Finding Your Balance

The number of overweight and obese people in the United States and Britain has risen to unprecedented levels in recent years.

This increase has spawned a huge number of weight-loss fads as people scramble to find quick-fix solutions and remedies. More and more people are finding out the hard way that there is no magic bullet.

In simple terms, when someone consumes more calories than they expend, that individual will gain weight. Knowing this, it is natural for most people to assume that if they subject themselves to a Spartan regime of restricted calories and excessive exercise, that will get the job done.

In reality this only creates further havoc. They cannot sustain the diet and they overtrain and perhaps even injure themselves. The result ... metabolic imbalance, enforced inactivity and further emotional setback.

The reason this approach is never effective is that it is a knee-jerk reaction motivated by immediate gratification rather than sensible and enlightened planning.

Three contributing factors make up our total energy expenditure:

- the energy we use for normal function and survival
- the energy we use to digest and absorb nutrients
- the energy we expend during physical activity

Of these, physical activity is the easiest to manipulate. The "energy cost" of digesting certain foods may also vary to a degree. But the sensible approach is not the artificial quick fix.

Getting your balance right involves not only sensible habits, but also body awareness. Someone who hones this will begin to recognise when a given behaviour is harmful ... and will instinctively adjust. But this process is gradual and natural and is not something that is meant to be accelerated, outwitted or second-guessed.

I'll certainly talk more about the detail of sensible habits on my site, but my message today is for you to forget diets and extreme measures and take things slow and easy. Small incremental steps are what it takes to achieve and maintain the balance necessary for optimum health and vitality.

It takes time to settle into equilibrium. Learn patience.