From generation to generation, it’s hard for us to escape the genetic patterns that are handed down through the ages.
As we are discovering, the fact that our genes have not yet caught up with our environment is bad news for our health. So the other lesson that history teaches us is that, as we cannot change our genes, in order to stay slim and healthy we need to adapt our environment-with small changes to diet and lifestyle that can swing the energy balance back in our favour.
Metabolism
This is the process by which the body converts the food that we eat into everything it needs to function, and as such it plays a key role in regulating our weight. Between 20 and 30 per cent of the energy that our metabolism produces is spent on exercise, and between five and 10 per cent is used to digest our food. The remaining energy – which is between 60 and 75 per cent – is consumed as ‘resting metabolic expenditure’ (RME), and this can vary widely between individuals. Medical problems that can affect the metabolism include an under-active thyroid and, in very rare cases, conditions such as Prader-Willi Syndrome.
If you’re stressed, try to relax or have a massage rather than comfort eating.
People with weight problems often believe they have a slow metabolism, but in fact overweight people have a faster metabolism than average as they need to burn energy more efficiently to move a heavier body around. This explains why slimmers often find it hard to lose the last few pounds towards their target; with less weight to carry, the body requires slightly fewer calories to support the metabolic process and therefore their diet and exercise plan might need a slight adjustment. This does not mean though that dieting ‘damages’ the metabolism; it is a natural process that re-sets the body’s energy balance over time.
One major factor that influences your metabolic rate though is the amount of lean muscle tissue in your body, as lean tissue is a more efficient fuel-burner than fat. Becoming more active is a great way to boost your metabolism – exercise burns fat, and builds muscle, which burns fat more efficiently. . . a win–win situation for your body.
must know
Fast food
It’s official: fast food causes weight gain. A 15-year study in the US showed that people who ate at fast food restaurants more than twice a week gained an extra 4.5 kg (10 lb) compared to those who ate fast food less than once a week.
A NEAT trick
Scientists are also excited about the way that we move and use energy when we’re not consciously exercising: a process they call Non–Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT). Studies at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, USA, have shown that obese people expend fewer calories in all areas of daily life than slim people; they sit still for longer periods and even fidget less. Researchers estimate that slim people could ‘naturally’ burn up to 350 calories more per day in this way than overweight people – the equivalent of a 30–minute run. When slim volunteers were overfed so that they put on weight, their energy output remained the same, however, suggesting that the overweight people were not being lazy’: there is a bio–chemical process at work that predisposes them to be less active.
While it may take years to identify exactly how and why this happens, it is further evidence that making activity an everyday habit is key to losing weight and staying slim –wherever you start on the road from completely sedentary to fighting fit.
Eating for two
A 2005 survey of 2,000 new mothers found that nearly two years after giving birth, their average weight was a stone heavier than they had been before their pregnancy. Of course, putting on some weight is expected and desirable in pregnancy. However, many women who have never had a weight problem find that the pounds pile on and then prove very hard to lose long after their baby is born – so much so that they despair that pregnancy has somehow changed their natural weight forever. The reassuring news is that there seems to be no fundamental, physical reason why this should be the case. It appears more likely that any weight gain is a side-effect of the upheaval in lifestyle that can come with the arrival of a new baby: lack of sleep, snatched meals, no time for exercise and more time spent at home can all alter the energy balance sufficiently so that weight goes on and stays put.
Monitoring your weight in pregnancy and not ‘eating for two’ so that you do not gain too much is sensible; around 13 kg (28 lb) is an average amount. Breastfeeding is good for the baby and for you, as it uses up around 500 calories a day. Crash diets and intensive exercise are not the way to regain your pre-pregnancy shape, whatever you might read in celebrity magazines. Instead, go for a slow and steady weight loss, with a healthy diet and gradual increase in activity, and aim to lose any surplus pounds over a period of months rather than weeks.
It’s my age
Is it inevitable to gain weight as we get older? Surveys suggest that we are at our heaviest in our 40s and 50s, and that the main reason for this is that we become gradually less active, rather than eating more. One large research project found that most adults will gain 9 kg (20 lb) between the ages of 20 and 55 years unless they take specific steps to avoid it.
So eating as if you are still playing football twice a week, when these days you are watching it on television twice a week, is a relatively effective way to score an own-goal as far as your weight goes.
must know
Drugs and medication
Weight gain can be a side-effect of some drugs and medical treatments. These include cancer drugs, such as tamoxifen; some steroids and antidepressants; and some drugs for diabetes and epilepsy. Ask your GP about the side-effects of any medication you are prescribed and whether you need to be careful about your diet while you are taking it.
The menopause
Women going through the menopause often feel they have more trouble managing their weight and may accept gaining the ‘menopause 10’ as an inevitable side-effect. However, as with pregnancy, that other major hormonal event, research suggests that the menopause does not necessarily lead directly to weight gain, although increased levels of testosterone and decreased levels of oestrogen may mean that the distribution of weight will change slightly, so that ‘pear’ shapes become ‘apples’ – the classic middle-age spread.
As we saw earlier, carrying excess weight around the waist represents a higher risk of developing health problems than on the hips and thighs, so it is well worth aiming to get your weight into the healthy range and your waist below 80 cm (32 in).
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