How can I lose weight?

This article will look at the reasons to lose weight, the most effective methods and medical interventions.

Obesity

 

Obesity affects more than one third of Americans.

Globally, obesity is considered an epidemic. At least 2.8 million people die each year of complications related to excess weight.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that currently affects more than 1 in 3 people in the United States, or 36.5 percent.

The health risks of being overweight include a higher risk of diabetes, stroke and certain types of cancer.

Why lose weight?

People lose weight for many different reasons:

• Appearance: They want to look fitter, more attractive or healthier, or simply feel more confident in their bodies.
• Confidence and body image: People who carry excess weight may feel self-conscious about it.
• Overall health: They want to become healthier, live longer, and avoid developing diseases associated with obesity and overweight
• For a specific condition or illness: People with sleep apnea or type 2 diabetes may find symptoms improve or disappear after losing weight.
• Fitness: People wish to become fitter, and to have more energy and stamina
• Sports competitions: Boxers, for example, may wish to lose weight so that they can remain within their weight category.
• Fertility: Fertility treatment has been found to be more effective among women with obesity and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) who lose weight before treatment.

Diets

There are thousands of different diet plans on the market that make amazing weight loss claims.

Some are evidence-based, safe and effective, but others are not. Most health professionals, dietitians, and nutritionists agree that the best results tend to come from combining a healthful, weight-reduction diet with physical activity, especially in the long term.

You can click here to find out about eight of the most popular diets.

Proponents of many diets say they are extremely effective and require no effort at all. Unless they have been proven to be so in scientific studies, it is not possible to know how effective they really are.

Calories

 

The number of calories a person needs depends on their age, gender, and level of daily activity.

The number of calories per day you should consume to lose weight depends on several factors, including your sex, how much you want to lose, how quickly you want to lose it and your age.

Below are the daily calorie requirements for men and women, according to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Daily recommended calorie consumption for males:

Age 19-20

• Sedentary: 2,600
• Moderately active: 2,800
• Active: 3,000

Age 21-30

• Sedentary: 2,400
• Moderately active: 2,600-2,800
• Active: 3,000

Age 31-50

• Sedentary: 2,200-2,400
• Moderately active: 2,400-2,600
• Active: 2,800-3,000

Age 51+

• Sedentary: 2,000-2200
• Moderately active: 2,200-2,400
• Active: 2,400-2,800

Daily recommended calorie consumption for females:

Age 19 to 30 years

• Sedentary: 1,800 to 2,000
• Moderately active: 2,000 to 2,200
• Active: 2,400

Age 31-50 years

• Sedentary: 1,800
• moderately active: 2,400-2,600
• Active: 2,200

Age 51+ years

• Sedentary: 1,600
• Moderately active: 1,800
• Active: 2000 to 2,200

If you want to lose weight, you would have to consume less than the amounts listed above. The less you consume, the faster you lose. However, it is important to follow a healthy, well-balanced diet so that you do not become ill, or lose lean tissue (muscle). Ideally, you should check with a dietitian, nutritionist or your doctor.

In some regimes, dieters consume 1,200 calories per day if they are female and 1,500 if they are male. However, do not try to do this yourself without the supervision of a trained expert.

You need to make sure your carbohydrate, protein, and fat ratio is right for good health. Recommendations for carbohydrate intake vary, from 20 to 60 percent for losing weight.

Further reading:

• Are fats good for you?
• What are carbohydrates?
• What are proteins?

A poor diet and malnutrition can occur regardless of calories. A meal plan should be balanced in terms of nutrients, too. A poor diet can lead not only to malnutrition, but also a low mood and loss of motivation. This can cause to dieters drop out before reaching their target weight.

When dieters have reached their target body weight, they should gradually increase their daily intake until they reach their “weight maintenance” figure.

Other factors

A 2010 study showed that people who just reduce their daily calorie intake rarely lose much weight.

The researchers explained that natural compensatory mechanisms in the body reduce a person’s physical activity as soon as calorie consumption drops. In other words, the body slows right down if you eat much less. Dieting must be combined with exercise.

Study leader Judy Cameron said:

“In the midst of America’s obesity epidemic, physicians frequently advise their patients to reduce the number of calories they are consuming on a daily basis. This research shows that simply dieting will not likely cause substantial weight loss. Instead, diet and exercise must be combined to achieve this goal.”

In response to a reduction in calories, the human’s natural body mechanism goes into “conservation mode.” Without exercise, there simply will not be much weight loss, they emphasized.

Weight control

 

Sleep deprivation can increase weight gain.

Body weight control is much more successful if you can combine a well-balanced diet with regular exercise.

Crash diets may have positive short-term results, but they tend to have poor long-term success rates.

If you manage to sleep between 7 and 8 hours continuously in each 24 hour period, your body weight control will be more successful. Sleep deprivation or lack of sleep can make you put on weight.

In 2009, researchers combined the successful weight loss strategies of 6,000 individuals.

They came up with the following measures to prevent putting weight back on after losing it:

• Physical activity: Do at least 200 minutes each week of moderate-intensity exercise. This should be spread out over at least three days (do not do all the minutes in one go each week).
• Watching TV: Limit your TV watching to no more than 10 hours each week. Many people might find this recommendation particularly difficult to follow.
• Fat limit on diet: Make sure that no more than 30% of your nutritional intake is in the form of fat.
• Eat consistently: Resist the urge to overeat during weekends and holidays. Your food intake should follow a regular routine. Overeating not only upsets your routine, it most likely impacts on your metabolism.
• Breakfast: Never miss it. Breakfast helps stave off hunger later on in the day, and this can help prevent overeating and snacking.
• Monitor yourself: Keep a close check on what you eat and regularly weigh yourself.

Weight and health

Some health professionals and researchers disagree with focusing on weight loss when advising patients and clients. They believe that dieting and weight-loss efforts may lead to further weight gain and poorer health.

Instead, they suggest focusing on better health status, because this results in better body weight control over the long term.

Linda Bacon, of the University of California, Davis Department of Nutrition, said:

“Although health professionals may mean well when they suggest that people lose weight, our analysis indicates that researchers have long interpreted research data through a biased lens.

When the data are reconsidered without the common assumption that fat is harmful, it is overwhelmingly apparent that fat has been highly exaggerated as a risk for disease or decreased longevity.”

Article by: By Christian Nordqvist
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/215100.php?sr