The new science of weight loss
Would you like to know a strategy, backed by science, to make your weight loss effective? Stop feeling bad when diet and exercise don't work. Focus on burning fat and forget about monitoring your weight on the scale every day.
Many people have in mind that "watching their weight" is enough, but in many cases, that will not prevent them from gaining a few kilos.
Most people keep their old clothes in the hope that at some point they can wear them again. They buy fad diet books and weight loss products that rarely work long term and can even be harmful.
In this post I'm going to explain to you why the new science of weight loss has less to do with what your scale says and more to do with reducing excess body fat.
Where is the problem of weight loss?
Would you like to know a strategy, backed by science, to make your weight loss effective? Stop feeling bad when diet and exercise don't work. Focus on burning fat and forget about monitoring your weight on the scale every day.
The dilemma is that millions of people regularly get on the scale to weigh themselves. And it turns out that body weight is mainly made up of water and muscles that also weigh significantly.
However, body fat doesn't weigh much, but it takes up quite a bit of space. You can check this better when you put on the jeans you like so much, instead of stepping on the scale.
The problem of excess body fat is global. Over the last half century, the old low-calorie, low-fat mantras only increased the size of the majority of the world's population.
In the US and other Western nations, up to 90 percent or more of adults have excess fat, a condition that truly affects health. However, not everyone is overweight or obese (two outdated terms that you should avoid in most situations).
While body fat measurements are inaccurate (the most popular tests), there are also expensive measurements, such as high-tech DEXA scans.
The latest research is clear:
- The waist-to-height ratio is as accurate as high-tech measurements. It means that the waist should measure less than half your height.
That won't give you your body fat percentage, but it is an accurate diagnosis to know if you have excess fat or not.
You will also be able to monitor your fat loss program in the most objective and scientific way, with a simple tape measure.
And yes, you can finally opt for your bathroom scale.
Check out this comparison of approaches to weight loss:
While the old approach to weight loss continues to fail, new clinical and scientific findings are very successful.
Ancient | New |
Get on the scale, day after day The act of weighing yourself is addictive and terrifies many. |
Measure your waist It's that simple. If it's half or more of your height, look for ways to burn body fat. |
Body weight and body mass index (BMI) tables Between 20 and 40 percent of people who are normal weight and not obese still have excess body fat. While BMI only estimates fat, it is often very inaccurate. |
Excess body fat Reducing excess body fat does much more than making you dress in smaller clothes. It also prevents harm to your cardiovascular and metabolic health, exercise performance, and prevents physical diseases and deficiencies that cause chronic inflammation and carbohydrate intolerance (insulin resistance). |
Calories in, calories out. The traditional notion of burning calories with exercise is not accurate. I ask you, what kind of calories do you burn? sugar or fat? Despite burning calories, you oxidize more sugar and very little fat. Even with exercise, many people still have excess fat. Additionally, low-calorie diets can slow down your metabolism and reduce fat loss. |
Fat burning In addition to reducing excess body fat, it can stabilize blood sugar, reduce (often eliminate) hunger, improve brain function, and help you balance blood fats, among other factors. |
Exercise and exercise The current problem of excess fat evolved along with increasing rates of aerobic and strength exercise. Something must be wrong. |
food first Poor diet is the main reason for excess body fat. Exercise plays a secondary role, remember that it is 70 percent what you eat and 30 percent what you train. |
Low in fat For generations, low-fat foods and diets have been the tradition. When reducing fat in the diet, refined carbohydrates generally increase, and most low-fat food products have sugar and other carbohydrates added for flavor. These quickly become fat that will accumulate in your body. |
Low carb Sugar and other refined carbohydrates immediately affect your metabolism, and about half of these foods are converted to fat. Even that low-carb meal could increase your excess fat, not to mention making you want to eat carbs more. Therefore, there is often a vicious circle of losing some weight and gaining it back a few days later. |
Subsistence allowance Unfortunately, impersonal, off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all diets are the oldest approach and are still in vogue. |
Personalized feeding Look for a nutritionist to prepare a plan to change your lifestyle that suits and fits with your daily routine. |
Remember that you must incorporate small healthy habits every day, especially a healthy diet , so that you do not fail in the search for your health.
And so that you finally achieve your weight loss goal.