Slow Down For Weight Loss

Ask anyone who meditates or practices yoga regularly, and
they will tell you that either one helps you slow down and
get in touch with yourself. I, like many others, have
always assumed that being in touch with one's self was a
good thing if a little hard to quantify and measure.
However, there is one part of us that can be quantified and
measured, and that is how much we weigh. As a society,
there seems to be a lot more of each of us to get in touch
with than there used to be. There are even those that are
calling obesity an epidemic, both here in the U. S. and in
other countries as well.

There are certainly many people who want to take charge of
their lives and bring their own weight under control but
who either do not know where or how to start, are not sure
how to find the time in busy schedules for regular
exercise, or who are simply daunted by the entire mass of
data and life style change represented by adopting the
proper exercise and nutritional changes that they know must
occur.

Therein lies the crux of the matter. Although many people
may not be aware of this fact, the weight loss equation has
been solved long since. Eat more calories than you burn
and you will gain weight. Burn more calories than you eat
and you will lose weight. Those without this knowledge
pursue all sorts of diet gimmicks, fad diets, and sometimes
dangerous diet pills when simply making a few lifestyle
changes over time would eventually lead to weight loss and
a healthier body. Even those with this knowledge are often
confused about what to do and when to do it, or just feel
that it is one more straw in the pile that surely will
eventually break the camel's back.

While I normally advocate biting the bullet, and not
another fudge brownie, and, say as the commercial says,
"Just do it!", the fact is that a little helpful tip or
hint here or there might help some people start their climb
up out of the obesity pit.

One such tip is simply, as the yoga practitioners and
people who meditate have known for years, to slow down.
Life lived at a hectic pace can not only create stress
which can contribute to weight gain through "stress eating"
and the action of normal chemicals within the body such as
cortisol, but eating too fast can contribute to weight gain
as well. In fact, researchers at the University of Rhode
Island at Kingston have found more than one way that
slowing down at the breakfast, lunch, and dinner tables can
help us lose weight.

In one study, participants lowered their calorie intake
simply because the researchers told them to take their
time. When told to eat as quickly as possible on the other
hand, they ingested more calories. Researchers also used
such tips as having them lay down their spoons between
bites, and chew their food thoroughly, between 15 and 20
times.

This chewing thing is interesting, because I had heard
about a "chewing diet" in which participants were to chew
their food several times before swallowing. It all sounded
a little mystical to me, and I was inclined to write it off
until I read more about research at the University of Rhode
Island. It seems that when the diner chews the food 15-20
times, several things happen. Apparently, the trigger is
that thorough chewing helps to release about 50% more
nutrients in the first minute after the food enters the
stomach. As a result, blood flow to the digestive organs
is raised nearly instantly raising the metabolism. This,
in turn, results in a more rapid onset of a feeling of
fullness, causing the diner to feel full...and
finished...sooner, thus preventing the ingestion of excess
calories.

It has long been known that one problem with weight loss is
that we simply tend to eat more food than we really need or
want. Part of this is the result of the fact that signals
of fullness take their own sweet time getting through to
the brain, allowing us to take in more food than was really
required or desired.

So, slow down. Chew your food carefully. Enjoy the taste
and flavor of each morsel. Maybe even take smaller bites.
The researchers also found that giving the participants
smaller spoons helped. Lists of diet tips have long
included the admonition to serve meals on smaller plates as
that helped the portions appear bigger and more
psychologically satisfying.

Take this little bit of information, add a little bit of
exercise, and start making some better choices about what
you eat, and you might find that you have created the start
of an effective weight loss program.

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Donovan Baldwin is a Texas writer. He is a University of
West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa, and is retired
from the U. S. Army. Learn more about health and weight
loss at http://informationclickdepot.com/health/index.html .