The Fight Against Obesity
What can be done if you are already overweight but still getting larger and the fight against obesity just around the corner seems to be one you are losing?
People have been talking a lot lately about what's being called an obesity epidemic that has gripped this country.
There are plenty of scary statistics to fuel the fear of getting fat, but there is very little information by comparison on what the real solutions to these problems are and how you can battle obesity and win.
I'm not talking about getting people to go on diets here. I'm focusing on the source problem, which are the many additives and hidden sugars in processed foods that are creating a generation addicted to these food products that in my opinion can barely be described as ″food″ in any case.
Finding Solutions to Obesity
Solutions that include great diets such as Nutrisystem? or Jenny Craig are one way of combating the problem, but they are only treating the symptom, which is the obesity itself.
The root cause of what is making people gain so much weight needs to be addressed, which I shall visit below.
Sure you can lose weight on these diets and some people have lost loads of weight by sticking with them, but what happens when you quit the diet?
Reverting to a Bad Diet
After completing a certain diet program after a number of weeks, many people simply revert to their old eating habits. They go right back to buying and eating all that processed junk food from the store.
They might think they're somehow winning by not ordering in that pizza every Friday any more or avoiding popular burger joints or whatever, but really they're not winning. Why is this?
It may be a good thing to have learned that staying away from fast food restaurants is part of the way to maintaining a healthy body weight and size<, but it really is only a part of it. The food you eat at home is a bigger part because most people eat at home most of the time at least.
So, to the root cause of the problem.
Many health and diet professionals will tell you the cause of many modern diseases and medical conditions are based in poor diet and they'd be quite right.
What you're not being told is an effect of eating a poor diet, often high in refined carbohydrates and added sugars, is this constant barrage of sugar is causing a condition known as insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance occurs when the body's system for regulating blood sugar (the release of insulin) gets overworked for too long. Eventually, insulin becomes less and less effective at regulating blood sugar.
The body responds by producing ever more insulin when ever you eat, but it starts to fail to have an effect on blood sugar and your next visit to the doctor results in being informed that you are diabetic (type 2 diabetes).
The knock-on effect of this in health terms can become catastrophic, even resulting in early death in some cases. It is a situation you really do not want to experience!
How can you help yourself and prevent insulin resistance, or reverse it if you are already in this position?
The most important thing to do is to cut out all added sugar from your diet, including refined carbs. This may sound drastic, but your choices are not many or particularly attractive here.
It's literally give it up or die!
Eating Right
If you have weaned yourself off the ready meals from the store and are now cooking real home cooked meals made from fresh ingredients for yourself and you family, the you are to be congratulated on your achievement!
But of you're still making meals from those packaged, ready prepared meals or meal ingredients and thinking you're going with a healthy option, then shame on you. You have not learned a thing!
Stay Away from Processed Food
Eating right to lose weight is the main theme here and that means choosing the majority of your food from the fresh food section of the grocery store or buying from organic farmer's stores.
Avoid the processed stuff and really cook your meals with vegetables that you have to peel and wash yourself and that do not come in a sealed plastic bag from the freezer section! Cook with real meat from the meat stand and not stuff that comes in packets plumped up with trans fats and breadcrumbs and a ton of preservatives and other additives.
The same goes for fish and other seafood products.
If you're vegetarian, your choices are even healthier as you avoid animal fats in your daily meals or convenient diets. However, remember to keep your healthy fats and protein levels up and your refined carbohydrates down!
Many people are opting for a totally plant-based diet by becoming vegan. This can have some great health benefits as well as helping to reduce excess body weight.
If this is something you're considering, as long as you remember to avoid processed carbohydrate-based foods (mainly refined wheat-based products) you can really change your physique in a positive way.
It is not as difficult as many think to make the switch in diet to create a healthier physical makeup and get into shape from the inside out. By applying the principle of mind over matter, anything can be possible!
The bottom line is that you can stay slim and healthy on a good diet as long as you stay away from the processed foods in the store, because they will all contain stuff you do not want to eat! Be vigilant, read labels and never buy (and eat or drink) anything you are not sure about!