Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Losing weight is a complex, multi-factorial process

Losing weight is a complex, multi-factorial process that involves physical, habitual, environmental, emotional, and mental strategies. Some of the most prevailing issues surrounding effective and sustainable weight loss include:
--->Consciousness of calories. Both quantity and quality of calorie intake matters.
--->Fibre and prioritising low calorie density foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains) to enhance satiety and weight loss (as per the graphic). High calorie density foods, especially oil, cheese, and processed foods, have the opposite effect, promoting weight gain.
--->Exercising consistently is crucial to build and maintain muscle mass and to become an effective user of energy.
--->Habits, such as choosing water over soda and tuning into internal huger/satiety cues, can be made and reframed so as to promote long-lasting success.
--->Environmental cues such as the size of your plate, whom who eat with, and the ambience in which you eat have significant impact on how much and what you eat.
--->Managing stress, finding non-food ways to pamper yourself, and avoiding foods that are triggers for you helps avoid emotional eating.

In the science, vegans tend to have lower BMIs than lacto-ovo vegetarians, who are lower in BMI than meat-eaters, consistently showing that the more plant-based your diet, the leaner you are likely to be. This is because of the higher fibre intake, the better overall nutritional profile, and the likely healthier lifestyle tendency of those who choose a plant-based diet (which usually means they are less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise, etc.).

Overall message is that a whole food, plant-based diet is ideal for sustained weight management, especially when incorporating the other elements mentioned above to make it a holistic approach.

*Resources:
--->Losing Weight on a Vegan Diet: http://bit.ly/1kxibtl
--->Sustainable Weight Loss: http://bit.ly/ZJuIOC
--->The Truth About Weight Loss from a Weight Loss Researcher:http://bit.ly/1jUz8YB
--->Lost Those Last Sticky Pounds: http://bit.ly/1q0GOMr
--->Diet and BMI in 38,000 EPIC-Oxford Meat-Eaters, Fish-Eaters, Vegetarians, and Vegans: http://bit.ly/1uv2C72
--->Beating Your Mindless Eating Habits: http://bit.ly/1nzaiQ3
--->Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating website: http://bit.ly/1r06MpU
--->Mindless Eating: http://amzn.to/1sk1wgp
--->Why Calories Matter by Marion Nestlehttp://amzn.to/1uv3IzH

Photo: Losing weight is a complex, multi-factorial process that involves physical, habitual, environmental, emotional, and mental strategies. Some of the most prevailing issues surrounding effective and sustainable weight loss include:
--->Consciousness of calories. Both quantity and quality of calorie intake matters.
--->Fiber and prioritizing low calorie density foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes, and whole grains) to enhance satiety and weight loss (as per the graphic). High calorie density foods, especially oil, cheese, and processed foods, have the opposite effect, promoting weight gain.
--->Exercising consistently is crucial to build and maintain muscle mass and to become an effective user of energy.
--->Habits, such as choosing water over soda and tuning into internal huger/satiety cues, can be made and reframed so as to promote long-lasting success.
--->Environmental cues such as the size of your plate, whom who eat with, and the ambience in which you eat have significant impact on how much and what you eat.
--->Managing stress, finding non-food ways to pamper yourself, and avoiding foods that are triggers for you helps avoid emotional eating.

In the science, vegans tend to have lower BMIs than lacto-ovo vegetarians, who are lower in BMI than meat-eaters, consistently showing that the more plant-based your diet, the leaner you are likely to be. This is because of the higher fiber intake, the better overall nutritional profile, and the likely healthier lifestyle tendency of those who choose a plant-based diet (which usually means they are less likely to smoke and more likely to exercise, etc.).

Overall message is that a whole food, plant-based diet is ideal for sustained weight management, especially when incorporating the other elements mentioned above to make it a wholistic approach.

*Resources:
--->Losing Weight on a Vegan Diet: http://bit.ly/1kxibtl
--->Sustainable Weight Loss: http://bit.ly/ZJuIOC
--->The Truth About Weight Loss from a Weight Loss Researcher: http://bit.ly/1jUz8YB
--->Lost Those Last Sticky Pounds: http://bit.ly/1q0GOMr
--->Diet and BMI in 38,000 EPIC-Oxford Meat-Eaters, Fish-Eaters, Vegetarians, and Vegans: http://bit.ly/1uv2C72
--->Beating Your Mindless Eating Habits: http://bit.ly/1nzaiQ3
--->Brian Wansink's Mindless Eating website: http://bit.ly/1r06MpU
--->Mindless Eating: http://amzn.to/1sk1wgp
--->Why Calories Matter by Marion Nestle: http://amzn.to/1uv3IzH