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Obesity


The Differences Between Being Overweight and Obese

Many people are carrying a few extra pounds and then there are those who are definitely overweight the far side of the spectrum is those who are carrying so much extra weight to be classified as being obese. What are the differences between being overweight and obese regarding health and other factors?

To determine the difference based on body mass index (BMI) if an adult is between 25 and 29.9 BMI they are considered to be overweight. If an adult is 30 BMI or higher they are considered to be obese.

Children and teens have a different definition for overweight and being obese than adults do. The BMI ranges for children and teens take into account the normal differences in body fat between boys and girls and the differences in body fat for the different age groups.

The health risks are different for individuals who are overweight than they are for individuals who are considered to be obese.

Because abdominal fat is a predictor of risk for obesity-related diseases the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute also looks at the individual’s waist circumference and any other health risk factors the individual may have for diseases or conditions including high blood pressure and a sedentary lifestyle. Your risk for obesity related health issues increases if your adult waist circumference is over 40 inches for males and over 35 inches for females. The other health-related risk factors are having high blood pressure (hypertension), having a high LDL-cholesterol (bad) or low HDL-cholesterol (good), if your triglycerides are high, or if you have high blood glucose levels, or have a family history of premature heart disease, have a lifestyle of being physically inactive or smoke tobacco products.

Individuals who are considered to be overweight would benefit by monitoring their weight to be sure they are not edging towards being obese. Speak with your doctor about your weight to see if you could benefit from any lifestyle changes such as improved diet or increased activity level.

Individuals who are considered to be obese would definitely benefit from losing weight. Even if they lost just 10% of what they currently weight it would lower the risk of developing diseases associated with obesity.

The differences between being overweight and obese is in the risk factor you carry for weight related illnesses and conditions. Individuals who are obese stand a much higher risk for heart attack and stoke. They are putting their very life in danger by gaining more weight and by not taking action to reduce what they weigh. There are many programs out there that are legit.

Your doctor is the best person to seek advice from regarding weight loss programs. Weight loss must be done in a safe fashion or you run the risk of other health problems. Individuals who are overweight need to heed warnings about gaining more weight and should monitor weight carefully so they do not gain any more weight.

Atkins Diet Books

Are You Obese and Need to Learn Healthy Diet Habits?

If you are obese, don’t despair; you can learn healthy diet habits. It takes a well balanced diet, a good supply of carbohydrates, high-fiber foods, plenty of water, vitamins and minerals, lean protein, a small amount of fat and bacteria to have a healthy diet. Follow the below guidelines and you will be well on your way to losing weight while still keeping your body healthy.

Get into the habit of eating what your body needs and also the foods that you like.

Do not feel that you have to deprive yourself of the foods you like just because you have to lose weight.

Never eat, just because you are bored and need something to do. Find other ways of filling your time. Food should only be about nutrition and a small amount of enjoyment.

It is important to eat a minimum of three meals a day. Six smaller meals spaced two to three hours apart is even better if this fits into your time schedule.

When designing your meal plans choose lean sources of protein such as fish, shellfish, lean red meat, poultry, and eggs.

If you must use fat, make sure you use the smallest amount you can get away with. Fats can add flavor to your food and are sometimes necessary for cooking but make sure you use them wisely.

Limit or avoid refined sugar foods because too much sugar disrupts your natural energy balance, and can cause headaches in some people and mood swings too especially if you eat a lot of sugar. Fruits provide natural sweetness.

Drink four to five pints of water each day because water helps fiber in your food to swell and to perform well such as metabolizing other nutrients form your food and to keep your skin and hair healthy. Water also prevents your body from becoming dehydrated.

Avoid drinking too much in the way of caffeinated drinks such as coffee, tea or cola. Drinks that contain caffeine inhibit the absorption of vitamins and minerals and can cause your body to excrete vital nutrients and also to interfere in the fluid and energy balance of your body. Caffeine also artificially stimulates your body, which may suppress your performance and make you feel unwell.

Your body needs good bacteria in the form of “live” yogurt that contains bifidus and acidophilus which helps to keep the healthy balance between good and bad bacteria in your intestines.

Your stomach should not be empty for more than four or five hours if you want your intestines to work properly. When you eat on a regular basis your digestive enzymes are kept in good supply and ready to metabolize food in the most efficient way.

Changing Your Eating Habits When Obesity is a Problem for You

If you are clinically obese (a doctor made the diagnosis) and you wish to change your eating habits as one step towards conquering your obesity than read on as this article should give you some excellent guidelines for changing your eating habits.

You are ready to do something about being obese. You know that are at risk for health problems if you stay obese and you are willing to take the steps necessary to control your weight. Changing your eating habits is a good place to start. Just make sure that the habits you will be changing to our healthy ones.

Knowing you need to change your eating habits and actually doing it are two different things. We all know things that if we did them we would be healthier but how do we take the actions needed in order to successfully make those changes?

Here are a few action steps you can take in order to change your eating habits to healthier ones if your goal is to lose weight because you are obese:

1. Set realistic, short-term goals that will make healthier eating habits for you such as:

- Not skipping breakfast

- Make it a goal to lose weight slowly (no crash diets)

- Record your weight loss successes so you will be motivated to continue your healthy eating habits

2. Have menu plans that include healthy foods and correct portion sizes. Use the menu plans when you shop and only buy those foods that you need for your menu plan, no extra!

Stick with the menu for each meal and snack, no cheating! If you have frequent smaller meals eating every two hours you won’t be cheating and you won’t get hungry. Just make sure that you follow your doctor’s advise about what foods are healthy for you and which foods to avoid.

Healthy eating comes from knowledge about what foods your body needs and what foods to avoid when you are trying to lose weight.

- Stay away from empty calorie foods like those in snack bags

- Reduce your fat and sugar intake

- Eat more fiber-rich foods

- Eat lots of vegetables and fruits (raw is best)

- Eat whole grain products

- Avoid alcohol

- Avoid foods that contain creams, fats, or of high calorie content

- Choose foods instead that are low, light or reduced in calories and fat

- Chose dairy products that are skim, or 1% and chose reduced fat cheeses

- Instead of eating ice-cream choose fat-free frozen yogurt

- Instead of using sour cream use fat-free or low-fat plain yogurt

- Choose lean meats (fish, and poultry)

- Stay away from red meat if possible

- When cooking choose to broil, roast or steam your foods

Facts You Should Know About Being Overweight or Obese

Individuals who are obese or overweight have an abnormal amount of excessive fat accumulation and it can cause health problems for them. Did you know that your body mass index (BMI) could classify whether or not adults are overweight or obese? Basically if an adult has a BMI that is equal to or more than 25 they are overweight and if they have a BMI that is 30 or over they are obese. These are just benchmarks for assessing whether or not someone is obese or overweight, your doctor can help you to make that determination and explain what you can do to become a healthier weight. To read about more facts that you should know about being overweight or obese read the entire article.

The problem of excess weight is escalating and is projected to affect 2.3 billion adults worldwide by 2015 who will be overweight and 700 million who will be obese. Statistics show that being overweight is no longer just a problem of those in the high-income countries but the statistics show that those in low and middle-income countries are also on the rise especially in urban areas.

Are you interested in what causes a person to be overweight or obese? Most experts agree that obesity and being overweight is caused by an energy imbalance that exists between the amount of calories being consumed and the calories being expended. When a person overeats and then does not participate in enough physical activity each day to offset the amount of calories they consume that day the result can be added weight. Some factors that may be contributing to obesity and being overweight are a global shift in diet that includes foods that are higher in fat and sugars and lower in vitamins, minerals and other micronutrients and a trend towards individuals participating in a sedentary lifestyle, riding to work instead of walking and a lifestyle that is more urbanization and less rural.

There are many serious consequences for obesity including cardiovascular disease (heart attack and stroke), diabetes, musculoskeletal disorders including osteoarthritis, and certain cancers like breast cancer, colon cancer, and endometrial cancer.

The fact is that being overweight and being obese are both preventable. You can take control of your weight by achieving a balance between what you eat and your activity level and you can limit your intake of total fats, increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as legumes, whole grains and nuts and limit your intake of fats and sugars. It is also important at the same time that you learn to control your diet that you increase your physical activity each day.

Talk to your doctor about your weight, how to become healthier and tips on managing your weight in a healthy manner.

Obesity the Condition

Obesity is a condition that no one in particular wishes to have but sadly the US statistics show that 58 Million Americans are overweight with 40 million of those being obese and 3 million being morbidly obese. The reasons may be in the figures below:

· 78% of Americans do not meet basic activity level recommendations for good health

· 25% of Americans lead a sedentary lifestyle

· It is said that presently, the USA obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions.

Obesity is defined as the condition in which a person has an excessive amount of body fat. The excessive amount of body fat can have a negative impact on the health of the individual. Excess body weight contributes to illnesses such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, certain cancers, and osteoarthritis. Obesity can shorten your lifespan and have a negative impact on self-image.

Obesity is the leading PREVENTABLE cause of death worldwide. Rates for both adult and childhood obesity are increasing so much so that authorities view obesity as the most serious public health problem of the 21st century.

Body mass index (BMI) is used to assess a person’s status regarding if they are obese or not. BMI is used to estimate body fat mass. BMI is not accurate when used to measure body builders and women who are pregnant. To arrive at BMI you divide the person’s mass by the square of his or her height, which is expressed in metric:

Metric: BMI = kilograms / meters2 (meters squared).

A BMI of 30.0 to 34.9 is considered to be class I obesity. A BMI of 35.0 to 39.9 is considered to be class II obesity and a BMI of 40.0 and over is considered to be class III obesity.

Childhood obesity is defined as a BMI greater than 95th percentile. The two factors affecting childhood obesity appear to be a change in diet and a decrease in physical activity. When a child is considered to be obese the health treatments usually include lifestyle interventions and behavior modifications. Medications have not been approved for use in children for obesity.

Did you know that obesity is one of the leading PREVENTABLE causes of death worldwide? People die because they are obese and they death is totally preventable. If you could prevent your death wouldn’t you?

Obesity is directly or indirectly the cause of many medical conditions including those in the categories of cardiology, endocrinology and reproductive medicine, neurology, psychiatry, rheumatology and orthopedics. Obesity has been connected to low back pain, osteoarthritis, depression in women, carpal tunnel syndrome, migraines, stroke, infertility, polycystic ovarian syndrome, diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol levels, deep vein thrombosis, congestive heart failure and heart attack.

Treatments for Obesity

Getting to a healthier weight for your height and age should be the goal for any treatment plan for someone struggling with obesity. Your health can start to improve with just a 10% to 15% body weight loss. That equates to about a 10 to 20 pound loss for someone who weighted 200 pounds at the start of the treatment. Slow and steady weight loss is the healthiest and safe way to lose weight. A rule of thumb is to shoot for a 1 to 2 pound a week weight loss.

Your doctor can help you design a weight loss treatment plan that will help you to achieve a goal of 1 to 2 pounds of weight loss a week. Your treatment plan may be a combination of prescription medication, improved diet, and exercise. Weight-loss surgery is usually not suggested until all other efforts are exhausted.

Your doctor will likely suggest that counseling be a part of your treatment plan, especially if you use food to cope with anxiety, boredom, depression or loneliness. Counseling can help you to learn new skills to deal with your feelings and the result will be that you will stop using food to deal with these feelings.

You will be more successful if your long-term goal is to achieve better health rather than a weight goal. The treatment should include lifestyle changes that should include behavior changes especially when it comes to eating. Give your lifestyle changes at least 6 months before moving on to more drastic weight loss measures.

Medicines for weight loss:

Weight loss medicines work differently depending on the medicine. Some weight loss medicines work by making you feel fuller sooner, others limit your body’s ability to absorb fat, and still others control the urge to binge eat.

Weight Loss Surgery:

Weight loss surgery is done to reduce the size of the stomach and to limit how many calories your intestines can absorb.

Changing How You Eat:

In order to lose weight obese individuals must learn to change how they eat from taking in fewer calories each day to eating at a table instead of in front of the TV. It may also involve changing eating habits like grazing and learning how to eat at specific times.

Changing What You Eat:

It is not enough to reduce your caloric intake daily, you must also change what types of food you eat. Low-calorie diets should only be used under strict doctor supervision and are not usually advised for obese people who are trying to lose weight in a healthy fashion.

A registered dietician or nutritionist can help you to design a healthy diet for weight loss. Your meals should be balanced, and nutritious. You should have a weekly meal plan that includes all food groups and contain a variety of color.

Never skip meals, as you will lose weight faster by keeping your metabolism charged by eating breakfast and then eating every 3 to 4 hours throughout the day. Never eat late (after 8p), as this will not allow for the calories to be burned off before going to bed.