BBC Documentary - 10 Things You Need To Know About Loosing W

There was recently a great documentary on BBC (UK) called 10 Things You Need To Know About Losing Weight. It was really digestible and followed a Dr investigating weight loss while on his own diet. He was really quite sceptical about fads and all of the tips were backed up with experiments and respected scientific studies. It started with him finding out that he needed to shed 8 pounds and was storing his excess fat as visceral fat which is dangerous fat around the internal organs. It ended with him having adopted a lot of the tips, having lost and maintained the loss of weight.

The tips are bellow. Sadly it is not on iplayer anymore, but if you can find a copy on the internet it is interesting and certainly motivated me to excersize more and reminded me of a few tips.

1. Don’t skip meals
If you skip meals, your brain craves higher-calorie foods; and sub-consciously you’re drawn more to the more fattening foods. They showed this through MRI or CT scans of people who were hungry or not hungry reacting to different foods. If you were hungry there was more activity in your brain when you were shown images of high calorie and fattening foods. You are less likely to eat high calorie “bad” foods if you don’t starve yourself.

2. Use smaller plates
You’ll put less food on your plate, and in turn eat less food. You eat more if you have more food in front of you. Buy a big tub of pop corn and you will finish it, even if you only had room for a small portion. This has been proven several times by scientists.

3. Count your calories
People typically under report by 50%. They showed this by getting the participant to drink a special water which showed her calorie consumption through analysing her urine. When they compared this to her food diary it was way out. She thought she was having 1100 per day and was closer to 3000. The woman had forgotten to include snacks in her food diary and was not estimating weights and portions correctly. This is apparently common unless you are exceptionally strict.

4. Don’t blame your metabolism
This is not at all likely to blame. You are more likely to be underestimating what you eat and how much you do.

5. Protein staves off hunger pains
Protein releases more of a particular hormone than other types of food. This hormone suppresses hunger more, so eating protein at breakfast will fill you up longer than a carb based meal with the same number of calories.

6. Soup keeps you feeling fuller for longer
Consider putting the meal you make through a food processor. Soup and liquefied meals stay in your stomach longer and keep you fuller for longer. Ultrasounds of people who had the same meal in solid and soup form showed the soup stayed in the stomach longer.

7. The more choice you have, the more you eat
Variety makes you more likely to want to try everything. It is instinct.

8. Low fat dairy helps you excrete more fat
Calcium binds to fats, making them insoluble; meaning the fats pass through your body and out the other end! If you get your fat from dairy and rather than other foods a greater percentage will be excreted. Good news for cheese lovers. I think this was a Swedish study.

9. Exercise goes on burning fat, even while you sleep
You burn more fat after exercise, than while exercising. Your body keeps burning it for up to a day later. If you work out during the day you will be burning fat in your sleep.

10. Keep moving and lose weight
Keep yourself active; but don’t eat more because you’re doing more exercise! Instead of sitting while on the phone, wander around. Get off a bus stop earlier and walk the final distance, and take a walk during your lunch.