How to Get Rid of Obesity !!

How to get rid of obesity

Obesity is now one of the leading health hazards worldwide. Obesity is the major cause of different non-communicable diseases and losing productivity in middle and older people. All the data related to obesity show the prevalence of obesity in USA¹ is about 25% of adult females and nearly 34.9% of adult males.

And WHO says that the prevalence of obesity is 35% of the adult population worldwide.²

‘Obesity’ is a curse and one of the key risk factors for developing certain diseases like- HTN (Hypertension),  IHD ( Ischemic Heart Disease), Stroke or Cerebro-vascular diseases, Dyslipidaemia, Osteoarthritis, diabetes, and even colon cancer and breast cancer.

In 2007 the UK spent more than £4.2 billion³ on treating obesity and related morbidity. An alarming notice is within 2050, about 50% of the total population of the UK³ will be obese.

 

How to get rid of obesity

1. Acceptance and positive thinking about this health condition:

At first, an obese person should accept his condition and unusual situations. An obese person may face criticism, and his or her social participation may impair. But he or she has to think positively and try to overcome the situation. Without positive thinking, it will be challenging to reduce weight.

 

2. Good planning and motivation:

Proper planning is required to reduce weight. There are different options to lose a few pounds, such as lifestyle modification, diet, exercise, medication, and even some surgical procedures. It is better to take guidance from a nutritionist or a doctor for choosing an appropriate plan. Family and social support are necessary to be strongly motivated and maintain a proper lifestyle.

 

3. Proper diet habits:

A proper diet plan should be followed. If a person eats 500 kilocalorie-containing foods less than his or her daily physical demands, he or she will lose about half Kg weight weekly. So at first, an overweight person should calculate the daily calorie requirements and energy expenditure and then eat accordingly.

A few things should be avoided like fast foods, oily foods, recurrent intake of snacks and sugary drinks, large alcohol intake etc. They seem like less calorie-containing food, but two times the intake of Coke may add 250-kilocalorie energy without your concern in your diet.

Occasional huge amounts of eating like in a program or social occasion may ruin your diet by adding extra 4-6 times of calories.

 

4. Don’t believe the food myths:

Some food myths should strictly avoid, such as-

-  ‘Fast food should be strictly avoided and homemade fatty food is better than fast foods’.

But if anyone takes fatty food at home, there are no differences. Taking light calorie-containing fast food is not strictly prohibited, and high amounts of homemade fatty food are also not allowed for an obese.

- ‘Red meat! A high amount of fat. Must avoid’- some red meat contains essential amino acids and fatty acids main components of our body metabolism and structure. Complete avoidance may develop diseases.

- ‘Breakfast with only fruit is good for losing weight’- But breakfast should be the best meal, containing a sufficient amount of all types of food components like protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals after prolonged fasting.

- ‘Skipping a meal, a good way to quick weight loss’- It may cause ulcer or heartburn in the gastrointestinal tract, and you may take a double amount of food in the next meal for reducing your hunger.

- ‘Being vegetarian is the key to weight loss’- Most vegetarians usually develop different deficiency diseases, such as anaemia due to protein deficiency.

- ‘Weight loss supplements are a magic way and a necessary thing to lose weight’-But most of these products are not regulated by FDA like government authority. Quality is the main factor. Otherwise, it may be helpful but not an essential thing to take for weight loss.

There are many myths which can destroy diet plans and may cause weight gain instead of weight loss. So, we should avoid them.

 

5. Maintaining an active lifestyle:

• Increasing physical activeness: Try to walk as much as possible. If your office is near to your home, go there on your foot. You should park your car in a distant place, so you have to walk to get into it.
• Increase household activities: A person should be active in his house and do regular house cleaning or washing clothes by himself or herself. Depending upon a maid or on others is a way to be inactive and more obese.
• Spend some time with kids: Going for a walk to the nearest park with kids and having some fun is necessary for mental calmness and an important role in weight loss.
• Try to use stairways as much as possible: If possible, an obese person should always take the stairways unless it is impossible. Avoiding the elevator will help him to lose some pounds.
• An obese person should go shopping by him or herself from a distanced shopping mall and try to go there by walking and lose some calories. Avoid home deliveries.
• Being strict on maintaining the diet plan is the key. Try to get up early in the morning. Extra 30 minutes will give you to do some exercises.

 

6. Exercise:

Regular exercise is very important for weight loss. It causes increased calorie loss and fat burn. Heavy exercises, like a bodybuilder, can be done, and light exercises like walking or jogging are the same beneficial.

Brisk or fast 30 minutes walking daily for five days a week is enough for gradual weight loss with a proper diet.

 

7. Using medication for weight loss:

Weight loss supplements and drugs act mainly in 3 ways to reduce weight: reduction of absorption of food, stimulating cellular metabolism causing energy loss and reducing food intake by decreasing appetite.

Orlistat, Belviq, Phentermine, Qsymia etc. drugs are used as diet pills for weight loss. Some other food supplements are also found in the shops for weight loss. But their quality is not ensured by FDA like government authorities.

 

8. Surgical procedure:

Some surgical procedures like- Adjustable Gastric Banding, Sleeve Gastrectomy, Gastric Bypass Surgery (Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass), Biliopancreatic Diversion etc., are available for the morbidly obese patient. But these are only suitable for some.

A doctor can recommend surgery to an obese person who-

• Has a BMI of 40 kg/m²or more.
• Has a lower BMI (of 35 kg/m²to 40 kg/m²) and has a severe medical problem related to obesity.
• Has tried other procedures but failed to lose weight.
• The patient has to understand the risks of the surgery properly.

Before thinking about surgical procedures, we should think ten times about the easiest ways to reduce weight.

We can easily reduce weight by taking appropriate diet and exercise, and lifestyle modification. Don’t think diet and weight loss are trendy matters. You should lose weight and get rid of obesity for your healthy life. 

 

References:

1. http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/adult.html
2. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/
3. Butland B, Jebb S, Kopelman P, et al. Tackling obesities: future choices – project report (2nd Ed). London: Foresight Programme of the Government Office for Science, 2007

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Dr. Hasan Ebna Amin