Why am I Fat?

Why am I fat? It's a depressing question for someone to have to ask themselves but one that is better confronted early rather than later when a myriad of health-related issues can arise (beyond just egocentric image issues).

I am just going to look here at the very basics of this issue. Different people react in different ways to different stimuli and what makes one person fat may not have the same degree of effect on someone else. Stress, for example, can cause weight gain by slowing our metabolism, altering our blood sugar level and / or increasing our cortisol level which affects our ability to lose weight. But what creates stress for one person may not be the same for another.

So yes, the issue can become a complex one and I am sure an informed reader can raise various points to further complicate the matter.

Why am I Fat?

The most basic consideration is calories in vs calories out. How many calories do you consume on a daily basis compared to how many calories you use in the same period of time?

A calorie is a scientifically created term that allows us to measure how much energy it takes to raise the temperature of 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celcius. In more simple terms, calories in indicates how much energy we draw into our body by eating and drinking while calories out gives us a figure of how much energy we use in our day to day life.

We all use calories to do things as simple as breathe and digest food. Running uses more calories than walking. Athletes use more calories than average as they use more energy. Depending on one’s age, sex, height, weight, level of activity and other factors, we all need a certain number of calories to either gain weight, maintain our weight or lose weight.

So, in theory if a person needs to consume 2000 calories a day (the average for an adult male) and he meets this caloric target, he should neither lose or gain weight if all other factors remain the same. If he raised his caloric consumption to 2500 a day then over a period of time the excess food (represented by excess calories) would be converted into fat and stored as such, causing weight gain and a loss of muscle definition.

On the other hand, if the same man reduces his caloric intake from 2000 to 1500 then in this case he would begin to lose weight as his body begins to burn stored fat (and possibly muscle as well, depending on the actual food consumed).

Here’s the thing though. While you can start with a daily maintenance level of 2000 calories, if you consistently consume say 2500 or 1500 calories a day then given enough time these new levels will become your maintenance levels. Therefore in order to gain or lose weight you will have to make your calculations from your new maintenance level.

This is a basic answer to the question Why Am I Fat?, but also very important to understand. In many cases losing weight (or bulking up to build muscle) may not be any harder than varying your caloric intake. Note though that different foods provide different nutritional values. There may be little to no difference calorie wise between a glass of whole fat milk and a glass of coke but the nutrition provided by both beverages is vastly different.

Deep breathing exercises

Deep Breathing Exercises important for promoting health, vitality and well-being

Breathing is the most fundamental act of living.

I breathe, therefore I am.

Seeing as how it is so vital and something we do 24 hours a day, considering how we breathe is time well spent.

Just for a moment shift your awareness to your own breathing pattern. How quickly are you breathing? How deeply?

Just after birth if you observe a newborn baby you will notice that he or she is breathing at a slow pace. As the baby draws in breath his or her stomach is extending. Intuitively the baby is breathing in the optimum manner. This method of deep breathing, which I’ll get onto in more detail below, is soon lost however as the baby grows and his or her body gets more and more used to being upright until, by the time of adulthood, he or she is breathing far more rapidly and more shallow.

For most adults, this is how they ‘naturally’ breathe.

Changing your breathing pattern through deep breathing exercises to make it longer, deeper and slower can bring about certain health benefits.

The first is that by bringing in more oxygen into your body you are stimulating and strengthening your lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system serves you by removing toxic waste and excessive fluid from your cells which would otherwise become clogged with this material causing the cells to lessen their ability to absorb oxygen from blood. Obviously this would become increasingly detrimental to your health. Disruption to the lymphatic system also causes problems for our immune system as lymph nodes produce substances to destroy bacteria, viruses and abnormal cells (such as cancerous cells).

It is at lymph nodes that the toxins are destroyed or neutralized. The nodes act as filters, ‘washing’ the pale liquid lymph that circulates your body.

As the lymph circulates it finally ends up at the thoracic duct from where the lymph is once again released. By breathing deeply you are stimulating the thoracic duct, thereby ensuring the smooth flow of lymph around your body.

These deep breathing exercises can also aid you in overcoming anxiety and hyperventilation (over- or rapid-breathing that causes a drop in carbon dioxide in the your blood), as well as lowering your blood pressure, relaxing your muscles and slowing your heart rate, thereby helping to combat stress.

There are a lot of good reasons to begin changing your breathing pattern, or at least to spend a few minutes a day deep breathing. Try these three exercises starting with the basic one first.

Deep Breathing Exercises: Basic

Lie down or sit upright. Intertwine your fingers and place them lightly below your navel.

Breathe in deeply through your nose. Continue breathing in for a count of 4. As the breath enters your body extend your abdomen outwards. Try to concentrate on feeling the breath in the area below your fingers.

Hold this position for a count of 6.

Breathe out slowly through your mouth. As you breathe out allow your abdomen to relax and retract. Breathe out for a count of 8.

Repeat the process three times. On the fourth inhalation change the count as follows.

Breath in for a count of 8.

Hold for a count of 6.

Breathe out for a count of 4.

Then repeat the entire cycle again, returning to an in-4, hold-6, out-8 pattern for three inhalations before changing the fourth inhalation again as outlined.

Deep Breathing Exercises: Intermediate

Repeat exactly the same process as above of three inhalations but after every out breath hold that position for a count of 4 before inhaling once again. Every fourth breath should reverse the amount of time you inhale and exhale for.

The new pattern would be in-4, hold-6, out-8, hold-4 repeated three times then on the fourth in-8, hold-6, out-4, hold-4.

Deep Breathing Exercises: Advanced

Repeat the Intermediate Breathing Exercise as above but as you hold your position after the exhalation for a count of 4 consciously relax your entire body allowing it to sink deeper into the floor or into your chair. Then exhale once again for a count of 4.

This new pattern would be in-4, hold-6, out-8, hold-4 (and relax), out-4 repeated three times then on the fourth in-8, hold-6, out-4, hold-4 (and relax), out-4.

When trying these exercises you should always feel comfortable. You should never feel short of breath. Changing the pattern on the fourth exhalation will assist you in this, but nevertheless there is no rule that says you can’t change the count to make it more comfortable for yourself. The important thing to focus on is taking deeper breaths into and from your abdomen at a slower pace, and preferably with a longer exhale count than inhale count.

How to increase testosterone with food

Before asking how to increase testosterone with food we first need to understand out terms. Testosterone is a steroid hormone found primarily in men, though women also have it in their bodies to a lesser degree. More commonly it is understood to be a sex hormone as it plays a key part in developing sperm and its level rises and falls depending on ones sexual activity at any given moment. Single men generally have a higher testosterone count than married men or fathers. Testosterone levels will also increase with sexual arousal.

As for its relationship to diet, fitness, health and happiness, testosterone it has been found that following testosterone spikes (such as after sexual intercourse) a period of relaxation and optimism is experienced. The hormone is also important in promoting muscle mass and well-being and for improving overall athletic performance.

Unfortunately with age testosterone levels tend to fall. One’s diet can also negatively affect one’s testosterone level. In this article then I will look at how to increase testosterone with food.

How to Increase Testosterone with Food

First of all healthy fat will raise depleted testosterone levels to their baseline (which will be different for each individual) and help to counter-act the impact of age and stress or other inhibiting factors. Premium meats, fish and nuts all contain healthy fats that can help here. Failing that Omega-3 and Zinc supplements can help to do the job.

Other foods helpful to you can include green tea (inhibits the conversion of testosterone to estrogen, which is the primary female sex hormone), eggs (contain enzymes for breaking down protein), apples (help to maintain muscle mass), oysters (high in zinc and magnesium and help to stabilize testosterone).

Supplements to look for (along with Omega-3) are Zinc, Magnesium, L Carnitine Tarate, and Alpha GPC.

If your aim is to increase testosterone with food then you need to re-examine your entire diet and look to introduce the above elements into what you are eating on a regular basis.