Meet John: He's a normal 35 year old that continue to eat like his college days, the typical pizza, burgers, fries, soda pop, ice cream sundaes, and all the other "goodies" that have become the staple in the American diet.
However, he's not as active as he was in his younger days because now he has a typical 8-hour job, a family to care for, and other "priorities" that draws his attention (taking care of himself is not one of them).
Looking at pictures of his younger days, he notices his weight gain even more, but wouldn't consider himself as clinically obese. He still has enough energy to do the everyday mundane tasks, and his body seems to function as what he considers normal.
He doesn't expect to be struck with any life changing diseases, other than the typical "aging problems."
Little does he know that (as of January 2010) 23 million Americans have already been struck with either Type 1 ("juvenile diabetes") or Type 2 ("adult onset") diabetes. Lucky for him, he was not born with diabetes (Type 1). But his poor diet, inactive lifestyle, and too much body fat, are huge risk factors in developing Type 2 diabetes. John's mentality, coupled with the slow development of this disease is the very reason millions have heard, "you've got diabetes."
What is having diabetes like? A diabetic put it this way: it is "like a baby that won't stop crying." In other words, it requires constant attention.
And here's the irony. When you still have the opportunity to make a positive change in your life, it's the most difficult. But when it's too late, it's easy. Why our Health Care system focuses on treating diseases rather than prevention is incomprehensible.
At the rate diabetes is growing, 1 out of every 3 American will soon suffer from this nasty disease. Your weight is a great gauge on how likely you will develop diabetes. So, let's focus on that.
Like the title stated, losing just 5-7% of your body weight can reduce your odds of developing diabetes. So,...
3 Lifestyle Habits You Want To Avoid To Help You Lose Weight
1. Do Not Eat Just A Few Big Meals
This stretches your stomach, training it to tolerate more big meals in the future. But, your body only uses what is immediately necessary to sustain life, and stores the rest for future use. And once your storage is full because you didn't use it up, guess what all that excess turns into? Yes, fat. This is why people gain weight when they pig out during a short time span, i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving, or other "easy to binge" holidays and vacations. This is just one reason why you don't want to eat big meals.
Eat like a thoroughbred racehorse...graze throughout the day. Animals that graze are leaner. So, if you eat many (5-6) smaller balanced meals throughout the day, you will be leaner, too. This frequent eating pattern trains your body to get off "starvation mode," in which your body stores calories thinking you won't eat for a long time. This also helps keep blood sugar levels steady, keeping your energy levels from dipping into "slug zone."
TIP 1: A simple way of retraining yourself is to use a smaller plate.
2. Do Not "Set Up Camp" On The Couch
Living an inactive lifestyle is more dangerous than smoking, according to a study done by the University of Hong Kong and Department of Health.
For example, men increase their risk of dying from cancer by 45% by living a sedentary lifestyle, women by 28%. And when it comes to respiratory ailments, men increase their risk by a whopping 92%, women 75%!
Message: Be a river, not a pond. Stagnant water rots, so do not live your life on a couch.
Since you already know the more you move the more calories your burn, here are some numbers for you.
A cumulative deficit total of 3500 calories = 1 pound loss (Ex. Based on your current lifestyle, it takes 2000 calories per day to maintain your weight. You take in 1900 calories per day, a deficit of 100 calories, and you will lose 1 lb. in 35 days. Likewise, you could continue to take in 2000 calories but because you gained more muscles, for example, you require 2100 calories to maintain your weight. You will get the same results.
TIP 2: Deep Clean Your House - this means scrubbing, mopping, dusting, etc. You will burn about 100 calories in just 10 minutes.
TIP 3: Volunteer To Do The Grocery Shopping - this means pushing a shopping cart, bending up and down selecting foods, loading your car with groceries, etc. Again, you will burn about 100 caloires in 10 minutes, or 600 calories in an hour.
TIP 4: Make a Kid Happy - this means play with him/her. You will burn about 450 calories in 30 minutes. Obviously the more you move, the more calories you'll burn. A game that involves lots of mini bursts is excellent, i.e. football, basketball, freeze tag, soccer, etc.
3. Do Not Be Afraid Of Resistance Training
If you don't incorporate some sort of resistance training in your life (especially when you start entering your 30's - 40's), you will gain weight easier, feel more fatigued, more depressed, more irritated, more indecisive, less sexually aroused, and many other adverse effects of low testosterone.
The more stress you put on your muscle fibers, the more testosterone you will produce (however, you do not want to chronically overtrain).
And ladies, don't worry about getting muscular (you'll just tone up due to the mild increase in muscle mass and loss of fat) because you don't produce as much testosterone as men. If for no other reason ladies, incorporate resistance training just to counter bone loss (osteoporosis). Testosterone has been show to even promote bone growth. (NOTE: to be safe, consult your physician before beginning any exercise program for osteoporosis).
Building muscle is the "bomb" when it comes to weight loss. Think of fat as the enemy. Resistance training is the bomb that weakens the enemy, making your battle much, much easier.
Basically, you are building a machine that burns fat 24/7. Yes, even while you're sleeping. The more muscles you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (which equates to more calories burned while resting).
TIP 5: You do not have to join a gym to do this type of training. You can get some rubber resistance bands and find a free routine on your favorite website. Don't want to spend money? You could fill a few sets of milk gallon jugs with different amounts of water for some make shift dumbbells. Or, fill a few sandbags.
However, the best resistance you can use for free is your body. Bodyweight exercises trigger stabilizer muscles and your central nervous system.
What this means for you is you get stronger and leaner FASTER.
Some examples are push-ups, pull ups, squats, dips, reverse push-ups, stair sprints, etc. As you get stronger, you can add those water jugs or sandbags for more resistance.
A Quick Recap
If you continue to live your life pigging out, living a sedentary lifestyle, and not releasing testosterone doing resistance training, you are setting yourself up for weight gain, a major factor in developing diabetes.
Truth is, you have more control over your future health than you think. Article Source
However, he's not as active as he was in his younger days because now he has a typical 8-hour job, a family to care for, and other "priorities" that draws his attention (taking care of himself is not one of them).
Looking at pictures of his younger days, he notices his weight gain even more, but wouldn't consider himself as clinically obese. He still has enough energy to do the everyday mundane tasks, and his body seems to function as what he considers normal.
He doesn't expect to be struck with any life changing diseases, other than the typical "aging problems."
Little does he know that (as of January 2010) 23 million Americans have already been struck with either Type 1 ("juvenile diabetes") or Type 2 ("adult onset") diabetes. Lucky for him, he was not born with diabetes (Type 1). But his poor diet, inactive lifestyle, and too much body fat, are huge risk factors in developing Type 2 diabetes. John's mentality, coupled with the slow development of this disease is the very reason millions have heard, "you've got diabetes."
What is having diabetes like? A diabetic put it this way: it is "like a baby that won't stop crying." In other words, it requires constant attention.
And here's the irony. When you still have the opportunity to make a positive change in your life, it's the most difficult. But when it's too late, it's easy. Why our Health Care system focuses on treating diseases rather than prevention is incomprehensible.
At the rate diabetes is growing, 1 out of every 3 American will soon suffer from this nasty disease. Your weight is a great gauge on how likely you will develop diabetes. So, let's focus on that.
Like the title stated, losing just 5-7% of your body weight can reduce your odds of developing diabetes. So,...
3 Lifestyle Habits You Want To Avoid To Help You Lose Weight
1. Do Not Eat Just A Few Big Meals
This stretches your stomach, training it to tolerate more big meals in the future. But, your body only uses what is immediately necessary to sustain life, and stores the rest for future use. And once your storage is full because you didn't use it up, guess what all that excess turns into? Yes, fat. This is why people gain weight when they pig out during a short time span, i.e. Christmas, Thanksgiving, or other "easy to binge" holidays and vacations. This is just one reason why you don't want to eat big meals.
Eat like a thoroughbred racehorse...graze throughout the day. Animals that graze are leaner. So, if you eat many (5-6) smaller balanced meals throughout the day, you will be leaner, too. This frequent eating pattern trains your body to get off "starvation mode," in which your body stores calories thinking you won't eat for a long time. This also helps keep blood sugar levels steady, keeping your energy levels from dipping into "slug zone."
TIP 1: A simple way of retraining yourself is to use a smaller plate.
2. Do Not "Set Up Camp" On The Couch
Living an inactive lifestyle is more dangerous than smoking, according to a study done by the University of Hong Kong and Department of Health.
For example, men increase their risk of dying from cancer by 45% by living a sedentary lifestyle, women by 28%. And when it comes to respiratory ailments, men increase their risk by a whopping 92%, women 75%!
Message: Be a river, not a pond. Stagnant water rots, so do not live your life on a couch.
Since you already know the more you move the more calories your burn, here are some numbers for you.
A cumulative deficit total of 3500 calories = 1 pound loss (Ex. Based on your current lifestyle, it takes 2000 calories per day to maintain your weight. You take in 1900 calories per day, a deficit of 100 calories, and you will lose 1 lb. in 35 days. Likewise, you could continue to take in 2000 calories but because you gained more muscles, for example, you require 2100 calories to maintain your weight. You will get the same results.
TIP 2: Deep Clean Your House - this means scrubbing, mopping, dusting, etc. You will burn about 100 calories in just 10 minutes.
TIP 3: Volunteer To Do The Grocery Shopping - this means pushing a shopping cart, bending up and down selecting foods, loading your car with groceries, etc. Again, you will burn about 100 caloires in 10 minutes, or 600 calories in an hour.
TIP 4: Make a Kid Happy - this means play with him/her. You will burn about 450 calories in 30 minutes. Obviously the more you move, the more calories you'll burn. A game that involves lots of mini bursts is excellent, i.e. football, basketball, freeze tag, soccer, etc.
3. Do Not Be Afraid Of Resistance Training
If you don't incorporate some sort of resistance training in your life (especially when you start entering your 30's - 40's), you will gain weight easier, feel more fatigued, more depressed, more irritated, more indecisive, less sexually aroused, and many other adverse effects of low testosterone.
The more stress you put on your muscle fibers, the more testosterone you will produce (however, you do not want to chronically overtrain).
And ladies, don't worry about getting muscular (you'll just tone up due to the mild increase in muscle mass and loss of fat) because you don't produce as much testosterone as men. If for no other reason ladies, incorporate resistance training just to counter bone loss (osteoporosis). Testosterone has been show to even promote bone growth. (NOTE: to be safe, consult your physician before beginning any exercise program for osteoporosis).
Building muscle is the "bomb" when it comes to weight loss. Think of fat as the enemy. Resistance training is the bomb that weakens the enemy, making your battle much, much easier.
Basically, you are building a machine that burns fat 24/7. Yes, even while you're sleeping. The more muscles you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate (which equates to more calories burned while resting).
TIP 5: You do not have to join a gym to do this type of training. You can get some rubber resistance bands and find a free routine on your favorite website. Don't want to spend money? You could fill a few sets of milk gallon jugs with different amounts of water for some make shift dumbbells. Or, fill a few sandbags.
However, the best resistance you can use for free is your body. Bodyweight exercises trigger stabilizer muscles and your central nervous system.
What this means for you is you get stronger and leaner FASTER.
Some examples are push-ups, pull ups, squats, dips, reverse push-ups, stair sprints, etc. As you get stronger, you can add those water jugs or sandbags for more resistance.
A Quick Recap
If you continue to live your life pigging out, living a sedentary lifestyle, and not releasing testosterone doing resistance training, you are setting yourself up for weight gain, a major factor in developing diabetes.
Truth is, you have more control over your future health than you think. Article Source