Top 10 Reasons Why You’re Fat
Posted September 30th, 2008 by smartElder
Why You're Fat
The top 10 reasons why you’re fat might be surprising to you. They might sound familiar. You might not agree with them, but they will give you a better understanding how to lose weight. You might be genetically built to be large or big boned, but you can look good for you. And that’s what it’s all about. As always, seek the advice of your physician for personal recommendations. Here we go with the top 10!
#10. You don’t eat breakfast. They say it’s the most important meal of the day, and they’re right. You have to break yourself of the notion that food = fat. In reality, only lots of food will make you fat. When you skip breakfast, you slow your metabolism down. This makes you burn less calories and have less energy. Eat your breakfast, please.
#9. You don’t sleep enough. You need 8 hours of sleep. If you don’t sleep enough, you disrupt your body’s natural process of controlling blood sugar levels and hormones. The regulation of cortisol, a weight-related hormone, and various thyroid hormones can be disrupted if you don’t make sleep a priority.1 You and I both know you feel better when you sleep, mentally and physically.
#8. You don’t drink enough water. You may be afraid of water weight. This is probably due to the knowledge that salt and MSG increase water retention.2 While this is true, you should also know how important water is for virtually every process in the body. Also, there is very little water in fat (5%-13%), and muscle is 70% water.3 Water in your muscles will keep your metabolism high, causing you to burn more calories. Water stored in your muscles will give you the energy you need during your workouts. You’ll be able to burn more calories for a longer period of time.2 You need to drink about 2.0 liters of water per day depending on certain conditions. See my post about drinking water for more info.
Soda Pop
#7. You drink pop. One 12 ounce soda contains 150 calories of the wrong kind of sugar (processed sugar). Pure water contains virtually no calories. More calories equals more fat. Don’t drink pop. Drink water instead. Besides, if you drink lots of soda pop, you are less likely to drink milk, which means you are more likely to break bones and have other osteo problems.4
#6. You eat big meals 3 times a day instead of small meals 5 times a day. If you go for more than 3 hours between meals, your body switches from burning calories to saving calories.5 In the United States, the meals are breakfast, lunch, and dinner (dinner being the largest). Dinner can be anytime from 4:00 - 11:00 p.m., depending on the household. In Brazil, the biggest meal of the day is traditionally lunch. That is a little better than the U.S. because the later you eat, the worse for you it is if you are trying to lose weight.
Instead of eating the 3 meals per day, we need to change our culture so we eat 5 meals a day: breakfast, brunch, lunch, afternoon snack, and dinner. Eat the same calories you do now in 3 meals, but break it up into 5 meals. Pick a favorite vegetable, and learn to eat it at 3:00 p.m. at work or at home. Eating 5 meals a day will super charge your metabolism and make you burn more calories.
#5. You carry emotional baggage that keeps you from losing weight.The mental affects the physical. The physical affects the mental. During stressful or emotional times, your body produces more cortisol than normal. Also, levels of serotonin (a neurotransmitter in the brain) decrease under stress. The combination of more cortisol and less serotonin sends a message to your body to eat more carbohydrates.6 Fix your emotional state of mind and you’ll be in a better position to lose weight and avoid other sicknesses.
#4. You chose “fad diets” instead of changing your lifestyle. You “yo-yo” diet. You lose 5 pounds on a fad diet then gain 7 pounds when you stop dieting. This will not help you. You don’t want a get-skinny-quick scheme. You want a long-term, steady approach. You want to look good for a long time not a short time, right? It’s going to be hard. It’s going to take effort, but isn’t it worth your health?
#3. You don’t have a balanced diet. The modern person eats much different than 100 years ago. Our diet today typically consists of 28% carbohydrates, 12% protein, 40% fat, and 20% processed sugars. Ideally, it should be 65% carbohydrates (this includes natural sugars found in a variety of fruits), 20% fat (with a large portion unsaturated fat), 15% protein, and 0% processed sugars.7 Plan out your meals for the week and stick to it.
#2. You’re exercise program is all wrong. Maybe you don’t exercise at all. Perhaps you exercise, but it’s not enough. Perhaps you exercise but do the same thing every time. You need warm-up, training, and cool-down sessions in your workout program. You need cardio and strength training to keep your body in optimal training mode and to keep your workouts fun and enjoyable.8
#1. You consume more calories than you burn. This is the silver bullet that will make you thin. You need to burn more calories than you take into your body. Apart from a fat reducing surgery or water loss, this is the only way you can lose weight. You lose calories by a combination of:
- Eating the right foods
- Burning calories through exercise and high metabolism
It sounds so simple, but that’s all you have to do. You need to make a food plan each week. You need to track your calories. You need to plan your workouts and track how many calories you lost. You need to track your weight, BMI, and water percentage. Through discipline you can accomplish your goals.
If you are overweight, you may do any of the above to lose weight. Do all 10 and you will be making a lifestyle change that will set you on a course to wellness and quality of life. Best of luck to you. Let me know how it goes.
1. Harrar, Sari Harrar & VanTine, Julia (2004). Prevention’s the Sugar Solution, pg. 25. Rodale Publishing.
2. Greene, Bob (2006). The Best Life Diet, pg. 17. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
3. Schlosberg, Suzanne & Neporent, Liz & Drenth, Tere Stouffer (2005). Fitness For Dummies — 3rd ed, pg. 24. Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing.
4. Greenberg, Jerrold S. & Dintiman, George B. & Oakes, Barbee Myers (2004). Physical Fitness and Wellness — 3rd ed, pg. 246. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.
5. Cruise, Jorge (2005). The 3-Hour Diet — 3rd ed, pg. 46. New York, NY: HarperCollins.
6. Mitchell, Susan & Christie, Catherine & Edge, Marianne Smith (2005). Fat Is Not Your Fate, pg. 175. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
7. Holford, Patrick (2004). The New Optimum Nutrition Bible, pg. 44-45. Berkeley, CA: The Crossing Press.
8. Bagchi, Debasis & Preuss, Harry G. (2007). Obesity, pg. 221. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
Tags: Weight Loss, Why You're Fat
