Many of us are conscious of our weight these days. We’ve heard about the propensity to illness associated with excess body weight, the drain on energy and a general loss of self-confidence out in society, so a lot of us have at one time or another tried out a slimming diet. Some of the more dedicated, as in the case of a fashion model, might take themselves to the brink of starvation and serious medical and psychological problems all because of associating food with the dreaded fat. Glossy photos in advertising offer up emaciated bodies incapable of so much as lifting a sack of groceries as a standard of beauty. There are pills to make us feel full, more pills to inhibit fat absorption – which have proved especially dangerous due to the body’s medically established need for omega-3’s for heart health and then diuretics and laxatives, putting a strain on body organs and setting us all up for degenerative disease later on.
The belief that restriction of nutrients will get rid of excess fat alone is another danger to us. Our bodies will also utilize muscle tissue, internal organs and bone to get those nutrients we neglect to feed it on slimming diets. So much for the dangers of low-calorie dieting and the fact is that it isn’t even a very effective way to lose weight! That’s because the first thing the body does in sensing the likelihood of starvation is slow down the metabolism. If we lose a lot of weight by starving ourselves, our slow metabolisms will put it right back just as soon as we begin eating normally again, which is, naturally enough, when we are hungry.
There is a healthy alternative to the diet see-saw and fortunately for us, it is the most accessible one; everybody can manage it:
It’s our muscles that do the fat-burning work day and night, the real calorie burners and metabolism lifters. Regular cardiovascular exercise combined with a nutrition-packed diet will keep our weight at its natural best, self-regulate our metabolism and lift our spirits too. Strength and health and a happy smile are the standards of beauty that’ll never go out of fashion.
