Weight Loss Tips - "I Eat Like A Bird - Honestly" - Part One

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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