I grew up in Pangasinan, in beautiful town of Lingayen, graduating in physiotherapy from Virgin Milagrosa University. But these days, I run a physiotherapy clinic in Toronto at St. Clair and Dufferin. I have learned so much about accident recovery, chronic pain – and what my patients really want. In this column I look forward to sharing my insights into health, wellness and recovery with my Filipino community.
Sure, I get people asking me about pain relief. “Sheila- how can I recover from my ankle sprain or shoulder injury?” But a lot of my patients, both Filipino and Canadian, are also looking for the best way to trim down. Not only does losing fat help you avoid and recover faster from injuries plus enjoy better health, it also allows you to look your best! And we all want that.
So, I have some ideas for you… and some interesting facts that may surprise you about fat loss:
1. When you accept how HARD it is to lose fat, it becomes easy.
No, the magic secret to fat loss is not detox tea, magic pills or deep cleanses. Rather, the secret is your state of mind. Once you are in that state of mind to succeed, you can’t fail.
2. A low carbohydrate, metabolism boosting diet does the trick.
When it comes to losing body fat, the best exercise program is not enough. You need a sound approach to your nutrition! In the past decade, low carb, metabolism boosting diets have become most popular way to lose weight. And with good reason – they work.
A few metabolism boosting foods to include:
Protein – Increasing your protein not only supports lean muscle mass, but it also takes a lot more to digest and will burn belly fat in the process.
Green Tea – You may have heard it before, but green tea has been shown to significantly improve weight loss and fat burning efforts.
Soup– Eat less and burn fat faster by having a bowl of soup as an appetizer or a snack.
Grapefruit– The grapefruit diet is not a myth. Many studies indicate that the unique chemical properties in this vitamin C-packed citrus fruit reduces insulin levels, which promotes weight loss and boost metabolism.
Broccoli –Study after study links calcium and weight loss. Broccoli also loaded with vitamin C, which boosts calcium absorption. And, at just 20-calories per cup, it is a weight-loss superfood.
Low-Fat Yogurt—Low-fat yogurt is a rich source of weight-loss-friendly calcium.
3. Weight and core training in your exercise program provides the variety you need.
Cardiovascular exercise is an important step to losing fat. But it’s critical that you mix up your program and include weight and core training in your exercise regime to achieve fat loss.
4. When trying to tone up and reduce body fat percent, the scales mean nothing.
Gaining muscle cells to harden them up makes them heavy for their size and burning up body fat makes you lighter. In fact, you may even put on weight in the first few weeks of a resistance training program making you freak out and think about stopping. But here is the silver lining– you may have dropped a clothing size.
5. For obese or for chronic condition sufferers, physiotherapy is the answer.
There are many people who just can’t achieve the rigorous fitness regime or even 30 minutes of daily walking to control their weight. These people need an individual program designed to meet their particular needs, their body, and their environment. If you are one of them, a therapeutic exercise regimen that is prescribed by a physiotherapist may be the answer.