Contents
Obesity and its health risks
Obesity is defined as the accumulation of fat in the body to a degree that makes the body weight higher than a certain scale or indicator so that the weight conflicts with health, and attention to body weight is a basic requirement for health, while obesity and overweight are associated with a person's risk of developing chronic diseases, and obesity itself has become classified as a disease, Among the chronic diseases that obesity raises the risk of infection: Diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, obstructive sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, some types of cancer, gallbladder diseases, breathing problems, and a high risk of complications during pregnancy and during surgery (2) .
The easiest way to lose weight
The easiest way to lose weight is the clear and direct way that leads us to the desired goal without being tainted by misleading ideas, and with the spread of various diets and the promotion of many false methods of losing weight, it can be said with confidence that the easiest way to lose weight is that healthy way that depends on the assessment of the nutritional status The current nutritionist is fully evaluated by a nutritionist, identifying errors, and then starting to address them gradually, as the treatment of obesity and overweight must be based on a gradual change in lifestyle, and it must combine a healthy, integrated, balanced, varied, and moderate diet, which controls calories and gives Adequacy of all essential nutrients for the body (3) .
In order for a person to feel that losing weight is easy, one should not start with a large number of changes at once and set unreasonable goals, but a long-term gradual plan must be developed to make changes and incorporate them into the daily lifestyle (3) .
Determine a healthy body weight
Every person should be concerned with his body weight so that it does not reach a weight that conflicts with his health, and there are many measures that have been put in place to assess body weight, and unfortunately many people view what the media offers us about the image of a very thin body as the ideal body and the dream that everyone wishes to reach To him, especially women, and unfortunately, this image affects the satisfaction of many people with their weight, even if it is within the normal weight or even below normal.
This picture particularly affects children and adolescents, and leads to many wrong behaviors regarding diet and body weight, such as diets that depend on extreme deprivation, hunger, misuse of slimming drugs and fat burning pills, which negatively affects their health. Looking at the scales used to choose models and beauty queens that many people consider a measure of the ideal weight, we find that their weight has decreased over the years (2) , and they have often reached less than normal weights (4).Which also conflicts with health, as the body becomes less able to resist diseases when it is at a lower weight than normal, especially those that are included in malnutrition, such as cancer, and women of sub-normal weight are prone to irregularity in the regularity of the menstrual cycle and inability On childbearing, the health of the newborn can be adversely affected if the mother's weight is less than normal at and during pregnancy, and less than normal weight is associated with osteoporosis and a high rate of fractures.
Therefore, self-acceptance must be fulfilled and not be influenced by the image of the ideal weight conveyed to us by the media, and it is also necessary to know that the definition of the ideal weight is not fixed, but rather varies with time and from one society to another, as some societies value beauty with weight gain, just as the definition of the ideal weight does not It is usually determined by the criterion of the effect of weight on health, but rather by other criteria, so the ideal weight that is portrayed for us by the media and society should not be adopted as a goal or motive for losing weight, but rather we must always look at health and the relationship of our weight to it and how it affects it, and make it the main goal that We are losing weight and making lifestyle changes for it.
Weight assessment using body mass index
Body weight is evaluated as it is related to health, not shape, using the body mass index (BMI), which is calculated from the following equation: BMI = weight (kg) / height squared (m²) (2) . In this table, the weight is evaluated using equation (1) :
| Category | Body mass index (kg / m²). |
|---|---|
| Sub-normal weight | Less than 18.5 |
| Normal weight | 18.5-24.9 |
| Increase in weight | 25-29.9 |
| Obesity of the first degree | 30-34.9 |
| Obesity of the second degree | 35-39.9 |
| Third-degree obesity (nurse obesity) | 40 or more |
Simple behaviors that contribute to easy weight loss
There are many tricks and behaviors that a person can resort to in order to reduce his weight, taking care that the diet is healthy, balanced and contains all vitamins and minerals, and the number of calories consumed daily must be reduced so that it becomes less than the calories that the body burns until Weight loss occurs, and among these behaviors:
- Make healthy behaviors a goal for the person instead of focusing on body weight (2) , as focusing on weight causes a person to become bored and frustrated at times, and this may push him to give up the correct habits and behaviors that he had adopted, while when a person makes his goal a positive, healthy change in His eating habits and behaviors, he feels the positive impact of his commitment to the changes he made, even if they do not produce a big difference in weight in a short period (3) .
- One of the most important ways that contributes to losing weight easily and making a person able to adhere to the quantities of food specified for him is not to let himself feel very hungry before the main meals, as feeling very hungry can lose the person's ability to control himself when the time comes for the meal and eating quantities. A large amount of food, which one may feel remorse and guilt after, so eating light meals (snack) between the main meals contributes to bridging hunger and helps in the ability to eat specific amounts of food in the main meal.
In addition, increasing the number of meals and reducing their size contributes to activating the metabolism and metabolism processes in the body more times and thus increases the body's burning of calories, but care must be taken that these snacks are healthy meals such as: eating a grain of fruit, or a cup of skimmed milk with Bananas, for example, and water should be consumed between and during meals in order to contribute to relieving hunger and reducing the amount of food consumed (3) .
- Chewing for a certain number of times as a minimum, such as if the person determines that he must chew each morsel 10 times or more, for example, as this contributes to slowing down the eating process and thus feeling full from less food (2) .
- Using small food dishes instead of large plates and a small spoon or fork to eat food instead of a large tablespoon, as this also contributes to slowing down the eating process, and thus contributes to making the amount of food a person eats less before feeling full (3) .
- Increase physical activity by exercising regularly on a daily basis (1) . Physical activity can also be increased by changing some habits and behaviors, such as: climbing the stairs instead of using the elevator, and queuing away from the place to go so that he walks a greater distance from the car and back to it, spending time In physical activity such as playing football or dancing instead of spending it on electronic games (3) .
- To calculate the quantities of food intake through the use of cups standards, and the balance of the kitchen electronic contributes greatly in helping the person on the size of intake of food rations control, and thus control calorie intake, for example , it can be measured by the size of rice share pasta cup and weighing meat share, chicken or fish , the balance ( 3) .
- Avoid stress and find alternative solutions to deal with it away from eating, as emotional eating is a problem that may lead to weight gain and needs treatment in itself (2) .
- Usually avoiding some food groups causes an excessive intake of groups, for example a person may not eat fruits or vegetables all day, and in return he eats a lot of rice or bread, and it is true that eating at least a minimum of each food group contributes to making the diet healthier and reducing From the opportunity to exaggerate eating food from one group to compensate for the feeling of satiety that could have been obtained by eating these groups, and it often happens that fruits, vegetables, and sometimes milk are ignored, so each person must know the minimum that he must eat from each food group according to his category Age and care to eat it daily (3) .
- Replacing white bread with whole wheat bread or wheat bran bread or other whole grains, as bread is the main food in our society, and replacing white bread with these healthy alternatives increases the amount of dietary fiber consumed, which slows down the process of digestion and absorption and leads to greater satiety and for a longer period, To reduce the amount of food consumed (3) .
- One of the easiest ways to lose weight is to monitor purchases, as the process of healthy choices begins with shopping, where you must make a list of home requirements and adhere to them, and you must choose a healthy alternative whenever possible, and in order to prevent yourself and your family from gaining weight, you should avoid buying foods high in fat and sugar. , Such as sweets and chocolates in bulk and french fries, and replace that with fruits, vegetables and whole grains and diversify them.
- Make sure to cook food with the lowest amount of fat possible, as a cup of rice containing 3 servings of fat can be eaten, for example, and it can be eaten containing one portion of fat, due to the amount of fat used during cooking. The person who cooks and prepares food is careful not to add large amounts of oil, avoid the use of saturated fats such as margarine, and avoid adding broth cubes as much as possible (2) .
- Be careful not to eat food in a place other than the place designated for it, as this will familiarize the person with organizing his food in general and prevent him from eating at any time and place (1) .
- Resorting to herbal tea that contributes to losing moderate amounts of weight, such as green tea (4) .
References
(1) Adapted from Mahan LK and Escott-Stump S. / Krause's Nutrition and Diet Therapy / 11th Edition / Elsevier /. The United States of America 2004 / pages 585-585
(2) Adapted from Rolfes SR, Pinna K. and Whitney E. / Understanding Normal and Clinical Nutrition / 7th Edition / Thomson Wadswoth / The United States of America 2006 / pages 251-298.
(3) With documentation from Nour Hamdan / Dietitian / 01-31-2016.
(4) Adapted from Kelly J. / WebMD / Drinking Green Tea May Help You Lose Weight / 2000 / webmd.com / diet / 20000322 / drinking-green-tea-may-help-you-lose-weight.
