely shed
off weights. Africans love to dance our dances are very
vigorous and intense. Partying is done every weekend on
the streets. we love to shake our booty. Love life
,love music and dance at every opportunity you have. I
am not talking of moving left and right, I am talking
about shaking what your momma gave u :)
Foods to eat more of:
Grapefruit: which are believed to contain
a special "fat-burning" enzyme. Because the
calorie cutback is so severe, initial weight loss can be
dramatic. Grapefruit is a healthy food to incorporate
into one's diet, as it has no fat, is low in calories
and sodium and is packed with vitamin C. You must eat
this with other foods, not alone.
Tea and Lime: No
sugar
Lots of water: cut
down pub and gulp down water. always drink water first
thing in the morning. it works well for your system. I
know it's though to quit pub in this country, a good way
to start is not to have any pop at home.
Palm oil: one of
the things I realized missing in my diet when I added
those pounds was palm oil. The moment I inco-oporated it
back into my diet and substituted some vegetable oil for
palm oil. I started noticing the changes immediate
.
Coconut oil: This
oil is Fantastic. Not only does it help prevent
diseases, it helps stimulate and boost your metabolism.
We all know that to loose weight we need to feel the
energy to do things.
Fruits in general: These
guys works wonders for me. If you are the sort that
really likes to eat between meals , I suggest you eat
fruits in between not chocolates or other stuffs. Fruits
can feel u up and not add any pound to your body.
Citrus fruits are particularly good for people looking
to loose weight. Oranges, grapefruit, Pamelo (it's a
huge type of grape , you can find it at your local cub
food) and apples are a few . Don't forget banana, some
people don't like to eat banana the way it is. I usually
blend Banana's and milk in a mixture (banana milk shake
) and drink every morning.
