I love married life. It follows a period of moving in together, a bedding in period and then the fun really begins! It is like learning to drive. You don’t actually learn to drive until you get your licence.
You may ask what this has to do with fat loss. Well, we deal with a lot of married couples here at Sphere and there is one over-riding habit that comes to a head time and time again!
Portion control.
It is not a deliberate ploy but have you ever served your food on the same size plate as your partner’s?
You know that feeling when you get home from work to be granted with a plate of food that is enough to feed a small army.
Granted that some of our food choices are not the best (high sugar, high starch, low fibre, low veggie intake) but this is a very simple observation that can actually make a difference.
I don’t overly buy into the eat less, do more. Why is it that Mrs Jones comes to me (and she isn’t the only one) frustrated and down-beat that she hasn’t lost any weight and has yo-yo dieted for the past 5 years.
When you are healthy you don’t worry about your weight, your mood, your energy levels, your sporting performance. It just happens as it is suppose to happen, as you were designed!
Making better food choices over calorie counting always trumps in the long run. Building good habits such as not over eating, drinking more water, eating veggies at every meal and so on are the fast track to success. Suddenly you are in control rather than your ‘poor’ metabolism.
There is a time and a place for becoming fanatical about counting calories. However, nine times out of ten making better food choices and moving more will work.
That means you wont become fanatical about every morsel that passes your lips.
It is one of these things that is small effort yet big reward in the bid to get started shedding those pounds.
Ladies take your plate. Gents take yours. Even more worringly kiddies have your own plate too.
It seems that everywhere we go this s rife. We look for a bargain in our restaurants and cast a raised eyebrow if the food isn’t piled high when we eat out. This habit stinks.
What happened to the quality over quantity?
One possible explanation for this behaviour is that your food choices are devoid of nutrients. As a result you over-eat in an attempt to ‘fill the void’.
Why do you never feel satisfied after polishing off a box of biscuits? Because there is nothing in them in terms of what your body actually needs.
It is called the 51 Principle. Your brain will tell you when it is fall when it recognises 51 key nutrients found in the food or fluids you consume.
Food manufacturer play on this, spending millions on manipulating the foods we eat by removing or substituting the nutrients we need to feel satisfied. As a consequence we just end up eating more.
Then again it could be just pure gluttony.
Take a lesson from the Okinawans. They have a practice called ‘hara hachi bu’ or eat until only 80 per cent full. If you eat until you are stuffed you are basically labelled a ‘pig’ and ostracised. This is coupled with a diet rich in legumes, vegetables and fish.
Harsh but fair. Let’s look at the evidence for this practice.
Heart disease, stroke rates, cholesterol, homocysteine, blood pressure and cancer rates are all lower than in North America. Hip fractures are lower and dementia is rare. Okinawans live longer too.
You can and should be fussy in a restaurant. Ask for smaller portions and more often than not they are willing to accommodate.
After all if you want to be the same as your partner – eat like them.
John Lark is a personal trainer and the owner of Sphere Health and Fitness Centre in Maynooth specialising in Transformations that stick. Get Daily Tips, Tools and Motivation for your change by signing up here http://spherefitness.ie
Go to his website today and download a copy of the Transformation to Health Pack where he unlocks the secrets to incredible body transformations http://spherefitness.ie
