Being over weight is usually being 20 percent or more over the normal weight for his or her age, sex, build, and height. According to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, a person's weight is healthy if it falls within the acceptable range for his or her height and age; if the pattern of fat distribution does not place the person at increased risk for certain diseases; and if the person has no medical problem for which a physician recommends that he or she lose weight.
What is important, is not how much a person weighs, but the percentage of body fat. For women, fat can account for as much as 25 percent of body weight; 17 percent is a healthy percentage for men. Females are designed biologically to carry a higher proportion of fat tissue to ensure that there is plenty of food for pregnancy and nursing, even if food is scarce.
On average, we humans carry around 30 to 40 billion fat cells. All those excess calories we don't use up as immediate energy, are stored as fat. If we lived in ancient times, and had to still hunt and gather food, those stores of fat would be essential for our survival in times of famine.
Some researchers even believe that our seemingly innate love of high-calorie food may be a remnant of a survival tactic from ancient times, when we needed to store food for energy. But today, storing energy as fat isn't necessary for most people. Most people wait maybe 3 to 4 hours between meals and snacks and instead of remaining a survival mechanism, the stored fat is now more likely to have a negative effect on health. As fat accumulates, it crowds the space occupied by the internal organs, and puts a lot of stress on extremities and organs causing or complicating many physical problems.
Being overweight can increase the body's resistance to insulin and can make the body more susceptible to infection, and increases the chances of developing diabetes, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease, kidney disease, stroke, and other serious health problems that can result in premature death.
The most common causes of obesity are poor diet and/or eating habits and a lack of exercise. Other factors that can lead to obesity include glandular malfunctions, diabetes, hypoglycemia, emotional tension, boredom and a simple love of food. Obesity has also been linked to food sensitivities and/or allergies. Food your body cannot use or that is a poison to your system is stored in the tissues and causes water retention. Ironically, poor nutrition may be an important factor in obesity. When there is inadequate intake of certain essential nutrients, fat is not easily or adequately burned and can accumulate in the body.
Here are some basic approaches to weight management:
*Reduce caloric intake to 1,200 calories per day.
*Exercise ? Walk, Swim, Dance, Jump, Ride a Bike ? MOVE!
*Do not use diuretic herbs and nutrients to reduce water ? this is a temporary weight loss and throws off your electrolytes which can slow your metabolism.
*The use of lipotropic vitamins, which have the ability to reduce cholesterol and fat, works only is the diet is low fat and low glycemic.
*Eliminate all white flour, white sugar, white salt and white rice from your diet. All these ingredients breakdown very quickly in the system, and overloads the body with carbohydrates that the body cannot use at once, so it is converted to fat and stored.
*Replaced processed ingredients with ingredients that not only take longer for the system to break down, but provide better levels of nutrients also
*Whole wheat flour offers the body lecithin, antioxidants, fiber and vitamins that normal processing eliminates. FlourBlend is a blend of whole flours, vitamins, minerals, herbs and fibers designed to lower cholesterol and gives half the carbohydrates of normal processed white flour, with more protein and fiber.
*Stay away from artificial sweeteners, these will only make you hungry and does cause some damage to the liver or pancreas. Try our Natural SugarBlend, which offers better taste and performance in cooking, because it is natural and slow absorbing, keeps the blood sugar steady, increases the uptake of calcium and aids in colon health.
*Using Sea Salt, and mineral salt can be a better alternative to regular table salt. You use less and crave salt less if you use these e alternatives, you also receive the benefits of trace minerals in trace amounts, and these trace minerals can help in preventing some stroke and cardiac problems.
*Brown rice offers a great many benefits to the system, and paired with beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains, provides a complete protein for the body to use. Brown rice also is a rich antioxidant, one of the best the world has to offer. It also provides lecithin and an abundance of wonderful fiber that aids the small intestine, the colon and the large intestine.
Permanent weight loss requires a lifetime commitment to a healthier lifestyle in general.
D.S. Epperson is the top formulator for Home Blend Gourmet / South Pacific Health, a leader in the functional food industry in the U.S. With 20 years of experience in Nutritional Biochemistry, she has written reference books on botanicals and manufacturing of medicines from botanicals, and published articles on health, fitness and foods. She has formulated over 240 formulas and inventions for health, the environment and agricultural uses, and continues to research and study microbial advantages in nutraceuticals and functional foods. For more information or to view the articles that she has written: http://www.sugarblend.com
shuttle from O'Hare Brocton .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareAs many of us know, it's the first few days... Read More
Diet pills have met with many different fates, and come... Read More
Visualization is a powerful technique that can help you make... Read More
An eating disorder is a life threatening condition that often... Read More
We think we know everything there is to know about... Read More
New Years Resolutions do not work because you are really... Read More
The Liver The function of your kidneys is to filter... Read More
Wow! You must be on fire by now burning and... Read More
Any dietary plan on the market has some portion of... Read More
Magnetic weight loss is the newest fad diet supplement to... Read More
1. What is my BMI and how do I calculate... Read More
In March 2003 our then 13 year old daughter, Helen,... Read More
Adverse Events with Volumetrics Dr. Barbara Rolls is a well... Read More
This is a continuation of the article entitled, "Making Diets... Read More
Twenty years ago, I did not expect to accomplish what... Read More
Q: "I'm wondering if you can help me. I'm not... Read More
It is very tempting to try that fad diet that... Read More
When you hear a doctor or a personal trainer say,... Read More
Who'd have thought healthy eating could be so controversial? Lunching... Read More
You can overcome the desires of your sweet-tooth by incorporating... Read More
There is no question that having a massage makes you... Read More
A really easy, fast way to weight loss is walking... Read More
Cardio Exercise...A huge variety of fitness activities provide cardiovascular benefits.... Read More
Experts tell us that overweight or obese children have reached... Read More
A metabolism drug like ephedrine, has shown many people how... Read More
Chicago charter limousine service Hickory Hills ..It all begins with water .... Water makes up 75%... Read More
The words I read made me furious. There it was,... Read More
Weight loss is an issue that affects men and women... Read More
Temporary weight loss is easy!You simply starve yourself on the... Read More
You've done everything right this time. You're eating lots of... Read More
If you're like me, you probably wish that there was... Read More
Its crowded..really crowded..every other site offers Weight Loss Programs and... Read More
What is the advantage of these new half sugar and... Read More
If you've been on a low carb diet for any... Read More
I can't do that Until I Lose This Weight! If... Read More
If you are overweight and suffer from pain in your... Read More
In the early weeks after having weight loss surgery almost... Read More
One may think that on a website called "LivingAfterWLS" you... Read More
Now this is the real American Dream! I'm here to... Read More
All of us that have had a love-hate relationship with... Read More
Most men and women put on weight differently. But on... Read More
One common question I receive is, "What do you do... Read More
THE 200 POINT SYSTEMWith so many different diets available, how... Read More
You're always hungry right? The last thing you have time... Read More
Our bodies only require a small amount of salt for... Read More
Weight Loss Axiom Number ThreeInsulin and GlucagonThese are the two... Read More
I want to make this perfectly clear, fruits are healthy... Read More
The Secrets have been in our family recipes, some even... Read More
Weight Loss Their Greatest Opponent --------------------------------- Before high school and... Read More
Lose a pound of fat? what does it take? Not... Read More
Weight Loss |