There is only one thing that makes people fat, and that is
excess calories. It takes a deficit or surplus of 3,500
calories to lose or gain one single pound of body fat. That
deficit or surplus is decided by three factors. The first
is your resting metabolic rate (RMR); everyone burns a
certain number of calories just living and breathing. The
two remaining factors are calories taken in from the food
and beverages you consume and calories burned through
physical activity. What is left is a caloric surplus
(weight gain) or deficit (weight loss). Many people gain
weight because they consume calories that go unrecognized
or because they don't consider how small amounts of
calories can add up. Here are the top five things that can
make you fat:
1. Coffee—You may be thinking, "How can coffee make
me fat?" After all, it's only water and caffeine, which has
no calories. Enter what I call "the Starbucks effect.'
Today, many people have become addicted to flavored,
oversized coffee drinks and their high-caloric content. If
you think your Starbucks coffee run is harmless, consider
that a Venti Mocha Frappucino® has 346 calories, a
Venti Caramel Macchiato® with whole milk has 312
calories, and even a grande latte with non-fat milk packs
over 200 calories. Every squirt of caramel, mocha, or other
flavorings will cost you approximately 75 calories; every
sugar packet, another 25 calories. Those who find
themselves making two daily runs to Starbucks (or any other
coffee house) may be taking in over 500 calories a day on
coffee drinks. Based on a five-day workweek, that's 2,500
calories a week or 10,000 calories a month. Over the course
of a year, there are enough calories in your coffee
indulgences to pack on over 34 pounds.
2. Alcohol—So you work hard, and your day is full of
stress and pressure. When it's over, all you want to do is
to sit down, relax, and have a drink or two to "take the
edge off." Sound familiar? Millions of people rely on that
glass of wine, a gin and tonic, or a martini to feel better
at the end of the day. The average drink has approximately
150 calories, and if you happen to be partial to mixed or
exotic drinks—like daiquiris, mojitos, cosmopolitans
or other tasty libations—the calorie count is
substantially higher. Two average drinks can cost you 300
calories a day or 2,100 calories a week. So drinking
regularly can yield over 2 pounds per month and 24 pounds
per year.
3. Low-Fat, Fat-Free, Low-Calorie, and Sugar-Free
Foods—If you've tracked the increase of overweight
and obese people in the United States, you might have
noticed that it mirrors the proliferation of foods marketed
to make us thin. For years we have been tricked into
thinking that we can eat more and weigh less, but it
doesn't work that way. If you want to weigh less, you have
to eat less and move more. Read labels for calories per
portion, and watch the size of your portions. Any time you
eat directly out of a box or bag, you are setting yourself
up for potential weight-gain. Try taking a portion or two
out of the box or bag and putting it in a bowl.
4. Diets—Each year over 70 million people go on a
diet to lose weight, but 95 percent of them will gain all
the weight back. Most will gain even more weight than were
trying to lose when they started the diet. There are three
specific reasons that this happens. First, when you
dramatically reduce your caloric intake, your body responds
by protecting its fat stores by slowing down your resting
metabolism. A lower metabolic rate means you will burn
fewer calories at rest. Second, many diets reduce
carbohydrates, which are the primary energy source needed
for physical activity. This tends to make you fatigued and
less likely to increase your activity. Third, many diets
force your body to convert protein from your muscle tissue
for energy. Lean muscle tissue is your body's fat-burning
machinery and allows you to burn more calories at rest.
When you lose weight, you want it to be from fat, not from
lean muscle tissue.
5. Lack of Physical Activity—The number one reason
people give for not exercising is time. We can't find time
to exercise, yet the average person watches television for
4½ hours every day. It has been proven that small
amounts of physical activity can have a big impact on your
weight and your health. There are very inexpensive
"low-sweat" solutions for increasing your physical activity
that you can perform in as few as 10 to 15 minutes a
day—while watching television. Little moves can
create big results.
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Craig Pepin-Donat has helped millions of people get on the
path to living a healthier and more active lifestyle. He
has dedicated his life to helping people through health and
fitness education and now brings that knowledge and
expertise to you in his ground breaking book, The Big Fat
Health and Fitness Lie. He founded
http://www.FitAdvocate.com
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