An obese person faces more health risks than a person of average weight. Being that overweight can cause issues like difficulty finding clothes that fit and even sometimes difficulty fitting into seats in places like airplanes and theaters. An obese person also is at much higher risk of things like heart attack and stroke.
An obese person is generally someone who is more than 40 to 75 pounds overweight. A person is considered morbidly obese if they weight 100 pounds or more what they should. Both of these conditions carry elevated health risks.
When you’re obese, your body is carrying more weight than it was designed to carry. This puts extra pressure on bones, muscles and joints. If you think about how much harder it is to carry a sack full of 50 pounds than it is to carry one with 5 pounds, it’s easier to see the burden put on your frame.
Because bones are strong and rugged, the extra weight takes its toll on the weakest part of your frame: the joints. Joints like hips, ankles and knees are at particular risk, because the weight of the entire upper body falls up on them.
Joints are naturally our bodies’ weakest spots because they’re the spots where the bones come together. The knees are at a particular risk in an obese person. The knee is a very complex joint that faces wear and tear with every single step we take.
When someone is obese, there’s much more pressure on the knees than normal. So each step puts twice, triple, sometimes four times the normal pressure or more on those joints. This causes the joints to wear out prematurely and is the reason heavy people often have trouble with their knees.
While hips joints and ankles are at this same risk, it’s the knees that generally carry the brunt of the weight and absorb the pressure, so this is where the injuries often appear first.
Aside from the extra weight on the frame and joints, all that extra weight puts pressure on the body’s systems, too. First of all, large amounts of body fat don’t just show up on the outside, but fatty tissue can form internally around organs.
And large amounts of body fat can actually crowd internal organs and put pressure against them. This pressure can cause the organs to start operating differently, and can interfere with normal bodily functions.
Because the extra weight requires more work of the body to keep going, often blood pressure is elevated and the heart has to work harder than normal. This can be a factor in heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.
Also, the extra weight generally means that the person’s diet is poor and too high in calories. This is a major cause of diabetes, which can damage blood vessels, eyes and nerves.
In some cases, people may lose their eyesight or a foot or leg to diabetes because of poor circulation. The good news is that once an obese person starts losing weight, diabetes and other conditions can be reversed.
Just hearing the terms “work out” or “exercise” causes many people to cringe. Yet it is a proven fact that exercise is an important concept for a healthy body and diet routine. Dieting alone will help anyone lose weight, but they must include exercise and working out; as part of the regime to maintain the weight loss and healthy body.
Learning to incorporate an exercise program, as easy as walking daily, will increase your weight loss with a healthy diet. Since many people are stationery for most of their day, adding the exercise to their lives will increase the benefits of the diet. Increasing the amount of activity increases the effects of the healthy eating habits.
Eating a healthy diet with a plan rich in protein, good carbohydrates, grains, Omega-3, and low fat foods is necessary for a serious dieter. Adding fresh vegetables and fruits to the diet provides the essential nutrients to the body. Removing the condiments and fried foods from the diet also is a great way to improve the eating habits.
Avoiding sugary and fatty foods in the diet will increase weight loss when including regiments of walking, jogging, swimming, and riding a bicycle. A healthy diet with exercise creates a healthy life style that will provide long-term weight management as well as a healthier body that is resistant to diabetes, heart disease, and other health complications.
Add water to the daily diet. Drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water to keep the body hydrated and flush out the toxins and fat from the body. The body needs water to have healthy lungs, kidneys, liver, hair, nails, bones, and teeth. Water in the diet also helps the person feel full (temporarily) and removes the urges to eat to relieve the feelings of hunger.
Avoid caffeine in coffee, tea, and sodas. The caffeine is not a good chemical for the body. Many feel caffeine energizes them but in reality, it actually causes fatigue when the levels drop thus creating weight gain due to the lack of energy to be active.
The more a person is active the more they will lose weight. They will have more energy, from the higher levels of exercise, which will then cause them to burn the stored fat. Losing the stored fat decreases the weight and provides a better looking body for many people.
Using a healthy diet combined with exercise and workouts can become a standard way of life, leading to a longer life span and a healthier body; that can fight off diseases and even the common cold. The well-maintained body is able to fight off heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer and other diseases. People have changed their lives with a healthy diet, a good exercise program; consequently adding more productive years to their life span
One serious health problem of obese child involves the body’s ability to process sugar. Diabetes is occurring in almost epidemic rates in the United States and much of the Western world. That’s because we have heavy kids who are growing into heavy adults. And this health problem of obese child begins early and can cause diabetes to occur in adults at a young age.
When a child is overweight, their body’s systems are overtaxed. A child doesn’t just become overweight accidentally. Poor diet and lack of exercise in any combination will contribute to a child being overweight.
And it’s not the weight itself necessarily that causes many of the of the health problem of obese child. Rather it’s the diet and lifestyle that led the child to become fat that can cause the problems.
One of the most serious health conditions facing people today is the threat of diabetes. Fortunately, diabetes is mostly preventable. Type I diabetes occurs when the pancreas stops functioning properly. This type of diabetes is also known as juvenile diabetes. This isn’t a preventable disease because it simply happens when an organ malfunctions.
Type II diabetes on the other hand is almost always preventable. This is a disease caused by lifestyle choices like diet and lack of exercise. While there are cases where it seemed a person was doing everything possible to say fit and they developed diabetes, in almost every case the condition was brought on by poor dietary choices.
People who have type II diabetes can usually stop the disease and even reverse it by following a healthy diet that cuts out simple carbohydrates. It’s foods high in certain types of carbohydrates that contribute to the development of diabetes, so eliminating them can make a drastic difference.
When adults who have diabetes alter their diets, dramatic changes can take place. They lose weight and lower their blood sugar levels naturally. This can lead to an end to diabetes and they can get off the pills and even the insulin shots.
This health problem of obese child often starts when they’re young, even though the diabetes may not develop until they’re an adult. That’s because it’s a slowly progressing disease and can take years before the body responds.
When a child eats a diet high in simple carbohydrates like flour and sugar, large amounts of glucose are released into the blood stream after they eat. Because kids’ bodies are so adaptable, their bodies work efficiently to remove the excess glucose by releasing large amounts of insulin to take care of it.
Over time, the large amounts of insulin released into the blood stream can damage the vessels and arteries. And eventually the body becomes resistant to the effects of insulin, just as a person can be resistant to antibiotics or other drugs.
The body stops sending it out. The blood sugar isn’t removed, and pills or insulin injections become necessary. This health problem of obese child may take years to develop, but it’s doing damage over their entire childhood if not stopped.
A calories burned counter is called a pedometer. Choosing a good and high quality Digital Calories burned counter usually means paying more as the more expensive pedometers are better. As with everything you buy, you get what you pay for. However, you can avoid paying for more pedometer than you need by researching and looking for reviews. The following are characteristics of a good Calories burned counter.
1. It Doesn’t Under-Count Or Over-Count Steps
The most essential characteristic of a good Calories burned counter is accuracy. While no pedometer can have 100accuracy in counting steps, you should not get one that under-counts or over-counts in either extreme. In most cases, a poor quality calories burned counter usually under-counts your steps. Because every step counts, you may end up working harder than you should if you buy a poor quality pedometer.
2. It Comes with a Waistband Clip or Durable Belt
No matter how well the pedometer itself works, it can only work if it is attached to you. That’s why you don’t want to choose a Digital Calories burned counter that comes with a belt or waistband clip that breaks easily. Once the clip or belt is broken the device may not be unusable since it is designed to be clipped firmly on our waist to count steps properly. Always look out for belt or waistband clip that comes with lifetime warranty if available as you can return it for a replacement if it breaks.
3. Comes With Warranty (At Least 1 Year)
A good quality calories burned counter will come with minimum one year warranty or more. A pedometer with no warranty or a limited warranty gives you no assurance that the device will last.
4. Comes With Longer Battery Life
A calories burned counter that comes with only a short battery life will not be accurate and this will negatively affect your wellness and fitness program. Thus, you must find one that has a longer battery life.
5. Comes With “False Step” Sensor To Remove Non-Step Motion
The better calories burned counters come with built-in “false step” sensor. These filter out motions that are not considered as a “normal step”. Such calories burned counters are usually more accurate in results compared to others.
6. Has Separate Step and Aerobic Step Counters
A pedometer that has separate calories burned counters for regular steps and for minutes walked more than 10 minutes continuously will give you a better sense of the actual calories you have burned off. These pedometers are more sophisticated and thus better.
7. Has an Automatic Shut Down Feature
Some of the more advanced calories burned counters will automatically reset themselves at midnight. While this isn’t an essential feature, it is nice to know that you get a fresh count of your steps each morning.
Calories burned counters that are used as freebies or are items given away in trade shows, or sold as promotional items are typically considered as “cheap” and “not-so-good-quality” Pedometers.
Instead, invest the $25 to $35 out of your own pocket to get one of the top quality calories burned counters available today.
Posted in Video on May 14, 2012
Video: A good way to warm up before exercising is to jog on the spot as shown in this video.
Posted in Recipe on May 13, 2012
Ingredients
1/4 Cup Fat-free Thousand Island Dressing
8 Slices Whole Wheat Bread
8 oz. Low Sodium Turkey Breast
1/2 Cup Sauerkraut (rinsed and drained)
4 Slices Reduced Fat Swiss Cheese
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Directions
Spread dressing on one side of each slice of bread.
Stack sandwiches with turkey, sauerkraut and cheese.
Spray a large pan with olive oil spray and cook 2 sandwiches over medium heat for 4 minutes per side. Make sure bread is toasted and cheese is melted then serve hot.
(Makes 4 servings)
Posted in Video on May 12, 2012
Video: Walking lunges target your lower body.
Are you trying to lose weight pounds? While some people only want to lose 5-10 pounds for a specific purpose, if you have more than 50 lbs. to shed, you need to consider more dramatic weight loss strategies. You are not going to lose weight pounds overnight. Instead, try a balanced approach to losing the weight over time.
Aim to lose weight pounds at a rate of 1-2 lbs. per week. But, don’t dive right in. Instead, spend a week planning your diet.
First of all, weigh yourself. You will also want to keep a journal of everything you eat each day for a week. Include portion sizes. Also note any activity including working out, heavy house or lawn work, and sporting events or active play with children. Don’t do anything out of the ordinary during this week. Specifically, don’t decrease your normal calorie load or alter your normal foods. Also, don’t try to do anything different with your activity levels.
The reason you start with this is that you want to develop a baseline for lose weight pounds. When you see what you are actually doing, you can plan a strategy for change.
Go back through your food journal at the end of the week. Calculate how many calories you ate each day. Calculate how many calories you burned each day. Then weigh yourself at the end of the week. Have you gone up, down or stayed the same?
Now, you can begin the substitutions. If you gained a pound, you will have to burn an extra 3500 calories each week just to stay even. If you want to lose 2 pounds, you will have to burn an extra 7000 calories.
Here are some simple substitutions:
- Eat only two servings of red meat per week. Substitute chicken or fish for all other meat meals.
- Consider substituting legumes (beans) for some protein sources.
- Add salads and vegetables to your meals. You should have one or the other at lunch and both at dinner.
- Add a broth based soup to your dinner. Eaten before the meal, it will help you fill up faster.
- Eat breakfast every day. People who eat breakfast lose more weight and lose weight faster than those who don’t. Great diet breakfasts include oatmeal and yogurt based fruit smoothies.
You should also add exercise to your lose weight pounds program. Don’t think that this requires you to join a fancy gym. Fire the maid and do your housework yourself. A 180 pound woman who cleans the house for an hour will burn 250 calories. And, more vigorous cleaning such as 20 minutes of scrubbing your floors on your hands and knees burns over 100 calories. Even playing with your kids can help you lose weight. 30 minutes of vigorous play can burn off 200 calories.
So, if you are trying to lose weight pounds and you have 50 or more lbs. to go, consider doing a week of baseline monitoring followed by making a food lifestyle change. Also, try to increase the amount of physical activity you get in your life.
Posted in Video on May 10, 2012
Video: This exercise targets the shoulders and triceps.
Posted in Recipe on May 9, 2012
Ingredients
1 cup frozen unsweetened peach slices
1 – 8 ounce container low-fat raspberry yogurt
1 tablespoon honey or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Put the mugs in freezer to chill. In a blender, combine peaches, yogurt and honey. Cover and blend until almost smooth. Add skim milk and vanilla. Cover and blend until smooth. Pour into chilled glasses and serve.
