Eat More Rice for Weight Loss and a Lean, Muscular Body?

Yes, I do intermittent fasting and one-meal-a-day (OMAD) now and then but it all depends on my weight loss goals. I don't want to get so thin and definitely do not want to miss out on vital nutrients from food. But once upon a time I was overweight and pot-bellied so I decided to do strict intermittent fasting and OMAD for almost 6 months. No rice for 2 months and half rice for the rest of the months. But did I do right getting rid of rice for 2 months?

Photo by Pille R. Priske on Unsplash.

When I got to my ideal weight, I started eating normally again, with some breaks. And I ate my usual servings of rice. Did I gain weight again because of the rice?

This is the basic in fitness and health, especially weight management: weight loss often has nothing to do with strict diets. You heard right. Strict diets have a certain role in weight management and health, but diets are not the overall and final answer--especially not by depriving yourself of rice forever. Walang forever sa no more rice. The real answer has everything to do with your body metabolism. That's the latest health finding you can count on. Continue working out and eating balanced, but do mind about how your body metabolism works so you can burn more calories and body fat effectively without dieting eventually.

METABOLIC STRETCHING

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My metabolism may be different from yours. And yours may be different from your spouse's or friend's and even from a family member. You may have gotten yours from your family line who mostly were overweight. If this is the case, is there a way out? There definitely is. You can burn more calories effectively without dieting by simply dealing properly with your metabolism.

Well, metabolism has to do with food, but not strict dieting. There are certain foods and eating habits that increase body metabolism for weight loss. And there are specific workouts for the same. You need to do them with the guidance of a good weight loss coach--or you may do it with simple common sense and lots of good research. 

For one, you need to take healthy breakfasts daily to improve your metabolism. In my case, taking taho or soy curds 3 times a week trims my body and improves my muscles. Soy bean curd milk gives you enough protein with less to zero fat. Just choose non-GMO soy beans or tofu. And you need protein for building lean muscles because lean muscles help increase your metabolism. 

That protein intake from taho (less to zero sugar syrup) makes me active all day, able to do fast and short workouts now and then through the day aside from my real workout time. You need to keep moving to increase your metabolism. No, I don't mean you do full workouts the whole day daily. Just keep moving--never stay idle except to rest and sleep. Walk here and there, run a little from time to time, climb up stairs or do squats. Get a push-up or pull-up "break" from work. Or do some isometrics right from your desk. I always have my handy steal bending bar around and dumbbells for my writing breaks, being a blogger and web content writer. 

Active Metabolism

As mentioned the key to weight loss and especially visceral fat (fat inside your body and around organs not visible to the eyes) is an active body metabolism. Some people have way too slow metabolism and gain weight and pot bellies fast. Some look slim but have pot bellies. These are all unhealthy body conditions. The key is fast metabolism. Click here to learn about metabolism boost.

How do you quicken your metabolism? Here are some Choy's Cuts tips:

1. As mentioned, keep moving through the day. Do major workouts 3 to4 times a week,  45 minutes each, but keep active everyday. I walk, skip, jump, do some squats and push-ups during my writing breaks. You may do your own breaks. I also did this when I was a sales account manager in an advertising company. We had a conference room that was vacant most times of the day, and I did my push-ups and high kicks there.
   
   
2. Eat lean meats like chicken and fish. Beef and pork are also good but eat less of them as much as possible. Eggs are good as well as protein rich veggies like string beans, monggo and sprouted monggo, and mushrooms. Asparagus and broccoli are said to be high in protein as well as lentils and almonds. 
   
   
3. Avoid too much carbs and sugar. Sugar and other sweeteners (except stevia and coco sugar) are your number one enemy, as well as carb-rich food, especially those made of flour and starch. Eat as little of rice, bread and pastry. But don't starve yourself. My rule is, eat everything in right, healthy and balanced proportions. 
   
   
4. Eat animal fat. This may be a surprise to some, but animal fat is good, especially fat from animals fed with natural food. Animal fat is not what fattens you or clogs your veins and arteries. But, as in all cases, eat in moderation. Don't eat a lot of fat, in the same way you shouldn't eat a lot of protein-rich food. You know what really clogs the vascular system? Sugar and carbs. This is why diabetic people are most likely suffering from high blood pressure too, and vice versa. 
   
   
5. Always work with your medical heart doctor or internal medicine doctor who really knows nutrition and naturopathy as well. This is the safest way to make your metabolic system work faster. 

Rice Eaters in Farms

During visits to the farm and the rice fields, I notice how farm workers, especially those who work manually in rice fields, possess lean but muscular bodies, and seem so energetic. And this, even if they eat lots of rice and rice-derived foods. Why is this? Because they remain active the whole day, everyday. They walk long distances almost through the day, carry heavy loads, hack away with their sickle and machete knives, and fetch water, among other things. 

The same with construction workers. They eat a lot of rice but remain lean and muscular, especially those in masonry, mixing concrete manually, carrying loads and digging or shifting debris and spading through the day. You have to try construction work like I have to realize how the body burns fat by staying active. 

Often, metabolism is not controlling or restricting food or carbs intake but physical activity, although this helps a lot. But mainly, effective metabolism depends on how active your lifestyle is. Limited physical activity definitely often won't help even if you have the strictest diet in the world.

Regular exercise does, in fact, boost your resting metabolic rate. This means your body will become more efficient at burning calories and using those extra calories for energy to keep you going. Source

Being sedentary may lead to a significant decrease in the number of calories you burn every day. Notably, many people have lifestyles that mainly involve sitting at work, which can have negative effects on metabolic rate and overall health. Source

Basal Metabolism

With a lean, muscular body, you burn fats even while at rest or sleeping. It's called basal metabolism. This is why aiming for a lean and muscular body is so important. Imagine a continuous fat burning all day long. No wonder some people never get fat even if the eat more carbs. Their lean, muscular bodies see to it that fat are burned whether in activity or at rest. Mayo Clinic says in an article:

"Even at rest, a body needs energy for all it does. This includes breathing, sending blood through the body, keeping hormone levels even, and growing and repairing cells. The number of calories a body at rest uses to do these things is known as basal metabolic rate, also called basal metabolism.

"Muscle mass is the main factor in basal metabolic rate. Basal metabolic rate also depends on: 

• Body size and composition. People who are larger or have more muscle burn more calories, even at rest.
• Sex. Men usually have less body fat and more muscle than do women of the same age and weight. That means men burn more calories.
• Age. With aging, people tend to lose muscle. More of the body's weight is from fat, which slows calorie burning." Source

Lean but Not Muscular

Have you noticed folks who are lean but are still lacking muscularity? They observe a strict diet, do aerobics (running, walking, jumping jacks, skipping rope, etc.) but don't develop lean muscles. Remember, for metabolism to get fired up, lean muscles are important. Diets and aerobics are not enough. You need weight bearing workouts or resistance training--exercises that will challenge your muscle strength. Then your metabolism works for you.

You need to lift weights. The best I can recommend is push-ups. But not a one set, 10 or 20 repetitions kind of push-up. That won't do. You need to do 4 sets of at least 30 repetitions each. I do 3 to 4 sets of 50 each regularly, aside from my weight training. Consider lifting weights, too, like barbells and dumbbells for both arms and legs. Lifting weights in high repetitions can develop lean, muscular muscles that trigger basal metabolism.

Health and balanced diets are important for weight management, but on top of everything, we have to consider our body metabolism.