Battling Obesity

In order to optimize your health a good diet is essential. But, with all the fad diets around it can be difficult to know what is ‘good’. Nutrition science to the rescue! Though some things are still controversial, numerous studies reinforce the following basic information.

A healthy diet requires not just items from the four basic food groups, but in the proper proportion. The average person will need about 2000-2500 calories (sometimes more for larger men, less for women and those looking for rapid weight loss). About 50% of those calories should come in the form of carbohydrates, with 30% from fats (yes, fat is good!) and 20% from proteins.

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Dieters often concentrate on calorie counting. That’s wise, given that the basic equation of weight loss will always remain true: more calories consumed than used - leads to weight gain. But that statement makes it sound as if a calorie is something you eat and if you ate fewer you would lose weight. That is not quite accurate.

In simplest terms, a calorie is a measure of energy. In science, the unit that measures it is the calorie, cal. But because the amount in food is typically so large, the food calorie is actually a thousand of those or kcal (kilocalories). Food calories are sometimes denoted with a capital C to make the difference clear.

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Nearly everyone thinks that dieting would be a good idea. For many, it is. A recent study showed that the average American now consumes about 22% more calories than those of only a generation ago. With that, it isn’t hard to see why obesity could be a problem.

But dieting is not without risks, especially in an age when so many fad diets clamor for attention. The desire to lose weight rapidly can lead to health problems that outweigh the benefits of dieting. Rapid weight-loss dieting in particular can lead to a ‘rebound’, defeating the purpose in the first place.

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One sure way to lose weight, it might seem, is simply to stop eating for a while. Simple as it sounds, that idea is fraught with potential problems.

The basic weight loss equation certainly remains valid in this case: using more calories than are consumed results in weight loss. If you don’t take in calories by eating, it’s fairly easy to satisfy that equation. Your body burns 70 calories per hour even just sitting idle on the couch.

But while you may be idle, your body’s systems are not

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There is a basic equation for losing weight: use more calories than you consume. One of the easiest ways to do that, it is sometimes believed, is simply to eat less at least of certain foods and/or exercise more. And, it’s true, that is fundamentally what all diets amount to. But how to do that to achieve natural weight loss requires a little more. In particular, it often requires a change in attitude.

Attitude alone won’t change the rate at which your body burns calories, nor will it magically cause you to eat less or exercise more. But sustaining a weight loss program over the long run needed to achieve permanent results can only be done by (in part) a change of attitude.

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Few commercialized areas of science are so filled with myths as that focused on weight loss. Everyone wants a simple, safe, no-willpower solution. Someday, we may actually get one. For now there are no magic cures. But there are quite a few myths that need to be exploded.

The Ice Cream Theory

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Women, to put it bluntly, are biologically different from men. Those differences imply some guidelines for diet, exercise and health matters in general.

Women, for example, naturally have a higher percentage of body fat than men, 27% on average compared to 15% for a fit individual. That single number alone is helpful information if one of your weight loss or exercise goals is fat reduction. Any woman trying to reduce her percentage should take into account this natural difference, since it can help avoid guilt and provide a realistic goal.

Women experience hormonal changes that differ considerably from that of men as they age. Even young women can have irregularities in menstrual cycle and other physiological changes as a result. This can be seen more clearly by looking at some extreme cases, for example.

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Gloria Gamat, from the Battling Arthritis blog wrote an interesting article titled .. Weight Loss, Osteoarthritis and Your Christmas Recipes

Tomorrow night will be Christmas Eve and you most likely have your recipes memorized and the ingredients all bought in preparation for the food you will serve your family on Christmas.

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What is Basal Metabolic Rate?

Most diet and exercise programs focus on what kinds of food to eat, which exercises are best for weight loss and toning, etc. That’s sensible, since both diet and exercise are the twin partners that have to be adjusted to maintain a preferred weight range and a healthy body.

But adjusting calories and daily exercise times and types only makes sense when measured against a standard of some kind. Part of that standard is something called the basal metabolic rate. The BMR is the base rate at which the body consumes calories for basic metabolic functions like maintaining internal temperature, repairing cells, pumping blood, powering muscles at rest, etc.

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Most people will try a hundred different fad diets, at least as many nutritional supplements and even all sorts of wacky alternatives. But, getting them to exercise can be a real challenge.

Nevertheless, it’s an inescapable fact that proper diet has to be accompanied by an age-appropriate, regular exercise program - if the goal is good health and an attractive body. Diet is essential, but exercise is its essential partner. Diet provides the proper fuel, but exercise uses that fuel to generate health and fitness.

There’s no need to become a fitness fanatic, but there are several simple exercises you can begin today. Start a daily stretching routine of at least 10 minutes before doing any vigorous training. A 20-minute walk every other day is a great beginning for those not used to exercise.

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