Weight Loss – Significance and Benefits

Weight Loss – Significance and Benefits

Not only will losing weight make us feel better, we will live healthier lives by reducing our risk of disease. Mentally and emotionally we feel better because physically we are better. By losing weight, those of us who are overweight by 20 pounds or more will have a great stress reduction on our joints allowing for easier movement. Easier movement builds upon itself and we want to move around more and more, get involved in more activities. This in turn leads to a healthier lifestyle approach in our everyday lives.

Weight Loss – Significance and Benefits

What is a healthy weight loss?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence reports weight loss of even a small amount, about 5% of one’s weight, will dramatically increase health benefits. But how does a person know they need to lose weight? The Body Mass Index (BMI) is a way for people to easily calculate the need to lose weight. It is calculated by dividing weight in pounds by height in inches squared and multiplying by 703. Most adults want to achieve a BMI between 18.5 to 24.9. Being classified as overweight is typically associated with a BMI exceeding 25. If your BMI is over 30 you are considered obese.

What are some benefits of weight loss?

Bringing your BMI below 25 will greatly reduce your risk of stroke and heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, high blood pressure, kidney disease and Type II Diabetes. Sometimes these conditions can remain unnoticed for years, allowing for greater problems later in life. Losing weight earlier in life may actually reverse some diseases, according to the American Medical Association. So it’s important to start a healthier lifestyle program now.

What are some tips to lose weight?

If you’re eager to start taking off those extra pounds, think of some quick painless things right now:

1) Trying adding foods instead of subtracting food from your diet. Add healthy veggies into soups and stews, add colorful fruits like cherries or snow peas as snackfood.

2) If you are allergic to “exercise”, don’t think “working out”, think “enjoyment”. Play Frisbee with the dog or kids, make snow angels, ride a bike.

3) Walk, walk, walk. Anywhere you can walk instead of drive, do it. Trade in your power lawn mower for a push model.

4) Eat less of what you love. Don’t give up pasta, trim it down like your waist.

5) Stay hydrated. Drink water instead of sodas. Stay hydrated all day to allow your body to feel less hungry.

6) Share your extreme over sized meal with a friend. Cut your restaurant portions.

7) Tone up while watching TV. Watch TV on your exercycle or turn on a Jazzercise tape and follow along. Get up and stretch during commercials.

8) Think about smaller plates and bowls at home. Plan your meals according to smaller sizes.

9) Plan a project at home that gets you off the couch. Paint a room, discover yoga, pick wildflowers, walk the dog.

10) Patience! This may be the most important tip. People get frustrated if results are slow to come. Be patient and be successful.

Some Weight Loss Programs

A. Old School New Body:Reverse aging with Steve and Becky Holman’s great weight loss program. Lead happier, healthier lives with an easy 5-step plan:

•             Forget low-fat diets
•             Forget long exercise workouts
•             Stop blaming age for everything
•             Avoid dehydration

B. Paleo Diet Recipe: The Paleo Diet (Paleolithic or Caveman’s Diet) concentrates on foods such as lean meat, nuts and berries. Modern nutrition with dairy, grains, legumes and processed foods is considered indigestible. Humans evolved nutritional needs based on the foods available at the time and we still adapt to more natural foods like those existing in Paleolithic times.

C. Let the pros do the work for you: Don’t spend hours researching on your own, choose the experience of the professional weight loss experts.

D. Whole Food Lifestyle & Juicing For Health: Concentrate on foods in their natural state, totally unprocessed. This is called clean eating. Get the junk food out of your diet and start eating clean foods. Juicing is a great part of eating whole foods. You will feel better because you will be getting more vitamins and minerals out of your food.