Eat low fat:

For some or other unknown reason, carbohydrates (CHO) have been labelled as fattening for the last 20-30 years. Although research done in the last 10 years has disproved this over and again, carbohydrates are still struggling to get rid of the "fattening" label. Carbohydrate has actually been found to stimulate its own metabolism, which means that if you eat more of it, your body will merely burn more of it. This is, however not the case with fat. Dietary fat has been found to simply slip into body fat unchanged, proving that it does not stimulate its own metabolism. If one eats a lot of a certain type of fat such as chocolates, the fat in ones body will look exactly like chocolate fat. If on the other hand one eats a lot of cheese, the fat in ones body will look exactly like the fat in cheese. Scientists in Great Brittain who put a few people into a room for a week, allowing them to eat low fat/fat free carbohydrates to their hearts’ content, found that these people only gained a maximum of 1.5 kg. When these same people were put into a room and allowed to eat high fat foods to their hearts’ desire, some of them picked up as much as 7kg weight! This proves beyond a doubt that in order to lose weight (or rather fat), one needs to cut down on one’ s intake of visible and hidden fats. All the recipes in this book are low in fat and we also show you in the choice of ingredients and preparation methods, how to decrease the fat content of all meals and snacks. Do not, however avoid fat altogether. One needs a small amount of good fats in the diet in order to get in all the essential fatty acids, due to their favourable effect on blood lipids, as well as to prevent cravings due to too strict dieting. (See section on Heart Disease, Mass building under Sports Nutrition and note the inclusion of small amounts of good fats in the recipes).

Regular, small snack type meals are recommended to lose weight and keep slim. Increased insulin secretion is stimulated when large meals are eaten and insulin plays a role in how we store fat. Better fat loss is achieved when smaller, more regular meals are eaten. This is because small meals only stimulate the secretion of small amounts of insulin. If small meals are also eaten regularly, the body is never starved and there is therefore no major increase in insulin secretion due to this either, since a person is less inclined to overeat. Hyperinsulinaema is a major contributor to overweight, high body fat levels and inability to lose weight. It is therefore of utmost importance that there should be no major increase in insulin secretion in order to get and stay thin. It is also important not to cut ones food intake too drastically, since any major cut on food intake, especially to levels below 4200 kilojoules per day, usually leads to a slowing down of the metabolism.

Eat low GI foods:

Another aspect of weight loss, is to keep blood glucose levels as even as possible. The best way to do this is to use the Glycaemic Index. In a study done in South Africa, as reported in an Australian book, it was found that persons on a slimming diet containing only low GI carbohydrates lost 2 kg more weight over a period of 12 weeks, than their counterparts who were placed on a diet containing only high GI carbohydrates. The astounding thing was that both groups were given the exact same amount of fat, kilojoules, protein, carbohydrates and fibre. The success of the low GI slimming diet was attributed to the fact that a low GI diet does not cause a major insulin response, resulting in lower insulin levels and more even blood glucose levels. This in turn, assists the body in losing body fat, which is prevented by high insulin levels. This is a major breakthrough, since there is a school of thought that believes that people can only slim on a high protein, low carbohydrate diet, since carbohydrates are believed to elicit a major insulin response, leading to hyperinsulinemia. As explained above, this is not the case with low GI carbohydrates. By avoiding high GI carbohydrates, except after exercise, and consuming the prudent diet that should be 50-60% CHO, 25-30% fat and 12-20% protein, but eating mostly low GI carbohydrates, body fat loss is optimised. Low GI carbohydrates are also more satisfying and the hunger pangs therefore stay away longer on a low GI diet. On the other hand high GI carbohydrates usually cause a reactive hypoglycaemia, and thus one is inclined to eat sooner due to low blood glucose. (See section on hypoglycemia as well.)

Exercise regularly:

This part on slimming will be incomplete if we fail to mention the importance of exercise in slimming. Regular exercise increases lean body mass, which in turn increases the metabolism. In contrast to this, body fat has no influence whatsoever on metabolism. If one exercises regularly while slimming, it is impossible to lose lean body mass and therefore a slowing down of the metabolism is hardly noticed, unless the energy intake is cut down too drastically. Trying to slim without doing regular exercise can lead to muscle loss, especially since the body finds it easier to turn muscle into energy than to burn body fat for energy, especially if the food intake is cut down drastically. Therefore, in order to lose fat most effectively: don’t do anything drastic! Forget about dieting and just eat regular low fat, low GI meals (except after exercise) and exercise daily. Your slimming eating plan must be one that can last the rest of your life. Do watch your portion sizes, though, since you still won’t lose weight if you eat too much. Last, but not the least: be patient. It takes time to burn fat!