5 Mantras for weight loss that really work!!

1. Dieting will make you fat!
Most diets are based on calorie restriction, deprivation and plain old starvation! All of these will initially induce ‘weight’ loss. Unfortunately the weight you lose is not all fat; some of the weight you lose will actually be water and lots of muscle tissue. Losing muscle tissue means a slower metabolic rate and a slower fat burning ‘engine’ This means regaining the weight you have just lost as soon as you start eating normally, plus interest!

Success Tip: Next time you are thinking of going on a diet, here is an interesting thought for you – 1kg of fat is equivalent to 7,700 calories; do you really think it is possible to lose fat at a rate of 2kg per week as advertised by many diets or are they just advertising what you would like to believe?

2. The 2/3 - 1/3 principle
Here is an easy to stick to eating plan – it is not a diet, it is simply a guide you can use when making your daily food choices!

2/3 of what you eat should look like it comes out of the ground or off a tree; i.e. Fruits, Vegetables, Nuts, Whole Grains, Brown and Wild Rice, and Legumes (interestingly fat is also in this category in the form of avocados, olives and nuts and the oils made from these products!)

The other 1/3 of what you eat should be proteins such as Fish, Lean Meats, Lean Chicken (skin off), Low Fat Milk, Low Fat Yoghurt, Low Fat Cheeses and Eggs. Everything else should be consumed moderately.

3. Be a SMARTIE
If you feel the urge to go on a diet, ask yourself the following questions:

S Is it something you can Stick to Simply for the rest of your life
M Is it in Moderation
A Is it Achievable
R Is it Realistic
T Is it Time-efficient
I Is it Interesting
E Is it Enjoyable

If the answer to all of the above is yes, congratulations because you have found a sensible eating plan, if the answer to any of these is no – you might need to re-think your diet.

4. Scales are your enemy
Many commercial weight loss programs (notice I didn’t say fat loss) – actually discourage exercise, particularly strength training because they teach you to measure your progress by the scales. It is in their best interest – not yours – for you to lose muscle tissue because it will show a greater reduction in overall body weight. If you were to keep your muscle and only lose fat it would slow down the process and ultimately they couldn’t advertise ‘quick results.’ Muscle is your friend because it is what helps keep your fat burning engine running – do you really want to lose this precious resource?

5. Beware of low-fat/no-fat diets
Fats should actually make up around 26-30% of your total calorie intake. There has been a huge swing towards ‘fat phobia’ because low-fat food manufacturers have spent millions of dollars trying to convince consumers that all fat is bad – simply not true.

Whilst it’s true that fat has 9 calories per gram, as opposed to carbohydrates and protein that have only 4 calories per gram, fat is essential in the diet to ensure proper functioning of your mind and body. Fat also makes us feel full and satisfied; so if your diet consists of mainly ‘low fat’ foods you may end up eating more calories overall as you generally eat more low fat food before feeling full and satisfied.

The other issue with low fat foods is that most manufacturers will add sugars to their products to replace the taste and texture removed with the natural fats – this usually increases the calories back to the original amount, if not higher, and then you have the problem of increased insulin levels due the food now having a high GI rating!

Quick tip: the best sources of fat are from cold water ocean fish, raw nuts, seeds, olives and avocados. Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil is great for salads but loses its integrity during cooking, so if you do need to cook with oil try using cold pressed grape seed oil.

Sonja Falvo,
Author, Motivational Speaker & International Body Transformation Specialist

www.r ealbody.com.au