Obesity is an epidemic disease worldwide. These two term disease and epidemic was never related to obesity earlier. WHO formally accepted the fact in 1997. 11 years passed but the uptrend is continuing.
Health Risks Of Obesity:
The list is really long. Obesity affects every aspects of the body and is one of the major cause of premature death. Here is the list of few conditions related to obesity:
Health Risks Of Obesity:
The list is really long. Obesity affects every aspects of the body and is one of the major cause of premature death. Here is the list of few conditions related to obesity:
- Low self esteem
- Depression
- Diabetes and its consequences
- Hyperlipidimia (Raised cholesterol and triglycerides) with their complications.
- Hypertension and related consequences.
- Gall stones.
- Cancers particularly breast, endometrium, colon
- Poly cystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD)
- Infertility
- Low back pain
- Sleep apnoea
- Skin problems
let us consider What is weight?
Our body is made up of bones, muscles, fat and water. The lean body mass is the weight of us without the fat and it should be constitute 80 to 85% of our total weight. That means if we want to shed weight we have to shed fat and not the lean body mass.
The two areas where fat tend to accumulate initially are abdomen ( pot belly) in men and around hip, buttocks and thighs of women. The abdominal fat increases the risk of diabetes and hypertension significantly. men can lose weight easily than women; on the other hand they are at greater trouble due to the location of the fat!
How to obtain healthy weight?
Please don't go for any advertised gimmicks - the logic is simple! If your earning is more than you spend your bank balance will grow! so is your fat. There are no other way to obtain healthy weight except healthy diet and regular exercise.
Here are some clues:
Our body is made up of bones, muscles, fat and water. The lean body mass is the weight of us without the fat and it should be constitute 80 to 85% of our total weight. That means if we want to shed weight we have to shed fat and not the lean body mass.
The two areas where fat tend to accumulate initially are abdomen ( pot belly) in men and around hip, buttocks and thighs of women. The abdominal fat increases the risk of diabetes and hypertension significantly. men can lose weight easily than women; on the other hand they are at greater trouble due to the location of the fat!
How to obtain healthy weight?
Please don't go for any advertised gimmicks - the logic is simple! If your earning is more than you spend your bank balance will grow! so is your fat. There are no other way to obtain healthy weight except healthy diet and regular exercise.
Here are some clues:
- Eat consciously and know what you are eating. Always take food which has some nutritional value in addition to the energy you need. For example avoid simple carbohydrates and rely on the complex one.
- Plan low calorie diet ( 1000 - 1500 Kcal) and the diet should be high in proteins, fibres and low in fat.
- Have regularity in food intake. regular meals keep your blood sugar steady. So you will feel less hungry and less craved for food.
- Please don't skip your meals. Your next meal will tend to store as fat if you do so. Never skip breakfast, which I have seen most of the people do! Eat accordingly as you are spending energy. We spend most of our work before lunch, so breakfast must be heavy and with ample protein. Dinner should be lighter on the other hand. Mostly people do the reverse!
- Try eating five servings of fruits and vegetables daily. They will provide you minerals, fibres, vitamins and phytonutrients.
- Protein should be adequate in your daily food. The requirement of protein for normal individual is 1 gm/ Kg of body weight. In pregnancy, lactation and in children it is 1.5 gm / Kg. Animal source contain on an average 20 - 25% protein of their weight. For example from 100 gm of fish you will get 20 - 25 gm of protein. Give preference to fish over other source while choosing animal source. Soya and grains are excellent source. Soya is the richest source of vegetable protein. I will write about soya in a separate post.
- While choosing dairy products , choose low fat varieties like skimmed milk, yogurt.
- Choose snacks carefully, while you feel hungry between meals. Rely on dry fruits, nuts, salads than chips, burgers, and pastries.
- Reduce the intake of stimulating foods and drinks like chocolate, tea, coffee and alcohol. They stimulate insulin secretion and insulin deposit fat.
- Alcohol in moderation is healthy. Please stress on the word moderation. Red wine is best. Excess alcohol intake on the other hand is one of the major cause of obesity.
- Aerobic exercise at least 5 days a week is essential. Walk briskly, jog, run, swim do whatever you prefer but do it regularly. Lifting weight and gym will help you to increase the muscle mass and thereby your lean body mass will increase.
- Take a multivitamin daily, the cheapest health insurance.
Lastly, one must realize that, there is no shortcut in the process of losing weight. It has to be done gradually. Crash dieting should never be tried, as it may cause other grave complications.
The factors, which will help you to reduce your fat / weight are motivation, perseverance, commitment. You have to control your mind first to control your body.
No comments:
Post a Comment