Lack of exercise?

Sedentary lifestyle?

Poor diet?

Yes, yes and yes but today I wanted to look a little bit more into the science of getting fat and weight gain. What does actually go on in our body which makes us gain that little bit or a lot of timber on the body, especially around the stomach area?

Maybe finding out more about this will open our eyes and give us another reason to eat healthy, exercise more and improve our lifestyles.

Okay let’s go!

Our body needs energy to survive and to perform internal and external functions

Food = Energy

Food is measured in calories

The more calories means the more energy the body can get from it. But the body uses more energy to burn more calories off when it digests the food.

When food is eaten the body gets energy/fuel in the form of either carbohydrates, fats or protein. Part of the fuel is used to fulfil its sustenance and functional requirements needed in the body and then guess what happens to the excess?

Yep… stored as FAT.

They are stored in the fat cells, some is also stored around the kidneys and in the liver.

Normally the body only has a limited number of fat cells so only so much fat can be stored. Fat cells are normally located around the chest, waist and hips. The more fat that gets deposited in these cells the larger the cells grow which is what we see as fat/flab. Then once these fat cells reach their expandable limit more fat gets stored in the muscle lining of your arms and thighs.

For men the easiest place for these fat cells to expand is around the chest and stomach area, for women it is around the buttocks and hips.

So that is the basic science of fat storage and how it happens.

So as you can see a lot of us are consuming too many calories than the body can deal with which is just going to be stored as fat. It is possible though by following the right steps to return these fat cells back to normal size.

What can we do?

Most of you would think that the easiest way is just to reduce your calorie intake, simple as that. The less chance then of excess calories being stored as fat.

It may be hard to think that eating more food can help to burn more calories given the science I have just explained.

Well certain foods contain various minerals and vitamins which boost metabolism which then improves your body fat burning capacity.

Some foods fills us up more than others which give us the feeling of fullness while also being low calorie if you stick to healthy foods.

There are also healthy low calorie foods which require more complex digestion which leads to the body expending more energy to digest these foods and burn more calories.

Performing regular exercise while eating the right foods and supplements can turn your body into the perfect environment for fat burning, giving you the body that you’ve always wanted.

Of course this isn’t easy but with a bit of will power and the right guidance you can do it.

The question is how much do you want it?

I hear so many people moaning about their weight and how they look yet it isn’t enough to stop them from pigging out every weekend or for some every day!

So if you want a body to be proud of then give it what it needs.

To help you out I’ve compiled a list of certain foods which the body shouldn’t store as fat if you eat in the right amount and also require the body to burn calories to digest these foods.

Here are some good one:

Citrus Fruits – packed full of helpful vitamin C which the body needs as well as giving the body easy energy to boost the metabolism.

Oats – Packed full of fibre which will keep you feeling full for the whole morning if you have for breakfast. Low in calorie (as long as you don’t pile on loads of sugar onto your porridge) and reduces the fat profile of the body.

Vegetables – Of course! It still amazes me how little veg some people consume. Vegetables are crazily low in calories, keep you full and contain so many essential minerals and vitamins which improves your health and keeps your metabolism firing. The only veg to really limit is potatoes but this doesn’t mean you can’t eat them you just need to limit them and ensure for all white carbohydrates food you try to eat them with lean protein rather than on their own.

Poultry – Chicken is a perfect addition to your meal. Low in carb and fat and high in quality protein. Your body needs a lot more energy to store protein as fat as you can eat a lot of it. Plus protein fills you up quickly.

Others:

Eggs

Salmon

Walnuts

Almonds

Brazil Nuts

Water (drink plenty)

So there is a list of foods which you should all be including in your diet if possible.

You know the bad foods to avoid and the number 1 thing to avoid as much as possible if you want to drop weight is SUGAR.

Hope today’s article helped.

Obesity figures are on the rise, help to improve this not add to the numbers.

Jamie ‘That’s why we get fat’ Stedman