Weight Loss to Weight Management

When it comes to health and fitness, there is so much buzz around weight loss but a little conversation about body composition, which plays a vital role in staying healthy lifelong. Whether you want to rock that bikini body during your beach vacation or just wish to stay active and super fit in your golden years, body composition is should be the epicenter of your fitness plan.

A weight-loss plan that is based on body composition gives you definite and long-lasting results. Body composition literally refers to what your body is made of. It tells you the percentage of fat compared to fat-free mass (lean muscle mass, bones &water). Simply put, it is Muscle Vs. Fat. So two people can have the same bodyweight or height but no people can have the same body composition. It is possible that two people with the same bodyweight will have different fat and muscle percentage.

The game-changer

Not Fat or Carbs, but “Lean Body Mass” is areal game-changer when it comes to weight loss. In a layman’s language, lean body mass is the weight of your bones, internal organs, and muscles. Why is it so important? Because it works when you are not working out!Muscle tissue is biologically more active and that means it is utilizing energy when you are sitting. If you have higher lean body mass, you have higher BMR(Basal Metabolic Rate). So it is easier to maintain an over all healthy weight with higher metabolism.

Athletes and bodybuilders have a higher percentage of lean body mass due to the demands of their sport and workout regimens. Of course, you do not need to build big muscles but shifting the focus from fat to muscles will definitely give you long-lasting results. Strength training, 2-3 times a week, will boost your energy and mood levels – it will make you feel stronger and fitter. And, who doesn’t like the feel of those strong, toned muscles?

Fit & Strong – Life long

Is your weight decreasing but your inches are not? Is your weight increasing but inches are the same? Or, are your inches increasing but weight is the same? Chances are that you have been running the rat race of “skinny-me” and totally ignoring your “body composition”. Trying to be skinny without understanding your body type is like running a race without a finish line or a winning prize! You will reach nowhere. Understanding your body type will give a strong framework to your exercise and diet regimen, making them more result-oriented than inch-loss or kilo-loss mad run.

Once you understand your composition, you can change it too by building more muscles mass and losing fat. Workout, activity, food, and lifestyle – these three factors play a vital role in changing your body composition. With right workout (cardio, strength and functional training)and a healthy diet, you can work on building more muscle mass (lean body mass)and burning fat. It is important to stick to a healthy and sustainable weight management plan, which is not based on deprivation or starvation. It is impossible to fight with your natural instinct – hunger. You must address and not avoid it for a more long-lasting fat loss.

How to kick start your weight loss journey?

Food & fitness revolves around the following four pillars:

Sleep

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Sleep is the only time our body actually repairs, rejuvenates and recharges.When you do not get enough sleep, your stress hormones go on a free ride, giving you mood swings, food cravings and weight gain. Yes, if you do not sleep tight, your body will not let go of that fat. Set a sleep clock. At least you fix your sleep timing. Our body works well discipline everyday. When it comes to good sleep, 7-9 hours is ideal.

Food Timings

Fat loss depends on certain hormones, too. These hormones are leptin, ghrelin and insulin. If you are not fixing your food timings then the balance cannot be attained easily for the desired weight loss. This can also lead to fat gain. Follow the 2-6-12 formula for your meals. Breakfast within 2 hours of waking up, lunch within 6 hours of waking up and dinner within 12 hours of waking up. If you are awake till late, then the gap between your dinner and sleep time should be 3 hours.

Appetite

Weight management is incomplete without appetite management or understanding your appetite. Our body gives us signals and hunger is one of those signals, which you should neither ignore nor suppress. Everyone feels hungry at different timings and you should be aware of that and eat accordingly. Be in sync with it

Activity

This one has a simple rule - Eat when you are more active and do not eat when you are not active. For example, eating pre-workout is fine because you are going to consume all those calories but avoid eating when you are close to your bedtime.

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Easy weight loss tips

Here are a few simple ways to help you eat well and yet lose weight.

Stay hydrated
The body’s physiological response to dehydration is binge eating. When you are dehydrated, you feel hungrier. So have water between the meals and keep your body well hydrated. While 2 liters of water sounds reasonable, the rule of thumb is to let the thirst dictate your water intake.

Say hello to veggies

Vegetables provide all the nutrients that your body needs to carry out daily tasks. Fresh vegetables help cut free radicals from the body and promote satiety. Including at least one vegetable with each meal help control hunger pangs and junk eating.

Eat clean

It is the simplest thing you can do to manage your weight. Say no to all kinds of refined food ingredients. For example, instant oats or wheat noodles – no matter how healthy an ingredient looks like, if it is refined, it is neither clean nor nutritious.

Eat what you love

Let’s just stop feeling guilty about eating what we love. Demonizing certain food items is of no help. It is better to eat your favourite food once and get over with the craving. Overcoming the deprivation will help you avoid overeating and erratic eat timings. Balance and planning is one way to do it. For example – if your favourite food is something fried then have it as a mid-meal or if it is sweet then do some extra workout or if it is rich in calories, then go for a lighter dinner.

Start moving

Working out for one or two hours a day is not enough. You have to stay active throughout the day. If you are sitting for 30minutes, you must move for one minute. When you sit for long hours, you are creating a memory of losing muscles in the cells and gaining fat. Also, less activity is equal to less muscle mass.‍

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Weight Loss Myths

1. You lose weight after drinking alcohol.

Truth – You actually lose water weight because alcohol is diuretic.

2. You can detox your way to fitness.

Truth – Detox means giving your body rest. Food free from chemicals is a detox rather than relying on 400 calorie juice detox which can make you lose muscle mass.

3. A lower weight defines the fit body.

Truth – A lower weight is no measure of fitness. Imagine being happy with your weighing scale but falling sick repeatedly or feeling low or irritated al the time.

4. You need to starve to lose weight.

Truth – Starving will increase your craving which will throw you into the vicious cycle of binging and angry.

5. Calorie counting obsession will take you to your dream weight.

Truth – Not all calories are created equally. What 100 calories of apply do to you is not the same what 100 calories from soda will do.

Quick fixes that kill your weight plan

· Going salt-free

· Carb free meals

· Cleansers

· Weight loss pills

Why weight loss pills are not a good idea?

Weight-loss pills and powders come with side effects. Moreover, weight-loss means getting freedom from fat. But what’s the point of losing weight, if you are going to get dependent on some pills and powders.

Why you should throw away your weighing machine?

Adopt a more holistic approach to health and wellness. The numbers on the weighing scale only tell about the descending kilograms. These numbers do not reflect your emotional health or how you feel.The other parameters to measure weight are:

· Inches

· Energy levels

· Mood swings

· Appetite management