Introduction
Weight loss is the act of engaging in a number of activities, including body exercises and dieting, in a bid to reduce body mass. This is normally done by obese people whose weight causes a lot of discomfort. Obesity may at times result to detrimental diseases like heart illnesses. This paper is aimed at explaining the science behind weight loss and the recommended procedures one should take while going through this process.
Quite a number of people go on diets, and take food supplements so as to lose their excess weight and achieve a desirable body weight and shape. Apparently, many of these people do not know or understand the manner in which the weight loss mechanism actually works. Consequently, many of them end up with unsatisfactory results due to their ignorance about the matter (Ratcliffe 134).
Dieting and random body exercises do not comprehensively facilitate weight loss if the concerned party is completely unaware of the science behind it. In fact, this notion should be scrapped off people’s minds because it is misleading. If one is serious about losing his or her weight, it is imperative that they understand that weight loss process is no work of magic.
A healthy diet and exercise routine must be planned in correlation to specific body needs. In order to do so, it is essential to acknowledge the scientific mechanism of weight loss. This will then play an imperative role in enabling one to plan accordingly.
According to a deeper scientific knowledge on metabolism, body weight is determined by energy intake on one hand, and energy expenditure on the other. Body weight loss is, therefore, a reduction of the total body mass. From the two statements, we can deduce that an energy intake lesser than energy expenditure of the body unavoidably causes a decrease of adipose tissues.
An adipose tissue is a type of connective tissue that naturally stores excess energy in the form of fat in the body. Since a decrease in body fat is always accompanied by a decrease in lean body mass, it is important to note that this simple theory can be used to reduce body weight inconsiderate of the age or gender of the victim. Reduced body fats, therefore, results to a decrease in body weight and vice versa (Ratcliffe 84).
Those who are intending to lose their weight have to take into consideration a number of scientific theories. For instance, energy required by the body must be observed. This is done in order to give the body just the amount of energy it needs without providing excess or limited energy.
As a result, balances between body weight and energy intake and body weight and energy expenditure have to be monitored and perfectly regulated in order to achieve weight loss. This is important in enabling the patient to reach the late phases of weight loss mechanism where body fat is burned and body weight is reduced considerably (Dokken, Betsy and Tsu-ShuenTsao 120).
This is an implication that an obesity victim has to meticulously understand his or her energy requirements before embarking on dieting and body exercises. It is only through this that one is able to effectively go through the tiresome weight loss procedure and achieve desired results.
In addition to understanding one’s energy requirements, it is also important to know the nutritional values of some foods and their composition in order to give the body exactly the foods it needs during weight loss process. Glucose, for instance, is a simple sugar and a crucial carbohydrate in biology.
Living cells rely on it as a basic source of energy. It plays an imperative role in the physiological process of weight loss and burning fat. For this reason, glucose is an important part of the diets for the obese. It is basically the first step to lose weight when taken in recommended proportions. As a matter of fact, glucose is converted to glycogen which is the primary source of energy. It is not only the primary source of energy in humans, but in most living organism as well.
Glycogen is a substance deposited in body tissues and stores carbohydrate sugars such as glucose as mentioned above (Craig 159). The existence of this substance in the body may facilitate either weight gain or weight loss depending on the degree of its consumption by the body and intake through ingestion.
It is stored in the liver and in the muscles as a primary energy source but is converted to fats in the event that the amount stored exceeds the body’s daily consumption of energy. This implies that obese victims must know the approximate amount of glucose their bodies need on a daily basis in order to avert the conversion of excess glycogen into fats to facilitate weight gain (Dokken, Betsy and Tsu-ShuenTsao 93).
The burning of fats in the body is largely determined by the daily food intake. This can be described scientifically as glucose intake. There is always the production of the hormone insulin by the body each time one consumes glucose. This hormone filters the glucose, transforms it into glycogen, and stores it in the storage tissues in the body such as the liver and muscles.
This is done so that the human body can make use of it in the production of energy needed to carry out a number of activities done by an individual. At this level, one must balance his or her energy expenditure so that the energy used up is not less than the energy ought to have been produced by the ingested glucose.
In other words, one must workout him or herself and burn the consumed calories based on their goal plans. In the event that this is not done, what happens in the body is completely astonishing. If the glycogen contained in the body is inappropriately consumed and others remain unutilized, one ends up with excess glycogen in the body. This will then cause an unavoidable process of converting the overload of glycogen into body fats. As a result of this, one is bound to increase his or her body weight (Canfield, Mark and Andrew 67).
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of weight loss should be to compel the body to utilize its glycogen without storing excess. In order to do so, one must modify his or her diet to fit own preferences and lower the amount of carbohydrates consumed. This is the only viable way of preventing the body from converting excess glycogen into fats which apparently contribute to a lot to weight gain (Fletcher and Anne 154).
The weight loss mechanism can be fairly complicated, but it is understandable. All that people need to do is modify their diets to conform to their energy requirements, exercise regularly and make sure that they do not end up with excess calories and this should see them through effective weight loss.
Works Cited
Canfield, Jack, Mark V. Hansen, and Andrew Larson. Weight Loss. Deerfield Beach, Fla: Health Communications, 2005. Print.
Craig, Gary. Eft for Weight Loss: The Revolutionary Technique for Conquering Emotional Overeating, Cravings, Bingeing, Eating Disorders, and Self-Sabotage : Featureing Reports from Eft Practioners, Instructors, Students, and Users. Fulton, CA: Energy Psychology Press, 2010. Print.
Dokken, Betsy, and Tsu-ShuenTsao. The Physiology of Body Weight Regulation: Are We Too Efficient for Our Own Good? Fulton, CA: Diabetes Spectrum, 2007. Print.
Fletcher R and Anne M. Weight Loss Confidential: How Teens Lose Weight and Keep It Off and What They Wish Parents Knew. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2006. Print.
Ratcliffe, John. Health & Weight Loss. Dingley, Vic: Hinkler Books, 2005. Print.