If you were told by your doctor that you are significantly overweight, would it have been surprizing to you? Most certainly not; you already would (or should) have known. You have been ignoring reality all this time.
In fact, if I am obese and my doctor said otherwise I would have known he/she was telling me a fat lie.
So, by now you would have been noticing the gradual inflation of your health every time you go to your wardrobe or to the department store to choose your clothes. Your mirror would have been screaming at you for months or years, but you always kept on doing what you're doing.
Well now, if you are obese, overweight, or are on the road to becoming, consider this simple argument. . .
What does it mean to be obese?
It means. . .
- You're carrying around too much load, and you are not getting any younger.
- You need a bigger, stronger heart since you have now significantly increased the workload for your heart. You can only increase the power of your heart by exercising - which you (most likely) have not been doing.
- Your body mass index (BMI) is 30+
- Maybe your belly jiggles when you laugh. But this is no laughing matter! Why?
- You are three times more likely to suffer from heart disease,
- You are four times more likely to suffer from hypertension (high blood pressure)
- You are also five times more likely to develop diabetes, and
- You have increased risk of developing cancer.
What can you do?
Don't think you have to do anything big. Just think long-term.
That's right. You might be hearing sounds like, “lose 30 lbs in as many days!" Hey, how long did it take you to put on that much weight? Much longer.
Take it easy. Do it right. Do it for the right reasons. Do it for the health of it. Do it the healthy way. What is that?
Change all the unhealthy practices to healthy ones - like
- increasing the rate at which you burn calories. Regular exercise. This also builds and strengthens muscles, which means increased calorie-burning capacity.
- Eat more fruits, nuts, grains, and vegetables and less of the fatty, sugary foods.
- Don't skip breakfast, and do not snack
That's not any where nearly as difficult or costly as gastric bypass or liposuction. And it works.
Wyatt S. B. , Winters K. P. , Dubbert P. M. , Overweight and obesity: Prevalence, Consequences, and Causes of a Growing Public Health Problem; American J. Med Sci. 2006 Apr; 331(4):166-174. Luddington, A. , Diehl, H. , Health Power, 2002
Copyright © 2006 by Bentley Thompson
Bentley writes about lifestyle-related conditions such as diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular diseases. He advocates the anti-diabetes diet which he describes on his website. You may visit his website and blog using the following URLs: http://www.anti-diabetes-diet-supplements.com/ and http://choosehealthtoday.blogspot.com