Basic Theory for Diet Success - Exercise

The first goal for beginners should be to gradually reach 10,000 steps on a pedometer a day. Once you reach this goal, you should include 20-30 minutes of fast walking. For the first 5 minutes, you should walk at your usual pace as a warm-up. Then, you up your pace until the last 5 minutes where you slow down again for a cool down.

If you continue walking at a speed of 80-100 meters a minute (88-109 yards) for 20 minutes, you will burn about 80kcal which is about the same as one egg. If you do the same for 40 minutes, you will consume the energy equivalent to one onigiri (rice ball).

It is import to exercise, but please note that it is difficult to reduce weight by exercise alone. Dieting should be done by:

1. Reducing intake of food
2. Exercies
3. Improving your lifestyle

It is necessary for you to find a reasonable method of walking, one where you don't push yourself too hard but is a bit of a challenge. You should form your own walking method and make it part of your lifestyle. Moreover, if you can keep to about 1500-1800 kcal a day, you can assume your diet is successful.


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Criticisms of BMI

BMI is the most commonly used index to measure obesity throughout the world. It is measured by:

70-80% of those who are regarded as overweight using BMI do in fact have a lot of inner fat, and those are obese.

20-30% of those regarded as overweight using BMI actually are quite muscular, known as “katabutori” in Japanese. This is a common case for athletes.

A few years ago, Naoya Ogawa, an Olympic silver medalist as well as a Japan Diet Academy graduate, came to the Japan Diet Academy asking, “Why do I have such a high BMI even though I’ve reduced my weight? I know I’m not obese even though my BMI is 30. Why does this happen?”

He was sent to have a CT scan and discovered that his inner fat was actually 38cm². His height is 193cm (6ft 4in) and weight is 115kg (254lb), but he is not obese, he is a katabutori.

On the other hand, there are people with a low BMI who are obese. It is commonly referred to as “hidden obesity.” About 10% of those with a BMI in the normal range or lower have hidden obesity. Most of the time this occurs among young women who tried dieting, even though they had no need to, and repeated a cycle of rebound weight, or “weight cycling.” Others are middle men who are mostly skinny except for being chubby around the abdomen.

Obesity caused by high abdominal fat, referred to as “apple shaped obesity” in the last post, is a major factor to lifestyle diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, referred to as the “deadly quartet.”

Apple Shaped vs Pear Shaped Obesity

Obesity is divided into two types based on where fat is accumulated. One form is called apple shaped obesity, also known as “beer belly” in both English and Japanese, which is seen on those who build up fat around the abdomen. Men are more likely to develop this form of obesity.

The other form of obesity is called pear shaped obesity, which is when fat accumulates in the lower part of the body, such as the thighs and hips. This form of obesity is more common in women, especially adolescent girls. Mainly this form of fat is due to the natural shape of a woman’s body, within the subcutaneous layer, and it is not recommended to completely reduce this fat. Many women who reach menopause will also develop apple shaped obesity. In Japan, this is known as “sandanbara” or “three layered stomach.”

For your reference, here is a list, in order, of people at risk for obesity.

1. Women in their 50’s
2. Women in their 60’s
3. Men above 30

In addition, there are approximately 1.5 million obese men and 2 million obese women in Japan. In the US, there are approximately 51 million obese men and 54 million obese women.

The Definition of Obesity

The real meaning of obesity is less to do with weight and more to do with having a high body fat percentage. The largest component of our body is water, which is about 50-60% of our body's composition; 8-10% of which is blood. The second largest component is fat, which is about 15-20% for men and 20-30% for women. The rest of our body is composed of proteins and minerals which are found in our bones and muscles as well as saccharides, or sugars.


Our bones are mainly composed of protein and calcium, however the total weight of bones is relatively light and only amounts to about 5% of our total body weight. We gain weight either by an increase in water or an increase in fat. When our body has too much water it is known as edema. When it has too much fat, it is known as obesity.

The Importance of Keeping a Journal When Dieting

When we write down what we do each day, we will know:

1. How many empty foods we are eating
2. How much we are not exercising

The merits of writing down our daily activities are the following:

1. Knowing how much excess food we eat subconsciously
2. Knowing how well or poorly we balance our nutrition
3. Knowing which of our habits are leading us to weight gain
4. Knowing the relations between out eating habits and lifestyle
5. Knowing our personal balance between calorie consumption and calorie intake
6. Preventing overeating

Regardless, gaining weight is caused by excessive calorie intake. Do you know how many calories you can get from soft drinks, juices, alcohol, cakes and sweets? Do you know how many calories exceed your daily limit?
It is said that when we have the craving to eat something but are not really hungry, the feeling will subside in 5 minutes. Also, we sometimes feel hungry when we are actually thirsty. When you feel this craving, it is best to drink a small amount of water or tea then wait 5 minutes to see if this feeling subsides.

The Relation of Adipocytes and Obesity

When comparing the effects the same dieting method has on different people, some people will get results while others don’t. This is related to our adipocytes, or fat cells, which are a main factor in obesity. When looking at adipocytes through a microscope, we see three different ways they can contribute to weight gain.

1. There are an increased number of cells.
2. Each cell increases in size but the number of cells stays the same.
3. Both the number of cells and size of each cell increases.

It is said that the number of cells increase during the fetal period, infancy and adolescence. Once the number of cells increases, they cannot change after reaching adulthood. This is why those who were overweight as children are more susceptible to regaining that weight even after becoming skinny. It is clear that since they have a large number of large fat cells, they have a harder time losing weight. This is why it is so important to prevent childhood obesity.

Lawsuits Against Fast Food

There was an incident last year where a labor court Brazil accepted a lawsuit from a worker in McDonald’s who claimed that he gained 12kg (26.5lb)because the company forced him to eat hamburgers. The company was required to pay him 30,000 BRL ($17,500 USD) in compensation.

A similar lawsuit occurred in the US as well. A group of teenagers sued McDonald’s claiming that their skillful PR encouraged continuous eating of their burgers, which encourages obesity in the US. The suit was not accepted however the result was easier access to nutritional information such as calorie amounts on fast food menus as well as some improvements to the menu.

The responsibility of the fast food industry in causing obesity is handled differently in each of these circumstances. Although we have been aware for a long time that fast food is not generally healthy, these lawsuits help us to increase our awareness and should encourage us to better inform ourselves on how to eat more healthily.