ACHIEVING FITNESS WITH EXERCISING & DIETING
BY JENNIFER JIANG
How do you keep fit? Many people today are trying to
lose weight through dieting in order to either have a
better body appearance or general health status
through dieting. Dieting is the practice of eating in a
regulated manner in an effort to decrease body weight.
Since the human body encourages physical activities
to kick start or increase the metabolism and sustain a
long-term weight-loss, it is suggested by nutritionists
that people should combine exercising, preferably
aerobic ones, with diet plans. Similar to the masses,
many students and teachers at SLAS also began to take
on the challenge of losing weight after returning from
their holidays.
“I want to lose weight because I want to look better
physically. To do so, I planned to eat a variety of healthy
foods and exercise as much as I can everyday to lose
my body fat and grow muscles. My plan worked out
pretty well and I managed to lose a lot of weight in
Quarter one,” boasted Hongan Nan, a sophomore at
SLAS. Moreover, Hongan added, “It is important to have
a healthy diet plan because it is easier to follow than
the fad diet plans that just restrict your daily food
intake.”
However, dieting may not work in every occasion due
to several reasons. For some, healthy diet plans are still
difficult to continue as they have sudden cravings for
sugary delights and fast food during the process of
losing weight. Therefore, many turned to the popular
“80/20” diet, in which states that 80 percent of one’s
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diet should be healthy while the leftover 20 percent
can involve snacks and fast food. Nevertheless, people
who used this method soon began to realize that they
can never go back to their diet plans once they began
eating snacks and treats. Meanwhile, others may
experience the painful process of rebounding -
regaining the original or doubled the weight that they
lost - after they completed their diet plans.
Ms. Marta Saludes, the Spanish teacher at SLAS,
explained her experience of rebounding, “When I was
young a long time ago, I followed a diet plan that was
going really well because I lost five kilograms just in
one week. However, after I completed my diet plan, I
got doubled the weight I lost in a month.” In addition,
Ms. Marta suggested, “I think the best way to lose weight
is to engage in a long-term diet plan, in which you eat
less quantity of healthy food and practice about 30
minutes of cardiovascular exercises every day.”
Generally speaking, losing weight is hard, difficult to
kick off, and can have unintended consequences. Many
people tend to give up during their diet process owing
to the fact that they cannot control their cravings on a
daily basis. Nevertheless, people should keep in mind
that losing weight does not mean to only decrease the
intake of food, but also to exercise so as to strengthen
their physical body. In essence, it is best for us to
combine exercising with our diet plans to achieve a
wholesome, long-term weight-loss.