What
is the most popular way of losing weight? This has been a long-time question
for those who believe they have an extra layer of fat. Forget low carb,
Atkinson, exercise, calorie count, calorie restriction and all the old ways of
losing weight. The new way is in fact one of the oldest way of discharging
extra layer, although it was not necessarily undertaken to lose weight.
Fasting
has been a way of keeping healthy, in addition to helping the poor and keeping
them content, for millenniums. Although it had existed many years before
Judaism, it became a religious duty by this religion, which was followed by
Christianity and Islam. It was also an effective political tool, as many kings pronounced
certain days as days of fasting.
Some
philosophers and old time physicians have advocated certain regimentation for wellbeing.
Avisina wrote about fasting and its advantages for a healthy body in his book “The
Canon”. Even before him, Greek philosophers advocated it as a way of life. The
most famous among them was Epicurus. His famous statement was: “it is better to
be free of fear while lying upon a pallet, than to have a golden couch and a
rich table and be full of trouble.” Epicurus advocated a life without reliance
on material pleasure, and as a result, he lived all his adult life on bread and
water, in addition to occasional cheese on celebratory days. Of course his
philosophy of life was not just about fasting, but giving the body adequate
amount of food, rather than the eating debauchery. Epicurus’ teachings to his
students were beyond simple eating. For instance, he advocated for equality of
women and slaves with men, which unfortunately as of today the equality has not
been reached. Nietzsche said about Epicurus that “wisdom hasn’t come a step
further since Epicurus, but has often gone many thousands of steps backward.”
However, not simple
eating but fasting seems to be the new way of controlling weight, which is by the
way of controlling appetite. There seem to be many different ways of fasting:
1. One way is time
restricted feeding, which is feeding within a specific window of time during
the day. The most popular one is 18:6, which means eating for six hours during
the 24 hours of the day and therefore, fasting for 18 hours a day.
2. Second most popular
fasting is eating every other day.
3. The third way of
fasting is called 5:2, which means eating normally for five days during the
week and fasting the next two days.
The most important
thing is to know medical risk in any one of these fasting regiments. A person
can live without water for several weeks and without food for several months,
depending on the person’s physical conditions. When food is not available, the
body turns to muscle protein to receive glucose and fatty acids for energy.
Average calorie requirements of a man is 2,500 and a woman needs an average of
2,000 calories. A man can survive on 1,875 calories and a woman can survive on
1,500 calories. The minimum body mass index (BMI) for men is 13 and it is 11
for women. BMI is number 703 multiplied by weight in pounds and divided by
height in inches. According to the following table, BMI is risky when it is
above 29 and below 19:
Anyone with the height
of 5’8” and above and with the weight of 120 pounds or less, anyone with the height
of 6’ and above and with the weight of 130 or less, anyone with the height of 6’2”
and above and with the weight of 140 and less, anyone with the height of 6’4”
and above and with the weight of 150 and less, and anyone with the height of 6’8”
and above and with the weight of 160 and less is underweight.
Anyone
with the height of 4’6” and below and with the weight of 130 pounds or more,
anyone with the height of 4’8” and below and with the weight of 140 and more, anyone
with the height of 4’10” and below and with the weight of 150 or more, anyone
with the height of 5’ and below and with the weight of 160 and more, anyone
with the height of 5’2” and below and with the weight of 170 and more, anyone
with the height of 5’4” and below and with the weight of 180 or more, anyone
with the height of 5’6” and below and with the weight of 190 and more, anyone
with the height of 5’8” and below and with the weight of 200 or more, anyone
with the height of 5’10” or below and with the weight of 210 and more, anyone
with the height of 6’ and below and with the weight of 220 and more, anyone
with the height of 6’2” and below and with the weight of 230 and more, and anyone
with the height of 6’4” and below and with the weight of 250 and more is obese.
BMI
is a scientifically proven method of stabilizing weight in comparison with the height.
Of course, there is also density that is not considered in this calculation,
which would impact one’s BMI. Even though keeping adequate amount of fat and
other nutrients in the body is important, many physicians believe that starving
body is not good for its health. The best way to eat is probably having a
balanced food, not too little to starve, and not too much to build extra and unnecessary
fat and any other component that body does not need and cannot dispose of. A balanced
food is different for each person depending on one’s health condition and age,
and it is a separate subject on its own.
