Background to ‘Fatness’
It is very difficult to maintain proper body weight. These days almost every person, even the ones that exercise regularly, has problem with extra pounds. What is even more alarming is that more and more young children have problem with obesity and some are even born obese. For example, in India there are communities where 40% of people are overweight and statistics shows that soon half of the world’s population will have problem with excess weight.
Problems with being overweight
Obesity causes many problems such as:
Overweight people are at greater risk of high blood pressure, digestive disorders, cardiac problems, diabetes, ulcers, thyroid problems, gout, etc.
It also causes physical and psychological stress;
Obese people consume more food than they really need. It is proven that 1/3 of the world population consumes 50% more food than they need. If people eat as much food as they need, the shortage of food and water can be solved easily.
Why do we become overweight?
We all know that it is very easy to gain extra pounds and we usually notice that we have a problem when is too late. Some of the reasons why we gain extra pounds are:
- No physical activity. These days, people are mostly leading a sedentary lifestyle– everything we did in the past is now done by machines. We spend too many hours sitting at the computer, and we don’t go out like we did before. We never walk – we just drive or take a cab;
- Unhealthy lifestyle – sleeping late, unpredictable work hours, insomnia, etc.;
- Bad eating habits – we often consume fast food, and even the supposedly healthy food is not quite healthy.
- Flour, bread, bakes, pastries and fried food are some of the foods we consume every day.
- We also consume processed and packaged foods;
Are we overweight?
Often we are not aware that we need to lose weight. So find out if you are overweight:
Do you notice that you have visible extra pounds? If you do, then you need to change your diet and lifestyle.
The waist-to-hip (WTH) ratio and the fat percentage can show you if you are overweight. There are established percentages that shouldn’t be passed. So, for women are 25% and 2.3 % increase is tolerated. But if you were 22% before, and now you’re 25%, then be careful. Avoid checking BMI or lean body mass – as it may be confusing;
The best way to find out that you have gained weight is with the help of your clothes. If they are becoming small then you need to be alarmed.
If somebody tells you that you have gained weight.
If you are eating often but you still feel hungry.
Fast weight loss diet plan
Once you become aware that you are overweight, you need to make a diet plan. You can try making it by yourself or you can find one on the internet. But you should follow these tips:
- Consume a little less food than you feel you need. Try to consume meals that are small enough so you could feel hungry every 3 hours;
- Do not drink water during and after meals;
- Choose a liquid diet with various soups and milk. 25-30% of your meals should be liquid, while the rest can be solid food;
- Don’t drink too much coffee, alcohol , soft drinks, tea , and canned juice;
- Don’t eat after 8 PM. But if you feel hungry drink a cup of milk or take a piece of fruit;
- For snacks, you can have lime juice, seasonal fruit, smoothies or salad. However, you shouldn’t eat snacks more than 4 times a day;
- Start and end your day with a glass of lukewarm water;
- Do not consume junk food (fried foods, hot-dog, canned food, sweets, processed foods pastries, pizza, as they are rich in chemicals and preservatives);
- Consume lightly cooked vegetarian food;
- Try to walk at least four times a day for 15 minutes, before meals.