Weight Loss: Why Do We Gain Weight?

There are many factors that cause us to increase body weight,
yet three stand out from the rest.

Our genetic make up: Every cell in our body has a central
control panel, that is a nucleus that contains our genes and
chromosomes. This is the instruction manual for your body and
this is inherited from your parents. It is this instruction
manual that is largely responsible for how your body, and even
your mind, behaves.

The environment in which we live: Our personal
environment may also contribute or cue you to adopt poor eating
or exercise habits. This is especially true in today’s society,
which is dominated by speed and convenience. For example,
escalators, elevators and remote-control appliances make us less
physically active. Also, greater availability and the constant
marketing of foods that are high in calories, fat and added
sugars, and larger portion sizes promote unhealthy eating
behaviors.

There may also be personal reasons why you are consuming too
many kilojoules from food and drinks, or not being physically
active enough. For example, when feeling down or bored you may
eat more than you need, or if you are feeling depressed it is
more difficult to get active.

Knowing the reason why you may be consuming excess kilojoules or
not participating in physical activity, is an important first
step in changing your lifestyle habits to help you reach a
healthy weight.

Our lifestyle: What we eat and drink and how active we
are. This is the gradual gain in weight as a result of eating
food and not exercising enough.

The extent to which we can affect our genetic make up and our
environment are limited. However, lifestyle is the area in which
we can significantly manage and if need be, improve our body
weight to ensure we maintain a healthy weight for our height,
age and gender. This is why learning a healthy nutritious eating
pattern and adopting it for life, that is, lifestyle changes has
a significant impact on our ability to reach and maintain a
healthy weight.

Gaining and losing weight works according to some a simple
biological principle. When you consume more energy in the form
of food and drinks that your body uses each day you will gain
weight. When you consume less energy in the form of food and
drinks that your body requires each day you will lose weight.

Despite what some advertisers would have use believe, weight
loss does not occur as a result of any of the following:

* Supplements that will melt the fat while you sleep or while
you wash

* Exercises that don’t take any effort and cause no sweat

* Unique food combinations that will allow you to eat what you
want and still lose weight

In order to lose weight you will need to know approximately your
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR). Your RMR is the number of calories
your body burns at rest in a 24 hour period. When your body gets
about 500 less calories than it needs each day as a result of
eating less or exercising more, you will lose one pound of
weight per week. To illustrate how efficient the human body is
in motion, the average female would need to go for a brisk walk
for 1.5 to 2.0 hours in order to burn 500 calories.

When you consume 500 calories a day more than your body’s
requirements, you will gain approximately one pound a week! To
illustrate how easy it is to gain weight, one 7oz bag of corn
chips has approximately 1000 calories. If you ate a bag of corn
chips every day in addition to three square meals its possible
you could gain 2 pounds in a week!

(c) Kim Beardsmore

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