When you lose weight, where does the fat go? Does deep breathing help you lose weight?

A new study shows, many health professionals cannot correctly answer the question of where body fat goes when people lose weight. The most common misconception among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing mass has been converted into energy or heat. The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide and goes into thin air.

Losing 10 kilograms of fat requires 29 kilograms of oxygen to be inhaled and that this metabolic process produces 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 11 kilograms of water.

One of the most frequently asked questions is -whether simply breathing more can cause weight loss. Researchers say -The answer is no. Breathing more than required by a person's metabolic rate leads to hyperventilation, which can result in dizziness, palpitations and loss of consciousness.

But I disagree. If you were to breathe fast , yes it will lead to hyperventilation. But what if you were to breathe deeply & slowly , like what they taught in meditation ? I seriously think it will help in weight loss, but again like all things, it’s not easy to do. I’ve tried , after a few minutes of intensive deep breathing, I got bored or something. But if you can sustain deep breathing for a long period of time, it’s very beneficial & you’ll lose weight !

Metabolism as we grow older.

What happens when you grow older? Bad news is you'll get there sooner or later. Things start slowing down including your ability to lose weight. Here are some of the common questions people ask.

1. Why am I suddenly gaining fat all over?

Answer: Mitochondria—the structures within cells that convert food into energy— slow down or die off after age 40. Subsequently, you can’t burn calories like you did before and can start gaining weight.

 Solution: To combat the loss of mitochondria, cut 100 calories from your daily intake. Easy ways to trim 100 calories include removing skin from chicken breasts; using skim instead of whole milk in coffee; drink black coffee minus the sugar. By eliminating 100 calories a day helps to keep weight off long term.

2. Why is it so difficult to lose weight as I grow older?

Answer:  Muscle burns 3 times more calories than fat cells, which means loss of muscle mass causes weight gain and an inability to shed kgs. Key factors that create loss of muscle mass include a drop in testosterone levels, crash dieting and disuse from aging.  Recent studies suggest that at 40, women lose muscle mass twice a fast as men. You lose the most muscle mass on the body’s largest surface areas like the core muscles supporting your shoulders and belly, as well as your thighs.

Solution: To fight muscle loss in your back and shoulders try plank exercises; you can do them during commercial breaks while you’re watching TV. Simple squats are great for firming up thigh muscles; you practically can do them anywhere.

 

Story of plus size clothes

Did you know Abercrombie & Fitch did not stock XL or XXL sizes in women’s clothing for many years even though its competitors like H&M did. In 2006, Mike Jeffries, CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch  said the company deliberately excluded clothes for bigger women because it did not want to appeal to just everyone.

Here’s part of what he said in the interview with Salon:

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he told the site. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong, and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely.”

Seven years and 70,000 petition signatures later, the company apologized and invited some teens to a meeting with executives.

“We look forward to continuing this dialogue and taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying in addition to our ongoing support of diversity and inclusion,” the company said. “We want to reiterate that we sincerely regret and apologize for any offense caused by comments we have made in the past which are contrary to these values.”

Abercrombie & Fitch added a plus-size range this spring. Now isn’t that great.

Burger King's new diet chip: Satisfries !!!!

I just came back from the States. When I was there I went to the Burger King & guess what, they have  a new product. OK, I love fries so this one really catch my eye because of the “name” – they called it the new 'Satisfries', & claim that it contain 30 per cent less fat than standard fries !

Burger King Described it as : ….. …a new great tasting crinkle-cut french fries with 40% less fat and 30% fewer calories. Satisfries are cut from real, whole potatoes and fried to tasty perfection – so they’re always crispy on the outside, and hot and fluffy on the inside.

How is it? Well It’s ok, but got to say, pretty clever marketing J
Wonder whether we have it here yet?

Ever wonder which country has the fattest people on the average???

This report is done 2 years ago  : The estimates were compiled by using data from around the world to figure out body mass indexes and average height distributions. This number was multiplied by the population size to figure out the total mass or biomass. The average world body mass was 137 pounds.

The Fattest Nations

1. United States  2. Kuwait   3. Croatia   4. Qatar  5. Egypt

The Thinnest Nations

1. North Korea  2. Cambodia  3. Burundi  4. Nepal  5. Democratic Republic of Congo

According to the study, more than one tenth of the world population is obese, “The rise is being driven by increasing urbanisation, the growth of sedentary, office-based lifestyles and the substitution of Western-style fast foods for traditional diets.”

The study concluded that rising populations and rising rates of obesity spell trouble when it comes to feeding an ever growing population. Especially when you look at the other end of the spectrum, at the countries that due to political and economic strife can’t seem to feed their people.

 

 

All those fad diets !

Fad Diets

A  fad diet is simply a weight loss diet that becomes very popular  and then may as quickly fall out of favor . It could also be consider a poor weight loss diet:

It often

■ promise a quick fix

■ often sound too good to be true

■  have a simple list of "good" and "bad" foods

■Recommendations made to help sell ‘certain’  products

Some examples of Fad Diets:

Grapefruit Diet- This diet claim that grapefruit burns fat, but grapefruit could be too acidic for certain people. Also it  can interact with medication, so be cautious.

Tapeworm Diet- This is one of those extreme & very radical methods by ingesting tapeworms in order to lose weight. Please do not even think about trying it!

Atkins Diet - Written decades ago but gain popular only in recent times.

How some culture help their people stay slim!

Here are some interesting weight-loss tips from around the world

Thailand: Eat spicy food

Thai food is among the spiciest in the world. Hot peppers raise your metabolism , but the real benefit of food with a little zing is that spicy food slows your eating. When you eat too fast,  by the time your body signals it’s full, you’ve overeaten. Eating more slowly is a good weight-loss strategy, and making food spicier is an easy way to do it

Brazil: Have rice and beans

All that shaking at Carnaval isn’t the only body-friendly habit in Rio; Brazilians stay slim by enjoying this traditional dish with just about every meal. A study in the journal Obesity Research found that a diet consisting primarily of rice and beans lowers the risk 
of becoming overweight by about 14 percent. That’s because it’s lower in fat and higher in fibre, which is thought to stabilize blood sugar levels. It may be counterintuitive, but a diet full of beans equals a beach-ready body.

Netherlands: Ride your bike

Bikes outnumber people (at 18 million versus 16.5 million) in the Netherlands.  40 percent of the Dutch use their bikes for commuting. Traffic lights in some parts of Amsterdam are even synchronized to bike speed. Riding bikes for errands, work or pleasure can help fend off weight gain. Casual riding for errands and commuting can burn around 500 calories an hour, but if you up the exertion or add in hill-climbing, you can burn up to 1,000 calories an hour

Switzerland: Try a bowl of muesli

The ingredients in this porridge—oats, fruit and nuts—have all been linked to better health and weight control. Muesli was developed by a Swiss physician more than 100 years ago to nourish hospital patients, but today the Swiss eat it for breakfast or as a light evening snack. Eating a lot of soluble ’fibre can reduce bad cholesterol levels by 
up to 10 percent. Muesli’s fibre makes it slow to digest, keeping you full 
longer. But read the label carefully, though: Sugar content can vary from two to 14 grams per serving.

Malaysia: Cook with tumeric

This spice a key ingredient in curries. One of its chief components is a substance called curcumin, which may turn out to be a potent fat fighter. A recent study from Tufts University in Boston found that mice fed a high-fat diet with small amounts of curcumin gained less weight and body fat than other mice given meals that were similar but curcumin-free. Researchers think the ingredient suppresses the growth of fat tissue. Try some turmeric in your next curry or stir-fry.

Hungary: Eat more pickles

Hungarians like things pickled—not just cucumbers but bell peppers, cabbage and tomatoes. All of these brined beauties can help keep you thin, probably because of 
the vinegar that pickles them. Growing evidence suggests that acetic acid, the main component of vinegar, helps reduce blood pressure blood sugar levels and fat formation. If you’re watching your sodium intake, though, check the product label—pickled foods can be high in salt

South Africa: Drink rooibos tea

Enjoyed throughout the country, rooibos tea is more robust than green tea, and it’s naturally sweet. Swapping your specialty coffee for rooibos tea or any hot drink without cream or sugar could save you thousands 
of calories a month. Liquid calories sneak up on us. Even a cup of fruit juice has over 100 calories. Cut out 100 calories a day from food or drinks and you could lose 10 pounds in one year."