If the articles and news reports about the dangers of obesity abound, the number of advertisements for weight loss plans, pills, books and diets easily outnumber them. Everyone has the secret to weight loss, and yet very few people are able to lose weight over the long term and keep it off. It is hard to know what to believe about losing weight because of the confusing and, sometimes, contradictory messages, and the equally confusing and contradictory weight loss plans. Some of the diets seem downright ridiculous, and, even if they help you lose weight, are they good for you?
A healthy diet is as important, if not more important, than losing those extra pounds. Adding to the confusion of dieting and healthy weight loss, the medical profession seems to report daily the benefits or adverse effects of different foods. The most important thing to remember as you begin any weight loss plan is that there is no quick fix or magic pill that will help you lose your extra pounds and keep them off. The most successful weight loss plans combine healthy eating, balanced nutrition and regular exercise to help you lose weight. Additionally, successful weight loss over the long term should include making some changes in the way you think about food. Changing your mental habits is just as important as changing your physical ones. Otherwise, when your diet ends, you will probably gain back the extra weight.
How do I know if I am overweight? What is the difference between being overweight and being obese?
Where weight is concerned, numbers will never tell the whole story, so it is crucial to take many factors into consideration. Important indicators include:
* BMI (body mass index)
* bone structure
* muscle mass
* physical fitness level
* body shape
* gender
Being overweight means that you are over your recommended weight, but doesn't necessarily mean you have too much body fat. Doctors consider a person obese when they have an excessively high proportion of body fat. To make this determination, doctors use a calculation called body mass index (BMI). BMI measures your body fat based on height and weight. A normal BMI for men and women is between 18.5 and 24.9. Generally, a BMI under 18.5 is underweight, over 25 is overweight and over 30 is considered obese, although there are exceptions to these guidelines. Specifically, a person might have a higher than normal BMI if they are small in stature but very muscular, or an elderly person might have a normal BMI, but be considered frail or underweight. The BMI calculator on the National Institutes of Health website can help you calculate your BMI.
The other factors are harder to measure because they are somewhat subjective, but it is important to consider your overall health and lifestyle when thinking about weight. Oftentimes, a person without any muscle will weigh less than a person who is muscular and strong. In this case, the person who weighs more isn't necessarily in need of a diet, and the person who weighs less might benefit from eating better, regular exercise and strength training. Similarly, women who commit to a regular diet and exercise program may lose inches more quickly than they lose weight. Paying attention to how your clothes fit and how you feel may be as important as watching the scale.
Why is the mental component of healthy weight loss so important to success?
Often, people find themselves in a perpetual diet cycle, always thinking they have a few pounds to lose, or yo-yo dieting – losing weight and then gaining it right back, only to start dieting again. Being smart and sensible about the way you view your body and the way you approach diet and exercise will help you feel more satisfied about the weight you lose and help you keep up your healthy habits for the long term.
Frequently, the mental habits which affect weight are more difficult to manage than the physical habits. Taking the time to think about your body image and how it relates to your feelings of self worth and self confidence might help you realize why you are unable to diet successfully. If so, an additional component of your new diet and exercise plan needs to be recognizing that your worth as a person is not a reflection of how you look. Of course, it is important to feel good about the way you look and feel, but realize that your value to your friends, family and, most importantly, yourself, has to do with things other than your weight.
For many people, eating directly relates to emotional ups and downs. Some people overeat because they are lonely or depressed. Others view eating as a reward for a job well done or a hard day at work. If you are using food to satisfy emotional needs, addressing those needs directly should help you with your diet. For people who are eating because they are lonely or bored, joining a class or taking up a hobby is a good first step to making new friends and finding a new way to fill your time. If your eating habits are linked to how you are feeling, it is going to be hard to gain control over your eating if you can't separate it from the stress and tension in your life.
The mental and emotional fixes to overeating are not usually easy, but well worth working on because they will pay off over the long term. Several books address some of the emotional challenges which might be hampering your weight loss efforts. Additionally, a weight loss counselor, or a weight loss support group (found on the internet at Weight Watchers or eDiets) can help you examine some of your mental roadblocks and help you change your habits.
How does diet play an important role in living a healthy life?
A healthy diet can do more than just provide sustenance and fuel for everyday life. Done right, a healthy diet helps you:
* Meet your nutritional needs - A varied, balanced diet provides the nutrients you need to avoid nutritional deficiencies. Non-nutrients, such as fiber, also are a part of your nutritional needs.
* Prevent and treat certain diseases - Your diet can prevent the risk of developing certain diseases such as cancer and heart disease. It is also helpful in treating diabetes and high blood pressure. Following a special diet can reduce symptoms and may help you better manage a disease.
* Enjoy life - Food is an important part of social and cultural events. Not only does it provide nutrition, but it can facilitate connections between people. Cooking fresh, healthy meals can also be an enjoyable way to spend time, either on your own or with others.
* Feel energetic and manage your weight - A healthy diet may also make you feel better, provide you with more energy, and help you fight stress.
What type of diet promotes healthy weight loss?
Although there is much disagreement about what kinds of calories are better, the most sensible and healthy way to diet is to eat a variety of healthy foods and exercise regularly. Another good rule of thumb for healthy eating and healthy dieting is to eat foods as close to the way they come as possible. Generally, the more heavily processed a food is the less nutritional value it provides. Processed foods also tend to contain more preservatives, salt, saturated fat and sugar, which may hinder your weight loss efforts.
An important note about calories: often people say that losing one pound is as simple as cutting 3,500 calories from your diet. While it is true that it does take a reduction of 3,500 calories to lose one pound, it is important to remember that your body changes with age. As you get older, you will need less calories so you may gain weight even though you consume the same or fewer calories as you did a year or two ago.
Being realistic about how age, gender and body type affect your ability to lose weight is essential. Women tend to gain weight after going through menopause. Faced with unrealistic ideas about their bodies, many women diet excessively or find it so hard to lose the weight that they just give up (for more information about weight gain and menopause see Menopause Matters). Recognizing that your body goes through different stages and that it may not always be exactly the same will help you set realistic weight loss goals and focus on healthy living rather than chronic dieting. The most healthy and balanced way to approach weight loss is to focus on health, variety and moderation. If you adopt eating, exercise and lifestyle habits that contribute to good health, you should be successful in your goal to look your best.
When thinking about your diet, five principles should guide you:
* Good Health – Eating and lifestyle changes focused on healthy living should help guide your weight loss choices. Be conscious about making food choices that are good for your body. Your diet can prevent disease, increase your energy level and improve your waist line at the same time.
* Exercise/Activity – Although exercise is not ingested, it is vital to losing weight and should be inextricably linked to your diet plan. Healthy eating and regular activity go hand in hand in promoting sensible weight loss and long term weight maintenance.
* Balance – It is important to eat many different types of food from different food groups. Eating all protein may aid weight loss for the short term, but it is questionable whether you can keep it up and if you do, your body is missing out on the benefits from fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates. Make a commitment to long term health and weight maintenance by having a balanced diet.
* Variety – Eating a variety of food within each food group (for example, eating different fruits from the fruit group instead of eating just apples) will make your diet more interesting and healthier. A varied diet helps you get all the nutrients you need, since no single food provides every nutrient. Eating a wide variety of foods will also help you avoid eating too much of any substance that may be harmful, and most importantly, it will keep you from getting bored.
* Moderation – Eat a little bit of everything but avoid excess. There are no good foods or bad foods; all foods can fit in a healthy diet if you eat them in moderation.
Is exercise imperative for healthy weight loss?
Exercise is crucial for long term healthy weight loss. Regular cardiovascular workouts such as running, walking, stair climbing, and dancing burn calories, increase circulation, improve heart health, and increase endurance. Cardiovascular exercise has been called the best insurance policy in the world.
Strength building exercises are also important because muscle burns more calories than fat, so increasing your muscle helps you with weight control. Strength training also promotes healthy bones. Keeping your body active is the main goal. Don't worry if you have to start slow – every little bit counts.
What kind of exercise can I do to encourage healthy weight loss?
Spending time being active instead of watching television or being on the computer can help promote healthy weight loss. Doing thirty minutes of activity a day is helpful in losing or maintaining weight. Even if the thirty minutes is cut down into ten minute intervals, as long as the workout time adds up to thirty minutes a day, it is very helpful. Some ways to be active include:
* take the stairs instead of the elevator
* join a gym or workout program (like Curves)
* purchase and do tapes such as yoga, pilates, aerobics, dance, or Tae Bo
* walk to the store
* hire a personal trainer (most gyms can help you find one)
All kinds of exercise will contribute to healthy weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. Finding activities that you love to do will ensure that are consistently active and that you can keep it up over the long term. Exercise can be social too – there are team sports you can do, you can play golf with your friends or you can join an exercise class – dance, yoga, martial arts, etc. If you dread going to the gym, don't do it. There are thousands of ways to exercise – find something you enjoy and practice, practice, practice. Make it fun and it will become part of your everyday routine.
How can other people help me with my weight loss?
Dieting successfully might also be easier with support from friends, family or other dieters. Many people find the encouragement and accountability that other people provide vital to their weight loss efforts. Sharing your challenges and small successes can help keep you on the right path. Again, a weight loss counselor, or a weight loss support group (Weight Watchers, eDiets.com or your own dieting group) might provide the outside encouragement and support you need. If you know others who are facing similar challenges, it might be worthwhile to team up, exercise together, and help each other along.
Why should overweight people worry about weight loss?
Being overweight or obese obviously poses many lifestyle challenges. Everyday activities like walking up a flight of stairs or fitting into a movie theatre seat can be difficult. Additionally, too much extra weight can cause sleep problems and respiratory difficulties. Socially, your weight might be preventing you from enjoying hobbies and activities you like, or from being more actively involved with friends and family. As this is often the case, the extra weight, although a physical challenge, creates mental and emotional problems as well. If you are significantly overweight, you can greatly increase your quality of life by reducing your weight and adopting healthier habits.
Being obese or overweight can cause significant health problems as well, including an increased risk for many diseases. Health conditions related to weight include:
* High Blood Pressure (hypertension) – Overweight people are 2 to 3 times more likely to be at risk for high blood pressure than those who maintain a healthy weight.
* Cardiovascular Disease (including coronary artery disease and stroke) – Overweight women have twice the risk of heart disease than women who maintain a healthy weight. Overweight men have one and a half times the risk.
* Type 2 Diabetes – Overweight men have four times the risk of diabetes than men who maintain a healthy weight. Overweight women have eight times the risk of diabetes than women who maintain a healthy weight.
* Gallbladder Disease (gallstones) – Overweight people are two to three times greater at risk for Gallbladder disease than those who maintain a healthy weight.
* Osteoarthritis
* Sleep Apnea and respiratory problems
* Cancers – Such as cancer of the colon, breast, prostrate, uterus, cervix, ovary, gallbladder
* Abnormal menstrual cycles and infertility – Overweight women have a greater chance of suffering these conditions
Do popular diets like the Zone diet or Atkins diet support healthy weight loss?
Not necessarily. Most diets target fat, carbohydrates, and protein or particular types of food. These diets often ask dieters to eat more, less, or completely avoid one kind of food. This can be dangerous for people because oftentimes, the diets ask dieters to avoid foods that are important to a well-balanced diet.
Healthy weight loss happens slowly and steadily. Unless you are morbidly obese, no more than one to two pounds a week should be lost in order to keep your weight loss healthy. Many diets advertise rapid weight loss which can cause you to lose muscle rather than fat and increase your chances of developing problems such as gallstones and gout.
What are some of the popular diets? How do they measure up?
* Zone Diet - The Zone diet encourages a 30% protein, 30% fat, and 40% carbohydrate diet. The success of this diet depends on eating that combination of foods at every meal – including the two snacks per day. Because it is a fairly new diet and nobody has followed it very long, it is difficult to detect dangerous effects. However, the consumption of higher amounts of protein that are currently considered healthy could result in accelerated bone loss and kidney damage. But again, there are no proven detrimental effects because there is no long term information on the diet.
* Atkins Diet - This diet recommends that you take in 50-55% of your total calories from fat, 30-40% of your calories from protein, and 5-15% of your calories from carbohydrates. Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and oils are all permitted. The concern with this diet is possible vitamin and mineral deficiencies, since the diet is low in fruits and vegetables (carbohydrates). Due to the high degree of fat intake, there is risk in developing high blood fat levels, heart disease, and certain types of cancers. The diet is also very low in fiber which makes constipation an issue, as well as some of the chronic conditions that result from low fiber diets including diverticulosis and colon cancer.
* Ornish Diet - This diet calls for high levels of carbohydrates and low levels of fat, especially saturated fat. Fat intake is limited to approximately 10% of total calories and protein to around 15% (which is the current average American intake). Carbohydrate content is as much as 75% of total calories. The authors of this diet do not recommend consuming carbohydrates in the form of refined products but rather as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Fiber intake is high on this diet.
* South Beach Diet – The South Beach diet is structured around a balanced eating plan of its recommended or ‘good' foods. In this regard, ‘good' carbohydrates (whole grains, fruits and vegetables) and ‘good' fats (unsaturated) are included. The diet recommends eating foods that the body takes more time to absorb. Thus, it recommends elimination of highly processed foods, saturated fats and sugar, which are processed quickly by the body and cause a spike in blood sugar, and more hunger cravings. This diet is more balanced than a no-carbohydrate diet which might make it easier to maintain over time. The diet might also help lower bad cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease because of the recommended reduction of highly processed foods, saturated fats, and sugar. Many see the South Beach diet as an advanced Atkins diet, one with more choices and a healthier emphasis on a balanced menu of foods low in fat and carbohydrates.
atricle source www.healthyweightlossfacts.com/
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