
Obesity is considered a chronic lifestyle disease; as of 2018, 39.6% of Americans over the age of 20 were obese. While in some rare cases obesity is caused by hormonal conditions or genetic factors, it’s mostly due to unhealthy lifestyles —poor diet and no physical activity.
Maintaining your ideal or optimal weight is important because it can help you keep chronic diseases like diabetes, hypertension, heart diseases, and so on away; you will feel more energetic and confident as well.
Losing weight, and keeping it away, is not a simple task. You also have to do it in a way that does not harm your body.
Here are some rules to help you lose Weight
No crash diets
Eat regular meals, at the proper time — and never ever skip breakfast, because it’s the most important meal of the day. Eating regular meals helps you keep tabs on your portion size.
Load up on fiber
That means oatmeal, flax, bananas, apples, mangoes, avocadoes, strawberries, eggplant, beans and legumes, nuts, wheat bran, dry figs, and so on. 20-35 grams of fiber a day is the recommended intake, but most people on an average, consume just 14-15 grams a day. Fiber ensures regular bowel movements and may also help protect against colorectal cancer.
Cut the fat
Choose cooking methods like steaming, boiling, grilling and baking instead of frying. Switch to olive oil; avoid butter and full-fat dairy; limit red meats. Skim off visible oil floating on the surface before eating.
Avoid snacking
Many people watch portion sizes at mealtimes, then get hungry in between and snack on — typically —packaged fried or sweet snacks.
Snacking can cause weight gain; have some nuts or fresh fruit instead, and you’ll feel full for longer. Whole-wheat or multigrain bread sandwiches with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, tuna, and low-fat cheese is also a great option.
Resist the temptation to binge
This is most likely to happen on special days, family get-together, outings with friends and so on. If pizza is on the menu, chomp down some nuts and drink water before the party so that you’re not able to go beyond a slice or two at the most.
Beware of sugary traps
Sugar is needed for the brain to function, and you should never cut it out completely. However, there is a lot of hidden sugar in many of the food products we buy — especially packaged foods. Things we don’t expect to have sugar — like ketchup, for instance. Try to have tea and coffee without sugar; limit bakery products like cookies, cake, muffins and so on to a slice or a piece once a week. Have dark chocolate instead.
Regular exercise
Experts differ in opinion as to how much or what type of exercise, but everyone agrees you need to work out. Get moving! Start with thrice a week, 15-20 minutes a day, and slowly n increase to 30 minutes every day. You can also try burst training which requires minimal time commitment but involves intensive training for that time.
Sleep well
It may sound counterproductive, but it’s not. Getting at least 8 hours of sound sleep in a day is essential for losing weight and keeping it off. Sleep helps your body repair itself and activate the fat burning hormones — it also keeps you away from food!
Don’t stress yourself
Getting stressed at work or home is the No.1 reason for many people to indulge in binge eating and gain weight. If you feel stress building up, walk it off, or watch cute baby/puppy/kitten videos, listen to music etc.
Mix up your workouts
Doing the same thing every day is not only boring, but may also not help to target all your body muscles. Walk, swim, cycle, go to the gym, go bowling, play laser tag — including plenty of variation will motivate you to keep at it.
Set realistic goals
This is extremely important! Your goals need to be achievable, and you need to break them down into smaller goals — say, 1-2 kilos a week. The smaller number is more reassuring and you will be motivated to get there.
Losing weight and keeping it off- is hard; it makes good sense to take the help of professionals — like the Spinewise. Our team consists of a physician, dietician and exercise physiologist, and they will work together to provide you dedicated care, advice, and guidance.
The physician will take you and your family’s detailed medical history, assess your current health issues, your habits, and lifestyle and so on, and conduct tests if necessary to rule out underlying diseases — and set a target weight.
The dietician will sit with you to create meal plans, portion sizes, healthy alternatives for your favorite unhealthy foods, and more.
Our exercise physiologist will determine your workout durations, the type of exercises you can safely do, talk to you about how it will impact your body, and guide you to monitor your progress at home too.
Spinewise can help you lose weight, safely, effectively, and for good! Call us today to set up an appointment with our team.
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