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Principles of Weight Control – Part Two
By murray | November 23, 2009
Body Fat vs. Body Weight
Given the negative health effects of being “over-fat” (including a greater risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, gall bladder disease and certain forms of cancer), as a society we should be more concerned with the reduction of body fat instead of body weight. In fact, the the whole issue of “weight loss” itself needs to be re-evaluated: since low calorie diets have been proven to be unhealthy while providing only short-term results, they should be replaced with positive lifestyle changes that include both healthier eating habits and regular exercise. Instead of talking about losing weight, we should concentrate our efforts on losing fat. The term “fat loss” should replace “weight loss”, and we should evaluate progress using body fat percent, a mirror or even a measuring tape rather than the out-dated weight scale.
Energy Balance: The basic priciple of weight control is one of energy balance: if you eat more calories than you burn off, you will eventually gain weight. Thus, if your ENERGY INPUT (total calories expended through metabolism and exercise), the excess calories are stored as fat in adipose tissue (fat tissue):
If your ENERGY INPUT equals your ENERGY OUTPUT, your weight WON’T CHANGE.
If your ENERGY INPUT is more than your ENERGY OUTPUT, you will gain weight.
If your ENERGY OUTPUT is more than your ENERGY INPUT, you will lose weight.
There are three ways to alter the energy balance equations in favour of losing weight. Eat less (reduce caloric intake below daily energy needs), exercise more (maintain current food intake while increasing energy expenditure through additional physical exercise), and lastly, a combination of the first two (slight reductions in caloric intake and moderate increases in physical exercise. Obviously, the third strategy is the most effective way to achieve healthy, gradual weight loss.
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