Weight-loss tips for men: Listen to your body

　　I wrote, “Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full – a simple piece of advice”. But is it that easy?
A reader commented on that tip which I included in the June 2009 issue of Healthy Food Guide magazine.They said this wasn’t good advice for weight-loss because it’s near impossible to trust your appetite when you are trying to lose weight.
When I was over 130kg, if someone had told me I should “eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full”, there’s no doubt I would have had a similar reaction – in fact I still feel that way sometimes! But if you ask a bloke who has never struggled with weight and body image issues, this tip is just commonsense.

The difference is in the function of a person’s appestat (that part of your brain that tells you when you are hungry and full). In my view, this ‘appestat’ is both physical and psychological: although we have physical hunger and fullness cues, we can confuse physical hunger with some other type of desire – favourites for men include relieving boredom, anxiety, anger or frustration. The function of the physical side of the appestat is the basis of the normal ‘portion control’ weight-loss advice as this will give your body a chance to physically register the food and respond with a physical signal of fullness.
This can work but it’s not ideal advice for everyone as portion control will certainly not satisfy psychological hunger. This is not to say I don’t attempt to control portions – it’s just that sometimes I don’t have enough food and other times I have too much, and these days I try to let my body tell me which is which.
Recognising feelings of hunger and fullness is a fraught business, and it can be tricky explaining to those trying to lose weight what people who have never had weight issues experience. By allowing your body to call the shots I think you can reinstate the function of your physical and psychological appestat (most of the time) and develop a relationship with food that feels more natural.

How to weight loss

　　Whether you are trying to lose 5 pounds or more than 50, the same principles determine how much weight you lose and how fast your weight loss will occur. Remembering the following simple guidelines and putting them into practice can lead to weight loss without the aid of any special diet plans, books, or medications.
Our body weight is determined by the amount of energy that we take in as food and the amount of energy we expend in the activities of our day. Energy is measured in calories. If your weight remains constant, you are probably taking in the same amount of calories that you burn each day. If you're slowly gaining weight over time, it is likely that your caloric intake is greater than the number of calories you burn through your daily activities.
Everyone is in control of the amount of food he or she consumes each day, so our intake of calories is something we can control. To a major degree, we can also control our output of energy, or the number of calories we burn each day. The number of calories we burn each day is dependent upon
1.our basal metabolic rate (BMR), the number of calories we burn per hour simply by being alive and maintaining body functions
2.and our level of physical activity.
For some people, due to genetic (inherited) factors or other conditions, the resting metabolic rate (BMR) can be slightly higher or lower than average. Our weight also plays a role in determining how many calories we burn at rest -- the more calories are required to maintain your body in its present state, the greater your body weight. A 100-pound person requires less energy (food) to maintain body weight than a person who weighs 200 pounds.
Lifestyle and work habits partially determine how many calories we need each day. Someone whose job involves heavy physical labor will naturally burn more calories in a day than someone who sits at a desk most of the day (a sedentary job). For people who do not have jobs that require intense physical activity, exercise or increased physical activity can increase the number of calories burned.
As a rough estimate, an average woman 31-50 years of age who leads a sedentary lifestyle needs about 1,800 calories per day to maintain a normal weight. A man of the same age requires about 2,200 calories. Participating in a moderate level of physical activity (exercising three to five days per week) requires about 200 additional calories per day.

Start living life to the fullest

You owe it to yourself, your body and your family to stick to a healthy diet plan and routine. Isn't it time for you to take control of your weight and start living life to the fullest?

You need a healthy diet women! Where do you find a healthy diet plan? Some weight loss programs are actually healthy diet plans in disguise. Why? This is because they understand that the best way to lose weight is through a healthy diet and lifestyle. Now, if the weight loss program teaches you how to eat in real world situations (including restaurants or family gatherings), is flexible/customizable by you, is designed for the whole family and suggests foods that can be purchased from your local grocery store, then you might actually be looking at a healthy diet plan.

• A healthy diet is not all about counting calories, measuring your meal portions, cutting out carbs or fats.
• A healthy diet is not found on a lite or low fat menu at your favourite restaurant.
• A healthy diet is not even about losing weight but weight loss is a positive side effect for those who are overweight.
• A healthy diet is more about eating the correct foods rather than the amount of food you eat.
• A healthy diet will work quicker and is easier to sustain weight loss than the "quick fix with the latest fad diet".
• Reduce the risk of disease with a healthy diet. Women, the risks of some forms of cancers (breast & cervical) have been found to be greatly reduced when on a healthy diet.

A healthy diet is not just about losing weight nor is it just a temporary solution. It is about a long-term lifestyle choice for you and your family. It is about keeping yourself healthy for the rest of your life while being able to eat the foods you like at every meal.

Finding a proper healthy diet plan can be difficult. If you have a friend that is in good shape, ask what they are doing. Many of my clients are currently on an excellent weight loss program that promotes a healthy diet. Women clients suggest the program called Strip That Fat and it shows excellent results. The healthy diet plan allows for personal customization of over 40,000 meal combinations giving as many unique diets as you want. It prints grocery lists and you go shopping, it could not be any easier. It is a professionally designed program that allows you to become accustomed to healthy eating making it a complete healthy diet program.