Without sparking another god-awful "fad" diet, please allow me to share with you some dieting advice I received from neighbors in Japan lately. It's a rather old tactic, apparently fallen out of popular favor among women because it forces you to carry a larger bag or purse rather than a small, dainty one, but the "compensatory weight diet" apparently did work when it was at its peak in 2000-2001.
Not really a diet so much as a method of turning one's daily routine into advantageous exercise, it works like this:
When your body plateaus at a certain weight, your muscles and bones all become accustomed to supporting that weight, and without increasing your exercise, decreasing your caloric intake, or both, you will not lose any weight. By suddenly increasing your overall body weight artificially (ie, adding weights to yourself), your body will work naturally to return your overall weight to the plateau to which it is accustomed. For example, lets say you weigh 80kg. If you begin to habitually carry 5kg of excess weight in your backpack every day, your body will begin to naturally lower your body weight to 75kg to compensate.
Purchase small weights (or find some small, dense stones) that you can hide in your handbag, briefcase, backpack, etc. Some people even hide them in their clothing, but this, of course, only works with certain outfits. Go through your daily routine as you always do, taking the weighted bag with you. Be sure to use the stairs whenever possible, or walk from places that are less than 10 minutes away that you might otherwise take a car to. When you find yourself alone in an elevator or waiting room, exercise with your over-weighted bag by lifting it off the floor with both arms, or simply by standing with it in your arms or on your back.
The weights should be about 2kg to 10kg, such that you can function while carrying them, but not so heavy that they cause you pain, nor so light that you can ignore them. Results generally become visible after 3 weeks to a month of daily activity. This practice relies on you moving around a little more than a standard office job and keeping the weight on you at all times.
So, anyone want to try it? I used my laptop as a weight and took it back and forth to work with me every day for a year -- I lost 10kg. ^_^ Yay!
Not really a diet so much as a method of turning one's daily routine into advantageous exercise, it works like this:
When your body plateaus at a certain weight, your muscles and bones all become accustomed to supporting that weight, and without increasing your exercise, decreasing your caloric intake, or both, you will not lose any weight. By suddenly increasing your overall body weight artificially (ie, adding weights to yourself), your body will work naturally to return your overall weight to the plateau to which it is accustomed. For example, lets say you weigh 80kg. If you begin to habitually carry 5kg of excess weight in your backpack every day, your body will begin to naturally lower your body weight to 75kg to compensate.
Purchase small weights (or find some small, dense stones) that you can hide in your handbag, briefcase, backpack, etc. Some people even hide them in their clothing, but this, of course, only works with certain outfits. Go through your daily routine as you always do, taking the weighted bag with you. Be sure to use the stairs whenever possible, or walk from places that are less than 10 minutes away that you might otherwise take a car to. When you find yourself alone in an elevator or waiting room, exercise with your over-weighted bag by lifting it off the floor with both arms, or simply by standing with it in your arms or on your back.
The weights should be about 2kg to 10kg, such that you can function while carrying them, but not so heavy that they cause you pain, nor so light that you can ignore them. Results generally become visible after 3 weeks to a month of daily activity. This practice relies on you moving around a little more than a standard office job and keeping the weight on you at all times.
So, anyone want to try it? I used my laptop as a weight and took it back and forth to work with me every day for a year -- I lost 10kg. ^_^ Yay!
