Frequently asked questions concerning the Causes of Overweight and Obesity

There are many questions concerning the causes of overweight and obesity. Most people who want to lose weight are a little bit confused about the exact reasons. That’s no surprise due to the huge amount of information, respectively the amount of useless information and scams like magic diet pills or expensive pre-package food diets for instance. In order to provide clarity I have discussed the frequently asked questions in this article. With the answers you will be able to oppose the causes of overweight and obesity and lose weight naturally.

What’s actually the exact reason for performing exercises in order to lose weight?

There are many misconceptions about exercises or physical activity regarding weight loss. Therefore I will break facts down to the basics. First you need to know that you have to burn more calories than you ingest to your body in order to lose weight, anyway. There are two according parameters. On one side, the caloric intake and on the other hand the calories you are burning. You can affect both sides positively.  The reason to perform exercises is simply to increase the number of calories you are burning. An even more important fact is that you understand the significant meaning of your metabolic rate. An increased metabolic rate enables you to burn calories automatically. That is why you should perform exercises at least 3 times per week. Let’s now discuss the next question concerning causes of overweight and obesity.

Why does eating fast food and snacks often result in weight gain?

The reason for this is that fast food and snacks very often consist of a lot of simple sugar and trans fatty acids. These two ingredients are the two major thickeners. Simple sugar does metabolize in fat more easily than long-chain carbohydrates or protein. Trans fatty acids have twice as many calories as carbohydrates or protein and are simply unhealthy. For this reason you should avoid fast food and snacks altogether, or reduce them to a minimum. Here are some examples of food products which contain a lot of simple sugar and fat:  crackers, candies, baked goods, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, salad dressings, many processed foods, sweets, biscuits, cakes, pastries, puddings, ice cream.

Why is it recommended to eat 5 smaller portions per day instead of the usual 3?

There are two reasons for the recommendation to eat 5 smaller portions per day instead the usual 3. First, every time you ingest food to your body your metabolic rate is boosting a little bit. I highly recommend that you take advantage of this effect and stimulate your metabolic rate on a regular basis with 5 smaller portions of food per day. Second, eating 5 times per day prevents ravenous hunger. If you eat 5 healthy and low caloric meals per day, than there is no need to eat snacks in between the meals. Besides, these snacks are usually high caloric food.

If you seriously want to oppose the causes of overweight and obesity and lose weight, you probably will approach things in a new way now. Especially performing exercises or at least physical activity, eating 5 smaller portions per day and avoiding fast food and snacks are important pillars in order to lose weight. Keep in mind that your metabolic rate plays a key role at this. There is, of course, much more beneficial information concerning weight loss, e.g. information on nutrition and diets. But by putting this information into practice you will be able to affect the causes of overweight and obesity positively and lose weight.