BROADCASTS.com

b'

Losing weight and staying fit seems like an impossible thing to many people. It can feel like you are desperately flipping switches and pulling levers on the inputs of your body with no response. Of course it is no surprise that many have given up on staying fit because what we know we should do is not as powerful as they say. I will talk about my struggle with weight and how I now have been able to keep off 45lbs (20kg)

\\n
• \\n

  I was raised in a health conscious family so health and weight were always at the forefront of my mind

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I was chubby between the ages of about 12-15 and being made fun of for it. In our group of friends I was the fat one. Then when puberty hit, the weight came off very quickly

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I was a normal weight for a long time until I started dating my first gf which caused me to become lazy and I ended up gaining about 40 pounds (~20kg) in 8 months. At first I was hopeful that it was muscle because it was being put on in the right places, but then I realized it was actually just fat.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Then after doing my study abroad a year later in Germany and again being separated from that gf I was able to first lose 20 pounds (~10kg) in 3 months and later the final 20 pounds (~10kg) over about 6 months.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I have been able to keep it at that level now for 2 years with some more minor 10 pound fluctuations but when I notice that happening I take care of it and can have it fixed within a month.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I am a big guy at 6\'3\\u201d (193cm) and my \'thin weight\' is about 175 pounds (80kg) so for some of you smaller people it would be like a 5 pound (~2kg) fluctuation

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  In the end, all that I had learned during my minor in Nutrition during my Bachelors degree proved to be useless or completely wrong. The US government\'s recommendations was actually part of what kept me fat and when I broke from that I was able to control my weight the way I wanted

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I realized that nutrition was the most important factor in weight management and health. Exercise is important also but it is almost impossible to make up for bad eating decisions by exercising more (you would need to chop wood for 2 hours a day). I find the impact on weight is about 80% nutrition and 20% exercise. I will talk about exercise in the next episode

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  So, now for the most important part. I found through my experience that sugars (also carbohydrates) are pretty much to blame for gaining weight. This is of course found in anything sweet or starchy: bread, rice, potatoes, many sauces, sweets, sugar, soft drinks, and anything along these lines was the biggest contributor to fat creation.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  This means eating fried chicken with extra oil is nowhere near as fat generating as eating a bowl of pasta. Crazy, isn\'t it?

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Actually, it could be healthier as well. Science is finding out that the rate you create insulin, or the hormone that is secreted when you eat sugars, is the rate that you age. Creating insulin along with the spikes in blood sugar are very stressful for your cells and contribute to aging. Cutting down on sugar or at least eating more slowly digestible sugars could help you live longer

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  If you are able to minimize carbs, then you can pretty much eat as much of the other stuff as you like. It is just not possible to eat enough of the other stuff to gain weight and you will be full and not be able to eat anymore first

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  It is impossible and unwise to completely eliminate carbs as they are everywhere and some baseline is essential for human function. But for me, I went from carbs being about 75% of my diet to about 25% of my diet and now I can eat what I want

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Generally, you want to eat lots of veggies which is good for your digestion. Fruits however, are not very good because they contain so much sugar and all of the vitamins can also be found in veggies. That is why you should limit fruits or fruit smoothies.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  High quality fats are also very essential. Because your entire brain is pretty much made of fat, you need to keep it healthy. Coconut butter, quality milk butter or ghee are very good sources of oil. Since you have also cut down on your carbs you can add more butter so your food tastes even more amazing!

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Good protein is also very important. This is the type of food that will keep you full the longest. I have sometimes eaten a whole chicken and then not been hungry for about 36 hours following that. If you eat more protein like meat, fish, eggs, or beans, you won\'t be like a yoyo to the refrigerator every two hours.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  You should be able to easily manage going 5 hours between meals and if you are getting hungry after less than 2 hours your body is telling you that your last meal was not very nutritious

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  This now becomes a more expensive way of eating, because you are trading cheap food for expensive ones. You trade rice for beans, vegetable oil for ghee, and a plate full of pasta to one full of meat. Since there are no more \'filler\' foods, you need to eat more of the expensive \'good stuff\'

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Finally, an advanced thing I follow is something called \'Intermittent fasting.\' This basically says you eat for 8 hours during the day and fast, or eat nothing, for the remaining 16 hours. This is supposedly good for cellular repair but I do it because I feel great

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Instead of eating throughout the day, I have one mega size meal and one small meal. This is enough for me to last through the day and I am full for the whole day. I love that I don\'t think about food, I can eat like a king, I spend less, and I lose weight. It may take a while to get used to it but I recommend it. But it is not necessary and girls may not need it at all

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  The key is to try everything yourself out. It is not good to blindly follow diets, food research, or the latest fad in cutting weight. It is important to try it out for a few weeks and watch what your results are. The good diet you follow is better than the perfect diet you don\'t follow

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  I have started with a few diets ideas and then tweaked some small things as I learned what my body did and did not like. Some good places to start are the Slow Carb Diet, the Bulletproof Diet, the Paleo Diet, and even the Atkin\'s Diet. Check out each one, which one sounds most appealing, and try it out

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  My personal guideline is also not to be \'that guy.\' Some diets advocate eating every 2 hours which can ruin going to the movie theater if the guy next to you starts eating chicken and broccoli and stinking up the place halfway through your chickflick. I try to remain flexible and especially when you are a guest it is good not to reject their food but to eat it, even if it doesn\'t follow your diet

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Now travelling has played a role in all this diet as it has been a great way to wipe the slate clean. Whenever I travel I usually eat less and generally lose fat and muscle. This can be good depending on what I am doing.

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Travelling for a few months many times cut my weight. Ethiopia is the most drastic example as I lost 15 pounds (7kg) and my travel companion Conner lost 25 pounds (12kg) all in 2 weeks!! It was because eating the local food 3 meals a day was very unpalatable to us so we would rather not eat. After we realized this we started to also eat Western food to stop the unhealthy weight loss

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Japan was also quite difficult for me as they have small portion sizes and they are expensive. I lost about 10 pounds (4kg) in 2 weeks. I felt that most of that weight was muscle and it took me almost 6 months to get it back to something I liked

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  So travelling can be good for resetting your system or your habits. Because it forces you to change your habits and your favorite restaurant may not be available, you have to adapt and your body will also. This is of course when you eat like locals and you need to go for enough time, usually at least 10 days

  \\n
\\n
• \\n

  Finally it can give you perspective on if your daily eating habits are normal or even healthy. It can again give you perspective on the things you want to find out about

  \\n
\\n

What do you think about all this? I want to hear your opinion! Send mail at travelwisdompodcast@gmail.com

\\xa0

\\xa0