“Dear Lord, thank you for this meal you’ve blessed me with. Please bless the food but curse the fats”
– Anonymous church goer

Hi boys & girls! Yea I know I’ve been rather inactive on the blog due to other commitments (EXAMS – eww, the sheer mention of that word elicits dread in most). But that’s all about to change. I hope to see an improvement in the health/fitness of W406 (hopefully) by sharing my humble tips on the Science and Arts behind fitness, nutrition, health & disease.

In the write-ups, I’ll be clarifying doubts that you may have on health isues as well as shattering the myths & fables of the human body. Do feel free to ask me. Just as the word says: “Ask and you shall receive”, therefore, I’ll answer your questions (to the best of my ability) and give you whatever tips that might be beneficial to help you in whatever way possible.

This week I was asked the question on weight. Perhaps this serves as an excellent starting point for my post. So…what am I made of? Why does my weight seem to vary so very often? Have I *gasp* gained WEIGHT? Am I fat?!!!!

Ans: NO… and here’s why:

Firstly, let me state that we’re 60 – 70% WATER. You lose and gain weight each day mainly by how much water you take (or do not). As you breathe, perspire, urinate, and poop, about 2500 mL of water is LOST. Using the density of water is 1 g/mL ( this is physics ppl, Sorry I couldn’t resist, lol), that works out to be 2.5 KG. Of course this doesn’t happen... unless you don’t eat and drink that is…

As you can see, DRINKING lots of WATER (> 2000 mL) daily is good for you. However, I could eat something spicy or salty that makes me really thirsty. That translates to drinking more water (maybe 4000 mL?) and gaining more “weight”. Ta-tah…

However, not to neglect the important portion, it’s important to know if you’re really gaining FAT instead. Ok … back to basics: besides the 60-70% water, 10 – 25% of our bodies compose of fat (Oh, that dreadful word again)

This is more for ladies and less for guys (More on this,when i talk abt protein/muscle l8tr).

Second qn: How do I know if I’m fat? Do i use the weighing scale?? (btw “weight” is wrong, in physics we use “mass”)

Ans: WRONG. You use the MEASURING TAPE (at navel level) to see if you’ve gone “Fatter”. This is simply because fat is normally deposited at the abdominal area, a decrease in waist length means a loss in fat (the reverse is also true)! As fat is less dense (0.9 g/mL), a loss in fat may not correspond to the bathroom scale but with the tape.

So… do not be alarmed when you “suddenly” put on weight, as most of the time it could be just due to water (hopefully).

And there you have it people, the answers to 2 very simple qns on weight. Do keep the questions coming and feel free to approach me, should you still be in doubt after reading the blog post.

To end off, i just want to wish everyone a happy and healthy life in the Lord!

- EW
W406 Fitness IC

Ps: I will be covering on these topics like: How to lose/gain weight properly? , Fad diets – do they work? , Why build muscle? , Vitamins? what’s all this nonsense?? So stay tuned people, lol

References:

1. Schiff, W., J. 2009. Nutrition for Healthy Living - International Edition. USA: McGraw Hill 2009.
2. Halfwaytoconcord.com [accessed on 24th Feb 2009]
3. picasaweb.google.com/.../ -gksPUdNcp3rJzKYIlpIFQ [accessed on 24th Feb 2009]
4. http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/water/?section=lifeinwater&page=lifeinwater_h [accessed on 24th Feb 2009]
5. http://www.superstock.com/stock-photos-images/1738R-2871 [accessed on 24th Feb 2009]