Tips for Body Fat Control and Fat Loss

By: Tharmegan Tharmaratnam, B.Kin (ipr, 2014)

Adipose tissue (body fat) is a metabolically active tissue in the body. However in excess quantities over the long term, it can place stress on bodily tissues, leading to chronic disease. Moreover, there is a linear correlation between abdominal fat content and cardiovascular disease. To prevent health problems stemming from obesity, try the following health and lifestyle tips.

Boost your metabolism.

This can be accomplished by eating five to six small meals daily, instead of two to three larger meals. Eating smaller meals throughout the day, will allow your body to metabolize food faster. Snack more and try swapping that cupcake for Brazil nuts – one of my favorites. Brazil nuts contain an abundance of selenium, which is essential in forming Glutathione Peroxidase – an antioxidant. In turn, these minerals fight free radicals that damage your body’s tissues. Another thing to avoid when trying to lose weight, is skipping meals. When you don’t eat your body senses that it is starving and as a defense mechanism it stores much of what you eat as fat, through lipogenesis.

 Aerobic + Resistance Training+ Caloric Restriction.

Research has shown significant changes in both body weight and body composition when combining aerobic and resistance training (using weights). The benefits can be seen through overall weight loss, decrease in body fat, and the maintenance or increase of fat-free mass (Wilmore et al., 2008). When trying to lose weight, you should aim to lose no more than 1-2 lbs. a week – only when dietary restrictions are combined with moderate exercise (burning 300-500 calories daily). This combination minimizes the loss of fat free mass, and maximizes fat loss (Wilmore et al., 2008). Surprisingly, exercise serves as a mild appetite suppressant for the first few hours following intense exercise. Studies on rats show that male rats appear to decrease food intake when exercising, whereas female rats tend to eat the same or even more than non-exercising controls (Oscai, 1973). Unfortunately, the reasoning beyond this is still unclear.

 Don’t think about spot reduction.

Many people – including athletes – believe that exercising a specific area of the body will eliminate locally stored fat. This is a myth, because exercise draws on the entire body’s fat stores. Furthermore, when you exercise, your body’s metabolic rate is in a heightened state for hours – sometimes days afterwards. Another thing to consider is that you should focus more on your lower body, because it contains more muscle than your upper body – which provides more opportunity to burn calories.
References:
Jakicic JM, Clark K, Coleman E, Donnelly JE, Foreyt J, Melanson E, Volek J, Volpe SL, American College of Sports Medicine. (2001). American College of Sports Medicine position stand. Appropriate intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain for adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. 33(12):2145-2156]
Oscai, L.B. (1973). The role of exercise in weight control. Exercise and sport sciences reviews, 1, 103-123
Wilmore, J.H., Costill, D.L., Kenney, L.W.(2008). Physiology of Sport and Exercise. 4^th ed. Human Kinetics