Chapter 14 Chapter 12 The Fantasy of Slenderness and the Myth of Movement

Now, all the suspects are locked up, lack of exercise, obesity, stress, smoking, lack of sleep, lack of sun exposure and malnutrition during pregnancy.What hangs over their heads is the genetic mist from the ancient stone age.Together, these create insulin resistance, which prevents our bodies from properly synthesizing sugar and glucose. How can we avoid the unknown syndrome that is approaching step by step, and stay away from the shadow of death?Firstly, to restore and improve the sensitivity to insulin; secondly, to slow down or eliminate various abnormal states in the body.In the next few chapters, we will look for relative possibilities one by one.We will explore important topics such as diet nutrition and lifestyle.Since I am not a medical expert, I will not discuss the various possibilities regarding drug treatment in detail here.Our work is a bit of a jigsaw puzzle, as so far very little research has been done specifically addressing the above questions.

In the late summer of 1999, a conference called Dieting and Metabolic Syndrome was held in Ystad, Sweden.All those who are interested in unknown syndromes must attend this meeting, because the organizers have convened almost all influential experts in this field, but the German nutrition authority did not show up. It quickly became clear to the participants that there was an inevitable dilemma on this issue: the more details we learned, the more we realized that we still don't know anything about this field.At this meeting, everyone reached a consensus on one issue, that is, among many pathogenic factors, three play a decisive role: genetics, lack of exercise and obesity.The conclusions drawn from this are also generally accepted. At present, it is still impossible to change the genetic genes. Therefore, exercise and weight loss have undoubtedly become the most important means of prevention and treatment.

We can even make several rebuttals to this point of view theoretically.Because, just losing weight itself is only possible, but not necessarily reducing insulin resistance.Second, all this must be put into action.There was a reason for the call for weight loss at the ISTA Conference, just look at the attendees, and it was not difficult to see that the vast majority of them undoubtedly belonged to the category of obese and muscular. Don't forget that some of these experts A lot of Americans.Several obese attendees struggled even to climb up to the podium. But this has not affected the consensus formed by everyone: weight loss is the most important treatment measure.Oddly, none of the experts talk about how to lose weight consistently and effectively.

On the second day of the meeting, the discussion was still drowned in calls for weight loss.One person finally couldn't help it: Why do we insist that weight loss is the most important treatment for obesity and insulin resistance?We cannot ignore the fact that such attempts so far have invariably failed, and that new and effective approaches are not yet in sight.Perhaps, we can first jointly determine a more realistic goal.I would suggest that making weight control your first priority in treating obesity is hard enough, plus increasing your physical activity.The speaker was John.Blundell, we've mentioned him many times.

I agree with what he said.What makes me wonder is why weight loss is always talked about by doctors and nutrition consultants.Are people in this line of work particularly slender?Dear reader, the next time you meet a Physician from Fufutai who tells you that you should lose weight, ask him to show you how to lose weight.Here I will summarize some important realizations about weight loss (explained in detail in my other two books on dieting and weight loss): In principle, all diets have only short-term effects.However, all attempts to lose weight may end up making people fatter.As we know it today, weight loss should be seen as one of the causes of weight gain.

The unanimously touted low-fat and high-carbohydrate type of diet has not stood the test of time either.Several random sample surveys (one of the few that are rigorous and unimpeachable) that have been conducted specifically on this issue have shown that low-fat, unrestricted calorie diets lead to some initial weight loss, but this tends to decrease rapidly It stopped, and then began to gain weight gradually and continuously.After two years of such dietary adjustments, the average weight loss was between one and two kilograms.Since there have been no real long-term studies on this, it's impossible to tell whether low-fat diets work over a longer period of time, but it's not unreasonable to be skeptical.

Carbohydrate-fat-fat experts keep citing the same Danish study over and over again.The study did show that people who lost weight on extremely strict diets regained the weight more slowly on a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet than those who ate a low-calorie mix.Interestingly, the research team of Professor Toubro, who achieved the above results, pointed out in a new study that a low-fat, uncontrolled calorie diet is not beneficial for weight loss.On this diet, the subjects regained the weight quickly after initially losing fat.Oddly enough, our nutrition pedants said nothing about this latest study

So far, all attempts to lose weight have failed, with the exception of surgery, but this only works in certain situations.Most people who want to lose weight, and their doctors, still refuse to accept the fact that failure is doomed.Our bodies protect their weight, and they do so using a dual strategy: Once fat cells are wasted away, they send a hunger signal to the central nervous system, causing it to respond.Insufficient heat supply will cause a strong sense of hunger, which can induce people to look for food. This is a trick of the creator.The longer the energy deficit lasts, the greater the weight loss and the stronger the hunger signal.Many special hormones, including insulin and leptin, stimulate the central nervous system more and more frequently, and make the desire to eat stronger through chemical reactions.

The body's second strategy, with weight loss, the body lowers its basal metabolism, or caloric expenditure, to minimize weight loss.Even a slight weight loss will cause the body's above-mentioned mechanism to adjust to save energy.In addition, for every kilogram of weight lost, the body needs to consume less calories to maintain various functions, so losing weight is becoming more and more difficult day by day. Only those who can resist the temptation of appetite and the torment of hunger, and really eat less than the body needs and consumes calories, can lose weight significantly.After three to four months of extremely strict dieting, it is possible to lose ten to twelve kilograms of body weight.Usually this is the limit.After that, the weight started to rise again, even if I tried my best to adjust my diet correctly, it didn't help.At this time, the body begins to take self-defense measures, and finally breaks through the will of dieting, so that the self-proclaimed successful diet control method fails completely.

These self-adjusting mechanisms of the body are part of nature's overall design of the human body to minimize the loss of body weight and body tissue when food is scarce.Despite all kinds of advertisements, there is still no magic formula to counteract this rule. It is said that even Pu'er tea, which can reduce weight, does not seem to be so effective.Facing the survival instinct of the human body, we are helpless. No amount of determination or the best diet plan can help. If someone manages to lose weight long-term, maybe five or ten out of a hundred, then their genes are probably abnormally programmed, and perhaps their defense mechanisms against weight loss are blunted.Others suppress their appetite and hunger cues through extraordinary perseverance and self-discipline, so that they can sustain minimal food intake for a long time.In addition, high-intensity physical activity can also help to achieve energy expenditure greater than intake.However, people who can really maintain long-term weight loss results are really a few exceptions.

As mentioned earlier, according to our current understanding, just losing weight itself does not guarantee that insulin resistance will be reduced.In order to sensitize the cells to insulin, in some cases other therapeutic measures must be taken.Some clinically proven drugs, such as metformin (Metformin) and a new group of high-potency substances thiazolidindione (Thiazolidindione), can improve insulin sensitivity.The most effective method of non-drug treatment is muscle training, that is, giving the body some load regularly. Then I will take part in sports and go to the fitness center to work out, so I can always lose weight!You might think so, but it's just wishful thinking!Advertising in the fitness industry may increase turnover, but it cannot help countless obese people.From the perspective of long-term effects, long-distance running in place and torture of the body with machines cannot really lose weight.Numerous scientific experiments have repeatedly proven this impossible, and even with monitored exercise therapy, the weight loss trend stops after twelve to sixteen weeks.During this period, the weight can drop by an average of three kilograms, and then gradually rise again. This phenomenon can be explained as follows: for every gram of weight loss, the energy required by the body to maintain operations decreases by a few calories.The body's basic metabolism, or so-called resting metabolism, is reduced.In theory, this means that for every gram of weight lost, we have to exercise more or eat less.Secondly, regular physical exertion makes people often need a longer time to rest and recover, while sitting or lying down consumes less energy, which almost offsets part of the increased energy consumption through exercise.Plus, the more weight you lose, the stronger your hunger signals.People who exercise regularly also eat more, and they unconsciously eat more fat to replenish the energy they expend.From the perspective of losing weight as much as possible, the combination of diet and exercise is slightly better than diet alone, and there is no obvious advantage. This is not to argue against exercising.On the contrary, physical exercise is the most important method to keep the weight from gaining again and not continuing to increase.This is because a certain minimum level of physical activity must be achieved in order to consciously adjust calorie intake to energy expenditure.If the amount of exercise does not meet this standard, the body's internal hunger and fullness signals will weaken the control over diet, making us more affected by external stimuli, such as feelings, time, living conditions, and boredom.For the average person, this minimum standard is about 11 kcal per kilogram of body weight in addition to the basal metabolism. Plus, exercise builds muscle.Therefore, regular exercise is also one of the most important ways to prevent and treat unknown syndromes.At least one goal can be achieved first, and the weight will not continue to increase.Second, any form of muscular activity helps maintain healthy sugar and fat metabolism and helps to change pre-existing insulin resistance.Through exercise, the fatty acid structure of cells and cell membranes is improved, insulin resistance can also be alleviated, and the absorption of glucose can be increased.Exercise builds muscle mass and improves blood circulation, which are also beneficial.Because through exercise, the function of insulin receptors in muscle cells is improved, and the cells also get the protein necessary to transport glucose.Exercising before a meal can make more fat ingested in this meal enter the muscle cells, which can effectively control the rise in blood fat after a meal, and promote the balance of energy intake and expenditure through gradually increasing fat burning. Individual endurance exercises, such as jogging and cycling, are not ideal.For unknown syndromes, exercising the cardiopulmonary and circulatory systems is not the most important thing. The key is to reduce the resistance of muscle cells, so it is necessary to exercise all large muscles as often as possible.This means, weight exercises are also necessary.The most effective, of course, is the combination of the two exercises, for example, this time to practice endurance, and the next time to practice weight and strength. All that being said, all the talk about exercising doesn't mean we should be athletes.The physical exercise I am talking about does not need to be so intense at all. Moderate physical labor in daily life can also help improve the sensitivity of cells to insulin. Any form of muscle activity is a kind of exercise, such as climbing stairs, moving beverage boxes, turning over Mowing the lawn, cleaning the house, these are sports.Basically, the more your muscles work, the less likely you are to develop insulin resistance.In addition, exercise can help break down steroid hormones and relieve daily stress.Our mental state can be improved by boosting serotonin, known as the mood hormone. Anyone who wants to avoid insulin resistance, fat or thin, should remember this important piece of good news: Physical activity of any kind, including ordinary walking and housework, can maintain one's health.Exercise can not only reduce the risk of developing unknown syndromes, but it has been proved that even if people who exercise are overweight, the proportion of diabetes is much lower than that of ordinary people.Depending on the survey, the prevalence may drop by 20% to 60%.Many studies have shown a quantitative relationship: the more exercise, the lower the prevalence. Mortality from heart and circulatory disease also fell relatively, regardless of obesity.Even the risk of breast and bowel cancers decreased with increased physical activity at work and in leisure time.The overall mortality rate affected by this is of course relatively reduced.Starting with mild exercise and gradually strengthening into real physical activity, the difference will be more obvious if the bicycle replaces the car as the means of transportation to work. We've mentioned many times that these can all be done, fat or not.Fat friends don't have to start hopeless diets again and again.Science has proven that exercise has a greater protective effect on fat people than on thin people.All in all, a strong fat person has a lower mortality rate than a weak and thin person! There is, in fact, another problem with this selfless portrayal of the chances of survival.The will is strong, but the flesh is weak.Talking without practice is of no use.We must put the recommendations into practice.Those of us in industrialized countries do not have to work our muscles and bones at work and at home, and the task of exercising muscles is left to leisure time.But if you look at our free time, most of it is taken up by passive pastimes. Even if we are participating in sports activities, we will drive there, sit in the audience, watch how other people set amazing records, and cheer together. I was told, like Places that offer active exercise, such as fitness centers, have many one-off customers.They came in with gusto, signed a one-year deal, and never showed up.The bubble of fantasy was quickly burst by hard facts.We have reason to doubt whether using machines to torture the body is the right way to do it