In a world where food supply is not guaranteed plentiful all the time, our body has adapted in such a way that we have the capability to store excess energy reserves effectively in times of food abundance, and to use these reserves in times of famine. I am referring to no other than the fat cells or adipose cells, which are randomly distributed all through our body. The role of fat is important for human survival. In babies, for example, it has been cited that the pads of fat in the child’s cheeks can enable the baby to survive for several days with no food.

Though survival may be one good reason to get these fat cells to work; the same fat cells can also put the body at risk for many diseases. In the presence of nutritional abundance coupled with a non-active lifestyle, and guided importantly with genetic endowment, fat cells can create adverse health consequences which start off with a condition known as obesity.

Obesity is a state of too much adipose tissue mass. That happens due to increased energy consumption, decreased energy expenditure, or both. Energy intake to the body that is not used up is saved in fat tissues in the form of triglycerides. The most widely used method to gauge obesity is the body mass index (BMI). To determine your Body Mass Index, simply divide your weight in kilograms over the square of your height in meters (BMI= kg/meter²). The classification based on BMI is shown below.

Classification        BMI (kg/m²)
Underweight              <19
Normal weight         19-25
Overweight              26-30
Obese                       >30

Though a BMI of 26-30 places one in an overweight classification only, this is often seen as medically substantial and deserving of therapeutic intervention, most especially in the presence of other risk aspects such as hypertension and glucose intolerance. All the more, A BMI of >30 unquestionably warrants fast attention.

It is now a proven reality that as people get much more obese, their regular energy output increases. An obese man or woman need to therefore eat more than the average lean individual to maintain their increased weight. Hence, the first step an obese individual have to take into account if he would like to be extra-fat free is to burn excess weight.

Below is a guide to knowing how significantly an obese person has to lose from his excess weight and how to get rid of them.

Step 1.  Understand your ideally suited body weight.

For female: 100 lbs (5 lbs per inch over 5 feet)
For male   : 106 lbs (6 lbs per inch over 5 feet)

Step 2.   Know your every day caloric requirement. For a straightforward calculation of your every day caloric requirement, please read my article entitled “How Much Should I Eat to Maintain My Present Weight” here: http://www.gagazine.com/how-much-should-i-eat-to-maintain-my-present-weight/

Step 3.   Lessen your energy intake.

Try losing 1 lb (0.45 kg) body weight by under-eating 3,500 calories over the course of the week. It would imply cutting your day-to-day caloric intake by 500 calories per day, because it is impossible for anyone to get rid of 3,500 calories in one day. Besides, nutritionists advise avoiding abrupt weight reduction that can be deleterious to your health.

Step 4.   Increase your energy expenditure

You need to increase your energy output at the same time, by adding in more physical exercise. In this way, you’ll find it simpler to lose bodyweight. For instance, if you are aiming to lose 1 lb over a week (500 calories/day), maybe everyday you can try consuming 250 calories less and engage yourself on a half-hour cardiovascular exercise that can burn an additional 250 calories. However, because a lot of obese individuals have cardiovascular risk factors, exercise should be introduced gradually and under medical supervision.

* The ideally suited body weight that you computed in Step 1 will serve as your guide. In attempting to lose excess weight, you may not necessarily acquire your ideal body weight, for as long as your new BMI will now fall between 19-25 kg/m&sup2;, which is the normal BMI.

Though obesity is a persistent medical issue, there are reasons to believe that it can be treated. Naturally, the treatment and the complete process of reversing it condition is not easy at all, but with the person’s determination, self-discipline, persistence, and challenging work, there is no reason that it cannot be done.

To receive more parenting tips in your inbox, please visit http://www.gagazine.com and subscribe to our newsletter.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment