In the first step you have be to find out which are those primary factors that accelerate weight gain, how to assess risks that are involved by obesity, how to calculate your weight and how to tell if you’re really ready to lose weight. Otherwise, you will not be just another "statistic" added to the ones that are already there.
The causes of obesity
Generally, when you consume more calories than your body can burn every day, your weight will suffer. However, overeating is only one factor that can lead to obesity. In addition, add to the list of factors responsible for obesity, age and genetic inheritance as factors that can not be controlled. So it is up to you to control and modify other factors to ensure that your health is bulletproof and your silhouette is slim. A brief overview of these factors will help you realize that they are responsible for the extra pounds that you currently own.
Obesity factors that can’t be controlled
• Genetic heritage – plays a significant role in terms of your weight. If parents are obese, the chances you will inherit them are 25-30% higher than in the case of a person with parents who do not face this problem. However, it does not mean that you will have this problem if you care to adopt a healthy, balanced diet throughout life, that will spear you the extra pounds;
• Gender – men burn more calories than women, since they have more developed muscles. Muscles consume a significant amount of calories every day just to sustain themselves;
• Age – As you age, the metabolism becomes lazy, and the number of calories consumed must be decreased to compensate for a slow metabolism. Another reason for the extra pounds gained along with aging is decreased muscle mass. With a program of maintenance and toning of the muscles you will not experience this problem;
Medical problems – some may have direct repercussions on obesity, but they are rarely the main cause of this problem. Many people who suffer from hypothyroidism (low thyroid gland secretion) gaining 10-20 lbs of weight because of it. But only 2% of cases of obesity are related to hypothyroidism or other digestive disorders.
Obesity factors that are easily controlled
• Physical inactivity can strongly influence weight gain. Overweight people tend to be less active than people with a normal weight. We must remember that sport maintains a high metabolism, and as a default it helps you burn more calories per day;
• Diets that are high in fat tend to make a double quantity of calories in the body that merely add a few extra pounds. Learn to cut rations of fat from your diet, especially saturated ones such as red meat, dairy products containing high fat (butter, lard, cream), sausages and pastry products. You will find more on a healthy diet in the second week of weight loss program
• Bad eating habits are the most difficult to control, the more they were imbedded since childhood. They persist in adulthood and require a sustained effort to master and change. It is customary in your family to eat much? Was food used as a prize or to combat and avoid stressful or other unpleasant situations? If the answer is yes, you have all chances to continue this tradition without being aware of the risks. The good news is that all these influences from childhood may be modified – by the will. You will find all about this at the right time, that is in week 4 and 5;
• The served portions and overnutrition are a problem we face today as the portions served tend to be most abundant. There is however people who will leave the dishes clean no matter how many meals they have in front of them. Here is a situation that deserves to be mentioned to help you stop before you feel bloated. A daily food diary will help you control your tendency to excess. If you want to learn more about it, do not miss week 4 of this specially designed program to lose weight;
• Convenience is increasingly fashionable in our times, because life at work or at home just makes us move from one seat to another: from TV to computer, car and the list can continue. In short, it seems that currently modern technology leads us to an increasingly sedentary life. Simple past activities such as walking to the market or changing the TV channel without the remote control helped burn calories in some measure. All of this must now be compensated with exercise that keeps you in shape;
• Starvation diets will reduce the chances of losing the pounds that bother you. If you follow a starvation diet, your body will increasingly require less, and your metabolism will become slower to conserve every calorie it consumes. So, a diet through chronic starvation will only affect muscle mass – the main energy source – and hence metabolic activity. How can you regulate your metabolism in such a situation? Nothing simpler … exercises (see schedule for week 3).
The helath risks of obesity
• Shortness of breath – this first factor is easily identifiable in overweight persons. The higher the fat deposits, the greater the pressure on vital organs and breathing becomes very difficult. This is one of the risks of obesity, but also psychological harm because you can not perform daily activities with ease;
• Osteoarthritis (inflammation of a bone and its joint) – excess weight stresses the joints and can lead to pressure problems, as well as chronic back and knee pain;
• High levels of cholesterol – obesity can cause a significant increase in blood cholesterol and triglycerides, which can clog arteries (the main cause of a heart attacks);
• Arterial hypertension / heart attack – this risk doubles in overweight people who are prone to heart attacks or other heart diseases;
• Type 2 diabetes – obesity is often associated with type 2 diabetes. This explains why most people who have type 2 diabetes are also obese. Diabetes increases the risk of heart disease, kidney failure, blindness and gangrene;
• Cancer – many recent studies have linked obesity with high risk of cancer of the esophagus, uterus, gall bladder, colon, breast and prostate;
• Insomnia – obese people often face difficulties in regards to sleep: they often have trouble sleeping. This lack of sleep makes them tired and more vulnerable to food;
• Emotional and social problems – in a world where beauty and suppleness rule, obesity can cause a person to suffer from serious emotional and social frustrations. So, most obese individuals present a higher risk of stress, emotional problems and discrimination.
BMI (body mass index) and the ideal weight
To find out which the ideal weight is and when a person is considered overweight or obese you need to know how to calculate your BMI alone. To calculate, multiply your weight in lbs by 703 and divide the result to your squared height in inches.. A BMI equal to or greater than 25 indicates overweight, while a value above 30 is considered obese.
So the BMI formula is BMI=(weight in lbs * 703)/(height in inches*height in inches)
Now you can check your result by comparison with the intervals:
Weight is too small: under 18.5
Normal weight: 18.5 to 24.9
Overweight: 25 to 29.9
Obesity: over 30
Requirements for an efficient weight loss
If you are among those who have tried numerous diets only to see the pounds come back one by one in their place, here is an answer to the eternal question "why" that you have failed many times experienced the effects of a diet . Why are most of the weight loss diets we try doomed to failure? Most of the time, dietary restrictions are based on limiting calorie consumption, certain foods or favoring certain combinations of food. But often it does not matter only what you eat, but why you eat. Hunger, stress, appetite … So, for a weight loss with long lasting effects you do not only need a diet plan that suits you, but sport and a change in the bad habit of consuming food in excess.
These steps you can be of great use:
• Make a balanced diet plan that suits you and you know will work in your case;
• Find exercise that stimulate you and run them daily;
• Commit yourself in a race for life by identifying, learning and changing habits that cause you to eat excess food.
This program is specifically designed to teach you all those listed above. For starters, you must decide if you really ready want to lose weight. Then you have to be opened and learn about changes that you make in your life and make sure that this is not another diet that will be a failure and that this will be the last time you "go through" weight loss diets.
How can you find out if you are ready to lose weight?
It is extremely important to tell if you are prepared to meet the challenges such a program involves. Your mind must be set to accept changes that involve the desire to lose weight, your desire to create a goal and the solutions through which it is acquired. Therefore, only you can establish what suits you best. But be sure that you allocate time to these issues.
For the rest of the 8 weeks weight loss plan visit How to Lose Weight in 8 weeks: a simple 8 weeks weight loss plan
January 29, 2010
Diets & Nutrition