Slimming Down, Not Losing Weight

It is estimated that on any given day of the year,or irregular menstruation. Fat is a necessary
38% of the population are on some type of dietsubstance, but when it accumulates in excess it
or exercise program to "lose weight". This meanscauses a bunch of hormonal and health problems.
that more than 1 in 3 people wish to achieve aWhat we want to reduce is our body fat excess.
reduction of their body weight and are willing toIn other words, SLIM DOWN.
sacrifice something to achieve this.Measuring body weight alone has never been a
The sad part is that the majority, about 95% ofgood indicator of how much fat a body has. This
these people, end-up abandoning their efforts oris because a human body is made up of at least
fail in their intent to diet or exercise. Very few65% water and water weights much more than
achieve their goal and even less is able to maintainfat. Fat is not a heavy substance and this is why
any weight lost. Because of this, obesity andoverweight people float in water much more
overweight conditions have been increasingeasily. Fat is a very light substance, but it is very
throughout the last 40 years and today theseVOLUMINOUS. In other words, it occupies a lot of
conditions have become an "epidemic" becausespace. Which is why trying to measure the results
they affect the large part of our population.of a diet or an exercise program with a scale is
Meanwhile we receive heavy advertising throughexposing you to failure. What we should really
the media with daily images of skeletal thinlook at, to determine if we are losing weight, is
models as a symbol of how thin we all should be.your dress size. Observing the way your clothes
Everything we see on television and print medianow fit never fails because this tells you clearly
indicates that we are "fat" and that we carrywhether you are really reducing fat in your body.
more pounds than we should.In addition, when we put additional pressure to
In my experience, a lot of the people who go onweigh ourselves it creates an anxiety that
a diet fail simply because they have a wrong ideaincreases cortisol hormone levels and this
or a compulsion to "lose weight". The generalityprevents us from slimming down. The continuous
that the problem is too much weight is a wrongstress to weigh ourselves every day sabotages
idea. The general problem is not that we have tooour efforts because the cortisol hormone reduces
much weight, but rather that we have too muchmetabolism, makes us hungry and makes us fat.
FAT, and this is what classifies us as "fat", theIf you want to go the logical and effective way
body fat.when it comes to being slim, lose the scale. Do
There is an important difference that we mustnot weigh your body more than once a week and
recognize before we go on a diet only to thenalways keep in mind that the problem is not
feel a "failure" because we are not "losing weight""being heavy". The real problem is being "fat" and
like we wanted to. The crucial difference lies inthat cannot easily be determined well by a scale.
knowing how to set the right goal. "Losing weight"Observe the changes in your dress size. If
is not the same as SLIMMING DOWN. When thesomeone asks how many pounds you've lost,
body experiences weight loss, the loss couldsimply tell them "I lost 2 dress sizes" or "I lost 4
come from losing water, muscle or fat. In reality,inches around my waist". Don't put too much
what we are interested in is losing BODY FAT.importance to your body weight. Do put your
We don't want to lose water because our bodyattention to being able to fit into those clothes
will dehydrate and metabolism will slow downyou have hanging in your closet that didn't fit
which will eventually make us fat. We don't wantanymore.
to reduce muscle mass either because our skinIronically, when a person begins an exercise
will be flaccid and lose. The important thing is toroutine, he or she gains weight. But this weight
reduce FAT. That is called SLIMMING DOWN andgain is good because a person is actually gaining
that is what we really want to achieve.muscle mass. Muscles weigh 2 ½ times more
Some people have a compulsion with their bodythan fat. If you increase muscle, fat will reduce
weight. They want to achieve, no matter what,and you will be thinner. Increasing muscles is a
weight loss. But, they forget that the body isgood thing. I have heard a so-called nutritional
made up of a lot of different components: water,expert tell his client not to exercise because
bones, muscles, tissue and fat. The only thing weexercise makes you gain weight. This is just a
really want to reduce is body fat because it isreflection of the expert's ignorance regarding the
body fat that makes us "fat". It is also excessivehuman body. The best way to slim down is with
fat that blocks our arteries and causes high bloodthe correct diet plan paired with an exercise
pressure and heart attacks. It is excessive fatroutine.
that causes an insulin resistance on diabetics andSo, forget about your weight. It is not important.
makes it impossible for them to control theirObserve your dress size or the size of your
condition. It is excessive body fat that makeswaist. Give your scale a vacation and you will see
some women infertile and causes a very painfulthat you will slim down and increase your energy.