Find Out Who You Are To Lose Weight

You're what you eat. By eating you fill your body with energy which enables you to perform your daily functions. The food you consume also shapes your body. And the shape of your body along with other attributes becomes your social identity.

So it's important to know what motivates us to eat. Because not all of us eat when we are hungry. And not many of us grab a bowl of fruits either.

We need to understand our food triggers so that we can learn to control them. When we understand these triggers, we will be in a better position to make healthy food choices. And this combined with the right form of exercise will help us lose weight and move towards a healthy lifestyle.

There are so many different types of eaters. But to begin with, let's classify them into 2 types--the ones who live to eat and the ones who eat to live.

So who are you?

Someone who lives to eat like Mack

Mack loves his food. He books his table way in advance to enjoy his dinner in his favorite restaurant. He hates it when he has to talk with food in his mouth. So a working lunch or dinner is his worst nightmare. He loves it when the waiter in the restaurant brings his selected meal and wine and vanishes fast to let him enjoy his meal, all by himself. Mack also loves to watch food shows on t.v. and experiment in the kitchen once in a while. Good food, served enticingly on a plate makes Mack emotional. It often tells him what heaven would probably look and taste like.

Mack is overweight. He weights 10 kilos more than his ideal weight and he's obese around his waist. That's what his BMI tells him. Mack wants to lose weight but doesn't know if it's a possibility. Why? Because he can't eat bland, tasteless, so-called healthy lunch or dinner. Both Mack and you must try this.

• Start with a tasty and filling breakfast. For example, an egg white omelet with 2-5 egg whites. Note: Egg whites and not whole eggs. Or no eggs with yolk. Throw the yolk away.
• To make a tasty omelet that looks enticing, add half a diced onion, tomato and 2 cloves of finely chopped garlic into the egg mixture. Serve with coriander leaves or mint.
• Snack on roasted peanuts, walnuts and almonds. Add paprika or sprinkle of olive oil and salt.
• Break your big lunch into 3 small, healthy and delicious lunches and eat every 2-3 hours.
• Experiment with chicken, fish, veggies, rice, and multi-grain bread to add variety.
• Eat food that is high protein and decrease your intake of carbohydrates.
• Take time to serve. Or pack it neatly in your lunch box. Remember seeing is eating too.
• Break your dinner into 3 small dinners. You can start dining 2-3 hours after you've finished your last lunch.
• Pack in a lot of color and flavor in all your meals. So that it's tasty and pleasing to the senses.
• Exercise. Choose an activity and stick to it. You can run, walk, dance, jog, swim or play basketball, soccer, badminton and tennis.
• Continue with your chosen activity for a while. If you miss a day of exercise, don't fret. Turn up the heat next day. Don't give up.
• Exercise strenuously for 30 minutes to an hour everyday.

Shanti loves life. She loves to bike, run, and make friends. When you ask her about her favourite food, she stares blankly at you for a while. What's food got to do with her likes. After thinking for a minute or two, she tells you she eats when she's hungry. Why else would you eat, she wonders?

Shanti is overweight by 1-3 kilos. She wants to lose that flab from her waist and feel lighter. She also wants to have a toned abdomen and a fat belly.

Here is what you and Shanti can do to realize your goal.

• Choose a healthy bite over junk food when hungry.
• Stop grabbing chocolates, confectionery items, or sugary and floury desserts. Instead opt for fruits with a drizzle of homemade fruit syrups.
• Some other healthy meal ideas. 1. Eat a bowl of brown or red rice with a well-cooked piece of tuna fish. 2. Or, a bowl of oatmeal with fruits and nuts is good too.
• Work on your abdominal muscles. Doing push ups,squats,lunges, planks, side planks and bicycle can be a great way to tone those muscles and lose weight.
• Do abdominal exercises for 15-30 minutes every other day. Don't do it regularly as your muscles need to rest too.

• Pilates works wonders on your body. It builds muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abdominals, arms, hips, and back.
• Pilates works to improve spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, and helps develop strong core (muscles).
• It also helps to better your coordination and balance, improves posture, relaxes and increases your awareness and focus.
• To take up learning and practicing Pilates, you can search for a gym which has trained Pilate instructors.
• Once you learn Pilates, you can then continue to do it on your own.
• To add more to your daily pushups, you can try doing Pilates pushups.

Remember to ask who are you when you take that first bite. Asking this question will be your first step. It will help you realize why you're overweight or obese.

Yes, it's an introspection. You need to step inside and find out why you're not losing that weight.You can even talk to a dietician to find out where you're going wrong, if you're already on a diet. But most of the times, the answer lies within you. And only you can motivate yourself to lose that weight.

http://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/obesity/mortality.htm