The Body & Losing Weight

Health, Fitness & Nutrition

We all know how easy it is to put on weight so why then is it so hard to lose that weight once it has been gained. Experts suggest that if we were to simply return to eating a healthy diet then left to its own devices our body would take care of itself and it would increase the rate at which we burn calories therefore bringing us slowly back to our ideal weight.
In a recent study undertaken a group of average weight men and women were asked to dramatically increase there body weight by raising there calorie intake for two weeks.
They were then asked to return to there regular eating habits and by doing so without any extra form of exercise or severe cutbacks there weight gradually decreased back to normal.
The explanation for this is thought to be that the metabolism increase is greater once a person returns to a normal healthy diet than during a period of over eating.
If our metabolism can speed up why then do we have trouble losing weight?
Research has shown that people either eat more than they need or cut back far too much and this is why many people find it hard to lose weight even if they are on a diet. So why is it when we cut back too much on our intake of calories we don’t lose more weight?
It has been proven time and time again that if we restrict ourselves too much then we usually don’t stick with the diet long enough for results to show. Also if we cut down on the amount of calories we eat per day too much then our metabolic rate actually decreases which then slows down calories burning.
Research has also shown that we are often misguided about the amount of food we need to eat per day or recommended portion sizes and more of us eat portions that are two or even three times those recommended without even realising it.
Studies have also shown that if the food is there before us then we will eat it without really being hungry but simply just because it’s there in front of us.
Another way in which we can over eat is what is termed calorie density; the same amount of food can vary greatly in the amount of calories it holds, so for example half a cup of meat has a lot more calories than the same quantity of vegetables.
If more people paid attention to this then they would eat less foods of higher calorie content and more lower in calories. It is recommended by health experts that if weight has been gained then reducing your intake of calories by 200 to 250 per day and being active will help you lose the weight you have gained.
This can be done by slightly reducing the portion sizes you eat at every meal. Weight can even be lost without reducing the portion size but rather by altering what you eat, instead choose food that has less calories such as eating more vegetable with your meal and just a very small portion of foods with higher calorie content.