It's not weight loss we are after. When it comes to getting a sexy body, it's all about ratios!
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ARTICLE VERSION
A few days ago a friend asked me to do a video/article on weight loss for a sexy body. So I did plenty of research and looked at various methods I’ve used myself to find the best ways to lose weight, build lean muscle and ultimately have the sexy body most of us have been looking for all our lives. Instead of just prescribing rigid diet, I’ve looked into the science of a few simple strategies that doesn’t involve too many crazy regimes, and at the same time, can create impressive results.
Now this might be a big claim (and it is!) but I’ve distilled the art of losing weight to some key principles
Firstly, it’s not really about losing weight, it’s more about your body’s composition and distribution of fat and muscle more than anything (not bone since we can’t readily change it). I mean you can eat healthy and exercise like a nut case and still put on weight, simply because muscle is denser and heavier than fat. So ditch your scales, your measurement of success is not weight but ratios.
Maths is Sexy
When it comes to being sexy, it’s all about the ratios! Why?
As usual, we can find the answer in nature, more specifically evolution. So in the case of women, having a lower waist to hip ratio is indicative of fertility, health and hence attractiveness. In fact, the ideal hip to waist ratio is 0.7, and is regardless of size.
What’s interesting is, the women society deems as attractive, such as every single Miss Universe pageant winner, and celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Elle Macpherson, Jessica Alba and Megan Fox all have a waist to hip ratio in the range of 0.69-0.72!
I mean it isn’t just coincidence, but actually nature’s way of making sure of producing the strongest offspring. Since lower ratios in women are correlated with higher levels of estradiol (primary oestrogen) meaning birth complications and higher fertility rates, in addition, lower visceral abdominal fat means less chances of developing chronic diseases, such as heart disease, and diabetes – All important characteristics for child bearing, hence the term child bearing hips.
Now, nature has to be fair so has given men a ratio of their own to adhere to. For men, sexiness means having a waist to shoulder ratio of around 0.6. So men with wider shoulders and chest are deemed to be more sexy and ideal when it comes to attracting a mate, partly because wider shoulders and larger chest signal greater physical prowess and dominance.
In most cases, it is about reducing fat composition, especially around the waist, and building muscles (the upper body for men, and lower body for women).
The Golden Ratio of Health
Like every life-hack or regime for optimal health, it involves fine-tuning the three fundamental levers or drivers of health. (Yes, of course there are other levers, such as surgery, or taking drugs, but let’s look at less invasive and more natural ways before we get too crazy!)
- Diet
- Exercise
- Rest
Now when it comes to weight loss, the 80:20 ratio is most commonly cited, meaning 80% of weight loss comes from diet and 20% comes from exercise. Let me introduce to you what I think is a more reasonable ratio (based my own research and experience) and more reflective of our actual health and wellbeing.
Diet: 60, Rest: 30, Exercise: 10
Now, since this is a very large topic, I will split this article into 3, and focus on one lever at a time.
Let’s look at Diet and how we can optimize diet to obtain that sexy body we’ve been longing for!
Diet
I’m not going to prescribe any particular diets as I’m sure there are plenty of diets out there that can give you a set protocol to follow, i.e. Atkins (Low-Carb), Paleo, Mediterranean diet etc. Instead, I’m always an advocate of giving proven strategies that are based on science, and I found particularly simple and effective. Your job is to find what works for you.
Where necessary I will explain the science behind it, other than that keep an open mind and just know that I have your best interests at heart!
Eat More Healthy Fats
That’s right, it’s not a typo. Our bodies are designed to look for and store fat, from evolutionary point of view, it is the fuel that maintained our survival, that’s why it’s so efficient at converting and storing it. Now the reason for this seemingly confusing paradox is this, if there is an abundance of fat, you signal to your body that there is no need to store it. Conversely, if you are consuming predominantly carbohydrates, the body will quickly convert it to fat, because it believes there is a scarcity of it. So by simply consuming more healthy fats, your body will adapt by burning it as fuel rather than storing it
This is the basis of the popular Atkin’s, Mediterranean and Ketogenic diet, whereby a large proportion (70% +) of your calories come from healthy fats.
The results are well documented, that high fat diets promote weight loss whilst improving a range of health conditions such as reducing inflammation, lowering cholesterol, improving insulin sensitivity and improve cardiovascular health. Not only that, it helps to improve metabolism, energy and mood.
Now this may sound like a miracle reason to gorge on all the fatty foods you can get your hands on, however, the key here is to distinguish between healthy fats and unhealthy fats.
Generally speaking, the only fat you need to avoid is Trans fats (or trans-unsaturated fats) - those fats that are hydrogenated to the point that they become “solidified”. Now, Saturated fats have been demonized in the last few decades as being the causing health problems such as heart attacks, however, in the recent years there is a lot of research to refute those claims.
All other fats, such as monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats (especially omega 3s) are quite safe and in most cases beneficial. Here are some healthy fat sources you can use as a guide, however, I must warn that I’m not a medical professional so always take care when implementing any dietary changes especially if you have a pre-existing medical condition.
Some examples of healthy fat sources are: Salmon, avocado, olive oil, nuts, flaxseeds, chia seeds, dark chocolate etc.
Eat More Protein
High protein foods have an effect on your satiety levels, which means you end up eating less. Not only that the Thermo Effect of Food (the energy required to process food) is higher in protein than fat or carbohydrates. Which essentially means, eating more protein increases your metabolism.
The more obvious effect of consuming more protein is the maintenance and growth of lean muscle mass (with the benefit of fat loss).
So look for foods that have higher protein content. Some examples of healthy protein sources are: eggs, beans, lentils, dairy, poultry, seafood, tofu
Aim for 0.8-1 g per pound of body weight to build and maintain lean muscle mass. A good strategy that is highly effective in increasing fat loss and promoting lean muscle mass, is to consume a high protein breakfast. This helps with satiety and kick starts your metabolism.
Eat More Nutritionally Dense Food
Another similar strategy is to consume foods that are less dense in calories. For instance, a small sized chocolate bar (40 grams) has 200 calories whereas 1.4 kilos of celery also has 200 calories! You would have to eat about 30 bars just to feel full with about 30 times the calories. Here is a comparison of various portions of foods with 200 calories
Examples of these are complex carbohydrates. And as the name suggests, they are complex which means they take longer to break down, with the added benefit of providing essential vitamins and minerals. Just think vegetables and fruits (more so veggies) and you will be fine, aim to have them in their whole form, i.e. unprocessed.
It’s just comes down to being smarter with your choices!
Eat More Fiber
Consuming more fiber has many benefits (such as improving cholesterol levels, reduce inflammation), however, with respect to weight loss, it increases satiety and slows the rate of absorption which means fats and sugars can be slowly absorbed rather than causing spikes in energy levels.
There are two types of fiber, insoluble and soluble. The one that is more effective in becoming sexy is soluble fiber, more specifically the viscous type (the ones that create a thick substance). Due to the viscosity, it lingers in your digestive tract for longer, meaning you feel full for longer, and more nutrients can be absorbed slowly. Aim to eat more soluble fibers such as:
Beans (legumes), flax seeds, asparagus, Brussels sprouts and oats.
Add (viscous) soluble fiber to your diet and you will feel fuller for longer!
Drink More Water/Green Tea
We all know why water is essential for life, but how does it help with being sexy? The answer: everything!
Drinking water (especially ice water) helps to increase resting energy expenditure, in other words boosts your metabolism. In one study, it was shown that by drinking just half a liter or 17oz of water, increased metabolism by 30%! It also reduces appetite by filling your stomach, reduces water retention, helps your organs and muscles function optimally. So aim to drink at least 1-2 glasses before every meal.
In addition, you can drink green tea which has been long known for having powerful benefits, in this case slimming.
Green tea has a host of bioactive substances such as, caffeine that stimulates fat burning by 17% as well as a chemical compound called EGCG (Epigallocatechin Gallate) which boosts your metabolism.
Intermittent Fasting
Now the last strategy for fat loss and lean muscle gain involves adjusting the time window which you consume your meals.
The basic idea of intermittent fasting is to exploit your body’s ability to burn fat during the so called “fasting” state, which typically happens around 8-12 hours after your last meal.
During the fasting state, your body starts to use your body’s fat supplies and converts it into energy. The beauty of intermittent fasting is that involves only scheduling your same meals into a small time frame, say from 12pm to 8pm, so you might miss out on having breakfast at its usual time, and push it later 4 hours to your usual lunch.
In the end, your body consumes the same calories however, due to being in the fasted state for an extended period of time, you can burn fat while still maintaining muscle mass!
For more information, you can check out my article on intermittent fasting and its powerful benefits.
Final Words
These are just some of the strategies I’ve researched and used myself to optimize my body composition. Sure, there are myriad of diets out there that claim to do wonder, in the end you’ve got to find what works for you. I’m not a medical professional and I’ve never claimed to be, my only aim is to provide you with what I find are the most powerful strategies to optimize your body composition.
So take your time and implement these strategies with a long-term perspective rather than expecting immediate results. Sculpting a sexy body takes time, energy and dedication, hopefully with these strategies you can achieve the ratio that makes all the difference.
Peace~
REFERENCES
- Hip to Waist Ratio: http://www.scienceofrelationships.com/home/2013/11/11/curves-ahead-the-science-of-female-waist-to-hip-ratio-and-at.html
- High Fat diets and Fat Loss: https://www.livescience.com/54984-high-fat-diet-weight.html
- Assessment of Waist-to-Hip Ratio Attractiveness in Women: An Anthropometric Analysis of Digital Silhouettes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4050298/
- Sexy Ratios: https://www2.psy.uq.edu.au/~uqbziets/Gallup2010%20The%20science%20of%20sex%20appeal%20-%20review.pdf
- Leptin Levels and Sleep: https://academic.oup.com/jcem/article-lookup/doi/10.1210/jc.2004-1003
- Protein, weight management, and satiety: http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/87/5/1558S.long
- High protein foods: https://authoritynutrition.com/20-delicious-high-protein-foods/
- Viscous Fibers: https://authoritynutrition.com/fiber-can-help-you-lose-weight/
- Green Tea and Fat Loss: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326618
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