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.

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If you live in a part of the world where the winters are cold, then chances are good that you look forward to summer every year. The warm weather, being outside, picnics…and going swimming. Wait! That all sounds good except for the swimming. Sure, you enjoy summer, but let’s just say you’re not quite ready to reveal to much at the beach. To put it another way, you are concerned about summer weight loss. If so, you should know that you are not alone. Perhaps millions of people go through this exact same struggle, year after year.

Of course winter has its strong points, too. You can stay indoors all you like and nobody questions it, you can sit by the fireplace and read good books, or just watch television. Throw in a few big holidays…and big eating, and it’s easy to see how your waistline could increase during the colder months. But no matter, summer is coming sooner than you would like and now you have to lose some weight.

If you have found yourself facing this dilemma in years past, then you know how difficult it can be to lose enough weight in time for summer. Perhaps you have tried DVDs, gym memberships, fad diets, diet pills or starving yourself to get rid of a few pounds. But summer weight loss doesn’t mean you have to do drastic things to look good in swimwear. The real secret is to make better food choices and to get yourself moving.

One of the great things about spring and summer is that the grocery stores start getting in fresher produce. That means you can stock up on some of the tastiest foods from nature. And eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables is one of the keys to losing weight without taking too much effort. These foods are low in calories and packed with essential vitamins and nutrients that help you to stay healthy.

Another benefit of fruits and vegetables is that they tend to be high in fiber. Fiber helps keep things moving along in your digestive system, but it also makes you feel more full. Speaking of which, most people will heavier, more rich foods when it’s colder outside. So, the foods you eat in summer may already be lighter to begin with. There are exceptions, of course, such as thick burgers made on the grill. But you don’t have to give those up. Just aim for a smaller portion and load up on the foods that are lower in calories.

Summer weight loss may seem like an impossible task, but there are a lot of advantages working in your favor. You have more access to fresher, healthier foods. You will most likely eat foods that are lighter. Plus, because it’s summer you will probably be a lot more active than you were during the winter. Either way, the choice is yours. You can either keep doing what you’re doing now and be embarrassed all summer long, or you can take action and actually do something about it.

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Once your doctor gives you the all clear to start working out, losing weight after pregnancy is pretty much the same as losing weight at any other time. Get more exercise and eat a balanced diet and you will lose weight. I make it sound so easy, don’t I?

Many first time moms are astonished to go home and to take that first post baby look in a full length mirror. I know I thought that once I delivered my baby (all 10 lbs of her!) that the rest of the weight would be gone. Not so much, but it actually does go pretty quickly when you get home.

The fact is that after your baby is born, even before you are fully recuperated, your body will start to bounce back. Just the busy daily routine you are undertaking will start to make positive changes in your muscle tone.

Eventually, though, after you settle in to your new lifestyle, you will want to take your fitness and weight loss efforts up a notch. When that time comes, here is some good advice for you to follow:

1. Most women see the biggest difference in their stomachs and mistakenly think that doing thousands of crunches is where they should concentrate their efforts. Wrong. There is no such thing as ‘spot reducing’. If you want your waistline back you will have to lose weight and that happens with a balanced diet and a whole body exercise plan.

2. Stay away from quick fix cleanses and fad diets. You’re a mom and you have children depending on you. The last thing you need is anything that will make you feel tired and sluggish (after all, you just gave birth to something that can make you feel tired and sluggish, why add to it!).

3. With young children it can be a challenge to find the time to work out. Not to worry. You can make a huge positive impact on your body with 15 minute power workouts throughout your day.

If you don’t have time to spend 30 minutes straight on a treadmill, how about just 15 minutes of some form of activity? Something as simple as a few jumping jacks, a few minutes of jump roping, or even taking your newest addition for a walk in their stroller can be all you need.

4. Don’t forget to take care of yourself either. Get dad to take the baby at least for a few minutes every day to give you some much needed down time. Stress has a way of making you hang on to your excess body weight. Even a 15 minute soak in your tub, all by yourself, in peace and quiet can make a world of difference.

With some common sense, and realistic expectations, losing weight after pregnancy doesn’t have to be the daunting task it may seem. Just make sure to take good care of yourself and you will be better able to take care of your new (screaming and puking) bundle of joy!

Tags: Balanced Diet, Body Exercise, Daily Routine, Exercise Plan, Fad Diets, Full Length Mirror, Good Advice, Healthy Diet, Jumping Jacks, Losing Weight, Losing Weight After Pregnancy, Muscle Tone, Notch, Positive Changes, Power Workouts, Pregnancy Baby, Stomachs, Time Moms, Treadmill, Undertaking, Waistline, Weight Loss Efforts —

You know, it may not be fair that society and advertises perpetuate an unreasonable ideal for what people should look like. Nobody’s perfect. On the other hand, there is also a point when it’s a good idea to lose weight. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be healthy, or to look your best. Losing weight isn’t always easy, but what follows will make it much, much easier. Nothing complicated, just stuff that actually works.

Building muscle burns calories even when you’re at rest. Wait! While that may be true, the calorie-burning effect of extra muscle tends to be exaggerated. The one thing that is not in dispute is that muscle does burn more calories, pound for pound, than fat does. The only question is how much, but in the battle of the bulging waistline we’ll use every trick in the book.

Write a plan to lose weight. Even if you’re writing down somebody else’s plan. The sheer act of writing it down increases the odds of your success. What foods will you be adding or reducing? What new habits will you encourage? What about exercise? There are no right or wrong answers, you know yourself better than anybody, so only you can make the best plan for you. The more specific your plan, the better.

Be ready for the inevitable roadblocks and setbacks. Yeah, I’m human, too. There will be times when you veer from your plan. It may be a moment of weakness, or it could be due to an unforeseen circumstance. The trick is to not let it get to you. All too often we make one slip and use that as an excuse for letting our plan slide for the day. Don’t let that happen. Forgive and forget and get back to your plan.

Make the better choice. This ranks right up there as an easy way to lose weight. For example, let’s say you are buying a bag of potato chips (yes, you can eat chips), compare it to another bag and see which has the fewest calories. Or, even better, compare the chips to another snack food, or something from the produce department. You always have a choice. How much weight loss you experience will correspond directly to how good your exercise and food choices are.

Perhaps you noticed that we actually said you can eat potato chips earlier. Yes! Chips. It’s silly to think you will really be able to swear off the foods you truly love for the rest of your life (barring serious health reasons for doing so). So, instead of fighting it, you’re going to control it. How? By eating smaller portions of the foods that do the most damage to your waistline.

None of the things we just covered are complicated. Start incorporating them into your daily routine now. The best part is that you can keep eating all of the foods you love if you’re willing to build a little extra muscle, have a plan, be prepared, make better choices and keep portions in check.

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