Weight gain and health problems associated with obesity are on the rise. Associated with the increased amount of fat, sugar and processed foods in the Standard Western Diet, increased weight gain has also been linked with health issues such as cardiac disease, stroke, and mobility problems. Weight gain and loss is a matter of math. Calorie weight loss happens when you expend more calories than you take in.
The objective in any weight loss program is to have a negative calorie weight loss balance. In other words the number of calories per day that you eat is less than the amount you “spend” in exercise, energy and general living.
It actually sounds easier than most people are able to achieve. Negative calorie weight loss might be the sound method of weight loss but there are factors that cause a calorie weight loss journey to be unsuccessful. Emotional eating, eating disorders, health problems, pregnancy, nursing, age (under 18) are all factors that will impact the ability to maintain a negative calorie weight loss program, whether it is a specific diet such as the South Beach or Jenny Craig, or if the diet is undertaken at home without specific commercial guidelines.
Because of the difficulty with weight loss many have tried to find a “magic” pill, food or surgery to help improve the success rate of calorie weight loss. One such theory is that there are certain foods that have a negative impact on calories because they supposedly take more calories to convert them to energy than they have stored in them.
You’ll learn that the negative calorie foods are supposedly asparagus, broccoli, beets, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, cucumber, carrot, garlic, papaya, spinach, turnip, zucchini, apples, oranges, lettuce, grapefruit, pineapples, strawberries and raspberries. The theory is that you can eat as much of these foods daily because they supply nutrients and you’ll burn more calories getting the energy and nutrients than they have, thus dipping into your fat stores just to digest food.
However, with a quick glance around the animal kingdom you’ll note that most herbivores aren’t wasting away from eating nothing but “negative calorie” foods. Do these supposed negative calorie weight loss foods have calories? Of course they do! Are those calories more or less than other foods? They are less.
One pound of body weight is equivalent to 3500 calories. In order to lose one pound you have to have a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. This negative calorie weight loss deficit doesn’t happen in the course of one day.
For instance, if you normally eat 1800 calories per day and decrease your intake to 1500 while increasing the amount of exercise you get each day it will take approximately 7 days to lose one pound – assuming that you are burning approximately 350 calories during your workouts in four days. Weight loss is a mathematical equation that works when you apply it to your calorie weight loss program.
On the other hand, gaining two or three pounds in one day is impossible. This is the result of water weight gain, or the body conserving water at the cellular level. This can happen to a woman during her period or to the body during other times of stress. You can naturally, and easily, lose the water by actually increasing the amount of water you are drinking. The body is given the ideal amount of water and no longer retains anything extra.
A negative calorie weight loss program combined with increased calorie expenditure results in a safe weight loss program that becomes permanent as you adjust your lifestyle to the changes. Research has also shown that weight is lost more effectively and stays off more successfully if exercise is incorporated into the general negative calorie weight loss program. And who doesn’t enjoy the toned muscles and increased energy that comes with exercise!
Resources:
MayoClinic: Weight Loss
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/calories/WT00011
MayoClinic: Metabolism and Weight Loss: How You Burn Calories
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/metabolism/WT00006
FitDay: How Many Calories to Eat/Burn to Lose 5, 10, 20, 50 Pounds
USDA Choose My Plate.gov: Weight Management
http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/weight-management.html
NHS: Getting Started on the NHS Weight Loss Plan
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/weight-loss-guide/Pages/losing-weight-getting-started.aspx
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