How to control your weight

Why is it bad to have both overweight and underweight?

Although a deviation in weight in one direction or another is not at all a sign of a serious illness, a strong departure from the norm can lead to poor health.

Light weight "shortage" is not dangerous. At the same time, obesity (usually defined as an excess of the norm of weight, depending on height and age, by 20% or more) entails a risk of heart disease, increased pressure, the formation of gallstones and diabetes. As a result of overweight pressure on the bones and joints, osteochondrosis of the knee, pelvic and lumbar regions develops. Fat accumulating in the chest and under the diaphragm causes a predisposition to bronchitis.

But if you find it difficult to lose weight and not gain it again, do not despair. It is even better to have a constant weight slightly above the norm than lose weight and gain them again in endless - and stressful - attempts to lose weight.

Diets Lead to Obesity - True or False

Diets are usually not aimed at changing the style of eating and exercising.

Another bad side of low-calorie diets, which should consume no more than 800 calories per day, is that the body compensates for the lack of habitual calories by slowing the metabolism.

When you return to the usual style of nutrition, the body no longer needs as many calories as before a diet. And he just accumulates their excess in the form of fat.

Hormonal imbalance

My brother is convinced that he owes his excess weight to hormonal imbalance. Is it so?

Hormonal disorders can cause obesity, but only if they are part of the diagnosed medical syndrome, say, Cushing's syndrome with dysfunction of the pituitary and adrenal glands. Thyroid passivity also slows down the metabolism. And although many believe the opposite, obesity is extremely rarely caused by hormonal imbalance. Most likely your brother just eats too much fatty and sweet food and does not play sports.

Often weight is a hereditary affair. As a rule, family members lead a similar lifestyle and eat equally, or even dislike physical activity. Healthy food and regular physical activity will help him achieve a healthy weight.

How to not gain weight

After months of dieting, I finally reached the ideal weight. How can I fix it by eating a regular diet?

Now you need to continue to adhere to a healthy, balanced diet for the rest of your life and maintain your physical activity.

Do not forever give up cakes, puddings, creams, chips, pies, mayonnaise and butter, but do not include them in your daily diet.

Be careful not to consume junk food.

Instead, eat more vegetables, fruits, wholemeal pastries, and legumes - they are nutritious and satisfying, and you won’t gain weight.

Movement or diet

What is the best way to lose weight: eat less or move more?

Both. Exercise helps to lose weight, but by itself is ineffective. To burn only 400 g of subcutaneous fat, you need to walk about 80 km. Reducing the diet will help to lose weight, but without exercise, the metabolism will slow down and you can’t achieve the maximum result.

For most people, the easiest way to cut calories is to 01 cut off your intake of foods rich in fats and sugar.

Tune in to the fact that losing weight is a long process. Set a goal to lose 0.5-1 kg per week. There are no such magic diets that would save you from unnecessary kilograms in a few days. Even if you completely refuse food for a week - which is extremely dangerous, then weight loss will be only 2.3 kg.

Tips for Reducing Calorie Intake

My doctor says I need to lose at least 20 pounds. How can I do this?

The most likely reason you are overweight is because you have been eating more than your body needs for a long time.

The best way to safely and permanently lose weight is to change your lifestyle, including eating a balanced, low-fat diet and exercise regularly.

In theory, this sounds easy, but in fact, getting rid of the habit of overeating is not easy. Very obese people find it difficult to exercise because of their fullness. However, you can increase your activity in many ways - say, going out on long walks or more often using stairs, rather than an elevator.

The following tips will help you:

• Eat only when you are really hungry.
• First, swallow everything in your mouth, and only then pick up a new portion of food on a fork.
• Do not eat while reading or watching TV.
• Do not keep fatty foods in the house.
• Go to the store immediately after eating when the sight of the foods does not seduce your stomach.
• Communicate with those who, like you, want to lose weight.

Before you go on a low-calorie diet, buy a food-grade guide and accurate kitchen scales and write down everything you eat.

Safe weight loss

I do not know how to count calories and measure portions, but I need to lose weight. Are there any simpler tips?

Food is a pleasure, and it’s best to lose weight by eating a diet that you like and fits into your lifestyle. All other methods are ineffective.

Although some people are ready to count calories, it is almost impossible to do, so you are right in your search for an easier way to lose weight.

Choose hearty foods that are low in fat, such as pasta, rice, potatoes with a large portion of salad, seasoning should also not contain a lot of fat, vegetables with a small piece of lean meat, fish, boiled egg, seafood or legumes. A coarse-grained sandwich with shrimps, lean ham, cottage cheese and a leaf of lettuce will quench your appetite, and add a few calories. Be careful with ready-made sandwiches: they sometimes contain a lot of oil, margarine or mayonnaise. Avoid alcohol and sugary foods that add extra calories to the body.

Are diet pills and diet foods good for you?

Taking diet pills helps quickly enough, but temporarily lose weight, and often they have serious side effects.

Most over-the-counter diet pills contain diuretics (weight loss teas also contain mild laxatives). Such tablets expel fluid from the body and dehydrate the body. Because of this, the body can lose the necessary minerals and vitamins. What these pills do not do is not burn fat.

Pills based on bran and other types of fiber, which swell in the stomach and give a feeling of fullness, also do not burn fat. Sometimes, if used incorrectly, such weight loss products can block the stomach, which can have serious consequences.

Means that chemically dull the appetite also do not solve the problem of losing weight. They are addictive, have a lot of side effects. Acting like amphitamins, diet pills disrupt sleep and cause depression.

The best way to lose weight quickly and maintain your results for a long time is regular exercise and a diet low in fat and sugar.

Your weight is excess, insufficient or normal

Normal weight depends on your weight. To determine it, measure your shoulder in the narrowest place, at the joint. In women, a volume of less than 14 cm indicates a fragile build, 14 - 16.5 cm - about average and over 16.5 about dense.

In men, a volume of less than 16.5 cm means fragile constitution, 16.5 - 18 cm - medium, and over 18 cm - dense.

Having ascertained your addition by measuring your wrist, you can determine your weight using the body mass index (BMI). It is calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the height in meters squared. So a woman with a height of 163 cm and a weight of 64 kg needs to multiply 1.63 by 1.63, and then divide 64 by the resulting product (2.66) - the BMI will be 24.

Control calories

The first thing to start with if you decide to put your body in order is to take control of your calories. Watch your weight and what you eat daily. Best of all - start a special journal, where all observations will be recorded. This will help you determine how quickly your body is gaining or losing weight, as well as telling which foods should be excluded from the diet.

Refuse junk food. If you buy semi-finished products, then information about its calorie content can be found on the packaging. The lower this indicator, the better. Cook at home? The Internet is full of tables to evaluate the calorie content of a dish. Try to consume as few calories as possible, because the process of burning them takes a lot of time and effort.

Develop the habit of measuring portions by their weight, not volume. When cooking, use a kitchen scale that will help you maximize the energy value of your dishes. If your body weight continues to grow, try to minimize the use of the most high-calorie foods.

Start eating right

Heavy carbohydrates and animal proteins - this is what helps us quickly get rid of hunger, for a long time to feel full. But these substances can be the main cause of obesity. To take control of their own body weight, experts recommend abandoning products containing animal proteins and heavy carbohydrates. It is not as difficult as it may seem. For example:

• to abandon pork and beef, it’s enough to switch to fish meat and legumes,
• instead of the usual bread, which contains dangerous carbohydrates, eat bread from unpolished rice,
• add salads to the diet, which can easily replace unhealthy sauces and ketchups,
• instead of soda, you need to drink only 100% juice that does not contain sugar,
• instead of regular dairy products, buy only non-fat.

Try to give up sugar as much as possible. Gradually reduce its portion, which you add to tea or coffee. Also pay attention to the sugar content in other products, for example, in ketchup, bread, drinks.

About daily activity and health

The second aspect of a healthy lifestyle is daily activity and regular health diagnostics. A healthy adult should spend at least 60 minutes a day on moderate exercise. This is equivalent to 2-3 long workouts per week or daily evening runs.

Important! There are different types of physical activity that do not require strict adherence to technology and professionalism: running, swimming, dancing, group fitness classes and even ordinary walking.

Every 6-12 months it is recommended to undergo a full medical examination. Also, if you change your lifestyle (modernization of nutrition and the inclusion of training), you must consult a doctor.

Weight control is a difficult task, but if the above rules are followed, this process can be made enjoyable, thereby avoiding psycho-emotional stress and disruptions.

Stick to the schedule

In order for proper nutrition to bring a positive result, it is necessary to radically change the lifestyle. First of all, this concerns eating. Experts recommend setting a clear schedule, which should be strictly adhered to. Why is this so important? If, for example, you didn’t have breakfast, then closer to lunch you will experience an irresistible feeling of hunger, which can provoke you to buy fast food. After all, it is so tempting to eat a magnificent bun with a juicy cutlet inside. Is not it?

Training

Moderate physical activity is not only a step towards a healthy lifestyle, but also a great opportunity to adjust the weight of your own body. Experts recommend visiting the gym regularly and exercising under the supervision of a trainer, who will create an individual program for you. But what if you have a shortage of free time?

The modern world offers a lot of opportunities for independent sports. There are many websites on the Web that host the so-called online BMI (body mass index) calculators. All you need is to enter the following parameters:

The program will automatically calculate your daily calorie intake, which you must adhere to. If you exceeded it, then it's time for a run or other physical exertion that will help burn the excess. You can monitor how many calories you have consumed using various gadgets, such as fitness trackers.

Daily charge

Accustom yourself to do exercises every day. Let it become as familiar as brushing your teeth. It is not necessary in the morning to overload yourself with physical activities that will not leave you the strength to work or study. You can break up physical activity into blocks. Start the morning with a warm-up, do push-ups or pull-ups during the day, and go for a run in the evening.

When drawing up the schedule, consider the general state of health, as well as the natural physical exertion that you will encounter one way or another throughout the day, for example, walking, climbing stairs. If you have any medical contraindications, we strongly recommend that you consult your doctor.

Strength exercises

When burning excess calories, strength exercises are most effective. To do this, it is not necessary to go to the gym or to carry heavy shells. It is enough to purchase a regular fitness expander, which is sold in any store specializing in sports goods. With this simple tool you can perform more than 40 exercises, and its benefits can hardly be underestimated. The expander will provide:

• muscle elasticity
• increase in strength
• strengthening the muscle corset.

In this case, the pressure on the ligamentous-articular apparatus will be negligible.

Develop stress tolerance

Oddly enough, but stress can be the main cause of rapid weight gain. Many people in a stressful situation completely lose control of themselves. As a result, overeating, lack of any motivation, apathy, laziness. You can become more resistant to stress:

• By signing up for yoga courses. Breathing practices and meditation have a positive effect on a person’s emotional background.
• If you get enough sleep. Bad sleep is one of the main factors that leads to depression. Most likely, you noticed that a person who does not sleep well becomes more irritable, nervous. Therefore, try to ensure a healthy sleep.

Give up alcohol

Excessive consumption of alcoholic beverages is always a problem. However, few people know that alcohol can cause obesity. Do you think these are horror stories from the Ministry of Health? You're wrong! Let's give a good example. In 1 liter of a light beer drink contains 500 calories, and in 1 kilogram of tangerines - no more than 330!

Get support

For many people, the fight against excess weight can become quite a serious, even overwhelming test. In this case, the best you can think of is to find support in the person of loved ones.

If you decide to follow a diet, then warn your family members in advance. Agree that it is difficult to eat healthy food if the general refrigerator is clogged with such tasty, but at the same time harmful products.

Sometimes fat people are shy or too lazy to go to the gym. In this case, support from friends will help. Ask someone close to keep you company. If no one responds, then this is not a reason to abandon fitness. Remember that not only bodybuilders and bodybuilders visit the gym, but also people with a problem similar to yours. Perhaps you will be able to make new friends directly in the classroom, and going to the gym will no longer seem so boring and meaningless.

If you are a timid person who is afraid to speak with strangers - it does not matter. Like-minded people can be found on social networks. Quite often, people find support in thematic groups, acquire new friends, give each other advice and together overcome existing difficulties.