Basically obesity is when a person has an excessive amount of body fat. Not only does the problem of obesity lie in how a person looks, but it also causes some great health concerns. Obesity can lead to many serious medical conditions including heart disease, stroke, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Levels of body fat in a person are calculated using a formula called BMI or Body Mass Index. If an adult has a BMI of over 30 then they are considered to be obese. If an adult has a BMI of over 40 then they are extremely obese or also known as morbidly obese. The more obese that a person is then the more susceptible they are to serious health conditions.

It is an unfortunate statistic, but one in three Americans is considered to be obese. The number of overweight people is rising all the time due to the huge amount of junk foods available these days and also the lack of exercise. A person can slowly become overweight and then obese before they even realize that they have a problem. When they do realize that they are putting their health at risk with their weight then they may begin to look at weight loss programs to try and lose that excess weight.

As well as heart disease and diabetes, obesity may also cause sleep apnea, snoring, difficulty sleeping, pain in the back and joints, rashes and infections in the creases of the skin, excessive sweating, and get out of breathe easily, fatigue and depression. Any one of these problems can become a real issue for a person and this is when you should seek help to gain control of your weight and ease any of these symptoms. It will not be easy to change your lifestyle and lose weight and you will need to be prepared to make dietary changes and to introduce some physical activity into your life.

Obesity is caused by consuming too many calories in comparison with how many calories burned. The more overweight a person becomes the less physical activity they tend to do and so they are not burning off many of those calories that they are consuming. Lack of exercise and bad diet choices are the leading causes of obesity. Genetic and hormonal influences may also contribute to obesity in some people. When a person is inactive they do not burn off the fat consumed and that fat is then stored in the body.

It is essential to change your eating habits if you are to lose that excess body fat and get back to a healthy weight range. Some tips for changing your eating habits are:

* Stop or limit the amount of fast food you eat.
* Don’t skip breakfast but instead have a nutritional breakfast.
* Don’t eat too much right before bed time.
* Put an end to drinking soft drinks.
* Reduce the portions of the food you eat.
* Drink lots of water.

It is also important to make sure that you get the required amount of sleep every night. When you are not getting enough sleep your hormones can change and increase your appetite leading you to consume more calories during the day.

Introducing exercise into your daily routine can be really difficult to do at first if you are extremely obese. You can start out slowly doing something as simple as going for a 20 minute walk each day and gradually increase that time. As you slowly become fit you can walk faster until you are doing at least 30 minutes of brisk walking each day.

When you feel that you can take on more exercise you may consider joining a gym or taking up a sport that involves cardio exercises to help burn off more fat.

When you have made bad diet and lifestyle choices for a long time it can be difficult to make the change for the better and get your life and your health back on track. Eating unhealthy foods and being inactive is really not worth the health conditions that it can cause so make a decision to change your life and be healthy.

Tags: Blood Pressure Levels, Bmi, Body Mass Index, Calories, Creases, Dietary Changes, Eating Habits, Excess Weight, Excessive Sweating, Great Health, Health Concerns, Health Conditions, Healthy Diet, Heart Disease And Diabetes, heart disease;, high blood pressure;, Junk Foods, Lack Of Exercise, Losing Weight, Morbidly Obese, obesity;, Physical Activity, Rashes, Serious Health —

Obesity is on the rise and the number of people with too much body fat is higher than ever. A human body consists of fat, water, carbohydrates, protein, vitamins and minerals. When the amount of fat is too high then you are at higher risk of serious medical problems like heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes.

When you have excess fat in your body it raises your cholesterol and triglyceride levels. It can also raise your blood pressure and increase your risk of diabetes. The risk of heart disease is significantly higher when you are obese. In fact a person that is obese may have double the risk of having a major heart attack or a stroke.

When a person consumes more calories than they burn then those calories turn into stored fat. This causes a person to become overweight and may lead to obesity. When there is too many calories consumed that contain a lot of cholesterol and saturated fats the cholesterol levels in the blood increase. This increase of cholesterol will increase the risk of heart disease.

How do you know if you are obese?

Body fat is measure by both body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference. If your waistline is more than 35 inches for women and more than 40 inches for men then you are at a high risk of becoming obese.

The BMI is the body weight in comparison to the persons height. This is calculated by taking the body weight (in pounds) and dividing it by the height (in inches) squared then multiply this by 703.

Here are the levels of body mass index calculations:

18.5 or less is considered as being underweight

18.5 to 24.9 is considered a healthy weight range

25.0 to 29.9 is considered as being overweight

30.0 or higher is considered as being obese

40.0 or higher is considered as extreme obesity.

How to reduce or prevent obesity:

1. Add some exercise into your daily routine, even if you start out with something simple such as walking for 30 minutes a day. If you can’t exercise every day then try to exercise at least three to four times a week.

2. Reduce the amount of time you spend doing activities sitting down, such as watching TV or time on the computer.

3. Make fitter choices, such as taking the stairs instead of the lift.

4. Eat a healthy, nutritious diet that is low in fat. Include lots of fruit and vegetables in your diet.

5. Reduce the amount of food consumed each day by making your proportions smaller.

It is easiest to prevent obesity but if you are already obese it isn’t too late to get back to a healthy weight range. To live longer and have a healthier and more active life, try the above tips to get yourself to a healthy weight and stay at a healthy weight. Having a healthy weight range is the best choice for avoiding those serious conditions, such as heart disease and stroke, which you are at higher risk at by being overweight.

Tags: Atkins, Body Fat, Body Mass Index, Body Mass Index Bmi, Body Mass Index Calculations, Calories, Cholesterol Levels, Daily Routine, Fruits And Vegetables, Healthy Diet, heart attack;, heart disease;, Heart Stroke, high blood pressure;, High Cholesterol, High Risk, Losing Weight, Medical Problems, Risk Of Heart Disease, Saturated Fats, Triglyceride Levels, Vitamins And Minerals, Vitamins Minerals, Waist Circumference, Waistline —

For many morbidly obese people who are facing serious health issues related to their obesity, gastric bypass may be the answer to losing weight and getting healthy. It’s not a quick fix or a ‘lazy persons’ way out, it’s a procedure that can help someone lose a lot of weight more quickly than they could with traditional diet and exercise alone. This quick weight loss is the key since the sooner the weight comes off the more quickly a persons health can improve. While everyone is different and results will be different from one person to the next, here are some gastric bypass statistics that you can consider.

The basic concept behind the surgery is pretty simple: close off a portion of the stomach so a person can’t eat as much food all at once. Eating less food, and taking in fewer calories, will make it possible for someone to lose weight at a significant pace. Since this method emphasizes proper nutrition and lifestyle changes the rapid weight loss doesn’t have the unhealthy aspects that many other rapid forms of weight loss have.

The most important thing to think about is how would you define whether or not the procedure was a success? Would you define it based on a certain amount of weight you lost or would you define it based on whether or not you kept that weight off? Some will define the success or failure of the procedure based solely on achieving, and maintaining, a normal Body Mass Index for over five years after the procedure. Knowing what your expectation are and making sure they are realistic is a very important step for you to take prior to making a final decision on whether or not you are going to undergo the procedure.

For those people who are classified as morbidly obese, having a Body Mass Index of between 30% and 49%, the success rate has been shown to be as high at 93%.

A new category, Super Obese, has been coined and that indicates anyone with a Body Mass Index of above 50%, for those people the success rate actually goes down somewhat to about 57%. ( though it should be noted that for many this simply means that they didn’t get or maintain a normal Body Mass Index for five years or more. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t make dramatic improvements to their overall health).

Many studies have shown that patients who undergo the procedure, and make the required lifestyle changes, will reduce their other obesity related health issues such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

With the very real, and life threatening, health issues associated with being obese, it’s imperative that anyone who is overweight take significant steps to lose weight and improve their mobility. Eating less and moving more can have a huge impact on your health, your appearance, and your overall sense of well being. For some people, surgery will provide them with the best chance of a positive result. While the actual results can vary dramatically from one person to another, the actual gastric bypass statistics tend to show that for many people who are seriously overweight, this surgery can help them achieve the normal Body Mass Index that is at the heart of having a healthy body.

Tags: Body Mass, Body Mass Index, Dow, Expectation, Fewer Calories, Final Decision, food;, Gastric Bypass, Health Issues, high blood pressure;, High Cholesterol, less food, Lifestyle Changes, Losing Weight, Morbidly Obese People, New Category, obesity;, Proper Nutrition, Quick Weight Loss, Rapid Weight Loss, Serious Health, Stomach, Success Rate, Super Obese, surgery, Traditional Diet, Unhealthy Aspects —

Since excess weight puts you at risk for many health problems, you may need to set some weight loss plans to help avoid those risks and prevent disease.

But what should be your long-term goal? And what short-term goals should you set to help you get there? You have a better chance of attaining your goals if you make sure that the weight loss plans that you will use are sensible and reasonable right at the beginning.

Here are some guidelines from the experts in choosing weight loss plans and goals.

1. Be realistic

Most peoples long-term weight loss plans are more ambitious than they have to be.

For example, if you weigh 170 pounds and your long-term plan is to weigh 120, even if you have not weighed 120 since you were 16 and now you are 45, that is not a realistic weight loss goal.

Your body mass index or BMI is a good indicator of whether or not you need to shed of pounds. The ideal BMI range, according to the national Institutes of Health, is between 19 and 24.9. If your BMI is between 25 and 29.9, you are considered overweight. Any number above 30 is in the obesity range.

From this point of view, you will need a sensible weight loss plan that will correspond to the required BMI based on your height, because this is the primary factor that will affect your BMI.

2. Set appropriate objectives

Using a weight loss plan just for vanitys sake is psychologically less helpful than losing weight to improve health.

You have made a big step forward if you decide to undergo a weight loss plan that includes exercise and eating right so that you will feel better and have more energy to do something positive in your life.

3. Focus on doing, not losing

Rather than saying that you are going to lose a pound this week, say how much you are going to exercise this week. This would definitely make up of a sensible weight loss plan.

Keep in mind that your weight within a span of a week is not completely in your control, but your behavior is.

4. Build bit by bit

Short-term weight loss plans should not be pie-in-the-sky. This means that when you have never exercised at all, your best weight loss plan for this week should be based on finding three different one-mile routes that you can walk next week.

5. Keep up the self-encouragement

An all-or-nothing attitude only sets you up to fail. Learn to evaluate your efforts fairly and objectively. If you fall short of some goals, just look ahead to next week. You do not need to have a perfect record.

After all, self-encouragement should definitely be a part of your weight loss plans. Otherwise, you will just fail in the end.

6. Use measurable measures

Saying that you are going to be more positive this week or that you are going to really get serious this week is not a goal that you can measure and should not be a part of your weight loss plan.

This is another reason why you should incorporate exercise on your weight loss plan and focus on it. You should be able to count up the minutes of exercise in order to be successful in your plan.

The bottom line is, people should make weight loss plans that will only remain as it is, just a plan. They have to put it into action by incorporating goals that will motivate them to succeed.

PPPPP

Word Count 603

Tags: Attaining Your Goals, Better Chance, Bit By Bit, Bmi, Body Mass Index, disease, Eating Habits, energy;, Excess Weight, Exercise, Health Problems, Long Term Goal, Long Term Weight Loss, Losing Weight, National Institutes Of Health, obesity;, Point Of View, Sake, Sensible Weight Loss, Span, Term Goals, Weight Loss Goal, Weight Loss Plan —