Leptin and Fat
07/08 -
from "Rust Out" by Dr Bailey pages 86 and 87
-My Brain Made Me Do It
-Reasons You’re Still Fat
-Leptin, the miracle weight-loss hormone?
You diet. You exercise. So why is your gut still hanging over your belt?
You Inhale Your Food?
If you were a rat, you’d eat for about 15 minutes, feel full and stop eating. But you’re not. You probably eat so fast that your stomach hardly has time to alert your brain to tell your mouth to quit chewing before your stomach explodes. Solution: On every bite, chew, swallow and put down the fork. See how long it takes you to eat. Another meal-prolonging trick for men with regular dinner partners is to turn off the TV, put down the paper and actually have a conversation.
You’re Too Refined?
Most processed foods (breads, cereals, pastas) contain little fiber, the calorie free component of plant foods that fills you up, not out. Plus, food rich in fiber helps control blood sugar and insulin levels. Solution: It would be a good idea to cut back on potatoes in any form (especially the French fries). Potatoes raise glucose concentration quickly, as do snack chips, white bread, low fiber breakfast cereals, and breakfast bars. Stick with plant based foods like whole-grain cereals, nuts and beans; which are low-cal and high in cancer fighting compounds.
Wide Awake?
Sleep deprivation decreases the odds of shedding blubber and keeping it off. Researchers found that healthy men who snoozed only four to seven hours a night for six nights in a row had higher glucose and insulin levels in their blood. This is a terrible state of metabolism for one who is trying to lose weight, because surplus insulin boosts body-fat storage. Solution: Hit the sack for eight hours each and every night. Keep the same routine, even on weekends. Establish a regular bedtime and waking hour. If you can’t sleep, don’t get up and watch TV; listen to music, read uplifting material. Don’t eat; eat between four and six hours before bedtime for best results.
Exercise Trumps Food?
Exercise alone won’t make you thin. A recent study of military personnel who increased their exercise during a three year period found that they gained weight despite their extra efforts. Why? They simply ate whatever and whenever they wanted and they ate more than they burned off. Solution: Control your portions. The best way to do this is by eating less often. I recommend two meals a day. With water only in between meals. According to the Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter, a single restaurant meal often could feed an entire family. A pasta dish at an Italian restaurant might include eight one-cup servings. A side of french fries might include 70 of the little mischief makers (~600 calories), which is seven servings. A nut filled cinnamon bun in a mall food court could total 1,100 calories.
You’re Dry?
When you’re trying to lose weight, water is your workout partner. You need it to flush the waste products from your body when it breaks down fat for energy, or when it processes protein. You need it to transport nutrients to your muscles. You need it to help digest food and keep your metabolism clicking along. And water keeps you from overheating during exercise on hot days. Solution: Start your day by filling up a half gallon jug with water (64 ounces). Your goal is to empty it at least once during the day.
You’re Starving?
Slashing too many calories, particularly protein calories, pushes the body to conserve calories rather than burn them. It also forces your body to break down muscle tissue to fuel its vital operations. But that muscle is the key to your metabolism, or the speed at which you burn calories. More muscle, means a faster metabolism and less body fat. Solution: Cut empty non-protein carbohydrate calories to lose weight. Eliminate the ice cream, potato chips, pizza and cookies etc. from your diet.
Have We Found A Cause of Obesity?
Obesity has progressively increased worldwide and is closely associated with increased illness and death from several common diseases in the western world, including diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and cancers (breast, cervical, endometrial, ovarian, gallbladder, colon, and prostate). Obesity is a combination of reward, pleasure, desire and motivation. Is it chemical too?
