Fitness is much more than what it is thought to be. The idea of looking big and muscular or slim and svelte does not necessarily mean being fit.
The ratio of muscle to fat in the body is a key indicator to fitness. Muscles or lean body mass are the most active tissues of the body and the proportion of muscles in the body determine your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
Some people are gifted with a high BMR and don’t put on much weight even though they eat a good amount of food. Yet there are others with inherently low BMR, who put on weight without eating much.
The higher the muscle – mass in the body the higher your BMR. In general, men have a higher BMR as compared to women as they have a higher proportion of muscle as compared to fat in their body. It is also very important to understand that the BMR declines with age.
So whether you want to lose weight or gain weight, here are some ways by which you can boost your BMR and overall fitness:
Move your body: Regular aerobic activity, or brisk walk for just 30 minutes, can elevate the BMR and also helps decrease the body fat content by increasing the amount of muscle tissue in the body. Persons who exercise regularly continue to burn more calories even at rest. Those who desire to gain weight should remember that weight gain needs to be in terms of muscle mass, rather than fat mass and can be achieved by consuming a high protein diet coupled with a regular exercise regime.
Say yes to protein rich foods: Building muscle mass and conserving it with age goes a long way to elevate BMR. In order to build muscle you need to eat adequate amount of protein at every meal every day because the body doesn’t store proteins the way it stores fats or carbohydrates. An average person needs 0.8 to 1 gm protein / kg body weight per day. Proteins are made up of building blocks called amino acids, which cannot be synthesised in the body and have to be obtained from the diet. These are known as Essential Amino Acids.
Dietary protein sources are labeled according to number of essential amino acids they provide. The proteins from meat, poultry, eggs, fish, shell fish, milk and milk products contain all the essential amino acids and are considered as complete protein sources while the proteins from pulses, legumes, dals, nuts, oilseeds and mushrooms are deficient in some of the essential amino acids and are considered as incomplete protein sources. When two or more incomplete sources of proteins are eaten together they complement each other as the lack of amino acids in one is made up by its presence in the other there by giving a complete protein.
Never go on a crash diet: Crash diets are low calorie diets that are supposed to achieve rapid weight loss. In the beginning these diets result in weight loss, but at the same time result in a decline in the BMR. The biggest drawback of crash diets is that once they are stopped there is a tendency to re -gain the weight that was lost even if you exercise. This happens on account of lowered BMR which causes the body to conserve energy rather than burn it through exercise. Crash diets are also deficient in proteins, vitamins and minerals and can lead to weakness, fatigue, loss of hair, sagging skin as well as health problems such as anemia.
Thus in order to be fighting fit, you need to eat sensibly rather than follow crash diets, control portion sizes, eat meals on time and be physically active and exercise regularly.
(The writer is a consultant nutritionist with 27 years of experience)
