The problem with a sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity

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1. Long term excess food intake – Long term excess food intake creates an energy imbalance, whereby the energy you take in exceeds the energy you are expending. The body can generally tolerate mild fluctuations in food and energy intake. However, greater fluctuations more often force your body to store the excess energy as fat. If you are overweight, this is definitely happening to you. It is likely that you are over-eating without know where the excess is coming from. It is easy to overeat if you don't know how much food your body needs.

2. Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity – We are in what is called an obesogenic environment. We are surrounded by conditions that make us eat more and move less, leading to weight gain and poorer health. We have convenience at the tips of our fingers: transport vehicles to help us get around; remote controls so we don't have to get up to change the TV channel; drive-through take away restaurants so we can simply stay in our cars whilst we purchase energy dense food; elevators so that we don't have to go up those stairs or having to sit all day at our office jobs with little time left for exercise. Physical activity has endless benefits. From improving cardiac fitness to improving your metabolism and digestive system. Find ways to keep active! Remember the higher your activity level the higher your energy requirements.

3. Ignoring satiety signals – A common problem is that we ignore our satiety signals. This can happen for a number of reasons. We live in a very social environment with eating and drinking infused into celebrations, business meetings, social gatherings and even religious rituals. We have take-away and fast food with 'value' meals and options to up-size for a small 50 cents or one dollar. We have eating out and fine dining that offer generous portion sizes and 3 course meals. We have an evolving food industry with exquisite food creations, so tasty and generous that it leaves you with no choice but to eat it all. How many times have you ended up feeling very very full? It can be very hard to say no! We do have temptation everywhere. We do need to start listening to our satiety signals and stop eating when our body has had enough. It can take 20 – 30 minutes for your brain to register that you are full. Take your time to eat.

4. Behavioural issues – You may be turning to food for reason other than hunger. You maybe overeating or turning to junk food for emotional reasons, boredom or when you are feeling down. Seek an Accredited Practising Dietitian and Psychologist for professional help.

5. Starving yourself – This includes skipping meals and going for long periods in the day without food. If nutritional intake does not sufficiently meet the requirements the body has to get its energy supply from body stores, such as muscle and fat. The body responds to a lack of nutrient intake by conserving energy and minimizing protein loss and also maintains a supply of glucose to those tissues, specially the brain and the rest of the nervous system, which can not derive their energy from any other source. In prolonged starvation, basal metabolic rate (BMR) falls by up to 30% partly due to the decrease in mass of the metabolically more active tissues such as the liver and gastrointestinal tract. The body adjusts by deriving energy from fat stores ~95% and the other 5% comes from glucose derived from protein via a process called gluconeogenesis (glucose is made from protein). Gluconeogenesis steadily continues resulting in a loss of lean tissue (muscle). Loss of protein is associated with a decline in function and metabolic rate. So this means you need less food. But you're not necessarily eating less and so a greater gap is created so it is easier for you to put on weight.

If you feel you have truly tried EVERYTHING to lose weight and your overweight is unexplained, we can help you investigate why you struggle to lose weight.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

Ines Astudillo is an Accredited Practsing Dietitian in West Ryde, Sydney, NSW. Ines has a special interest in helping people achieve their weight goals in a realistic, achievable and sustainable manner. She is experienced in translating the nutritional science of kilojoules and fat grams into simple but meaningful changes in eating habits to help clients lose weight and keep it off. www.backdoctor.net.au www.rydeweightloss.com www.betternutrition.net.au Ines also has an

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