KEEPING MY FORM - How to reduce your weight.

Overweight and obesity refers to the abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat in the body that may impair the individual’s health. Overweight and obesity are of major concern to a lot of people today. In my everyday interaction with people, many of them ask me how they can burn some fat to reduce their weight. Some of them out of fear of gaining weight decide to starve than to eat. Overweight and obesity was once considered to be the problem of high-income countries but unfortunately it is now on the rise in low- and middle-income countries.

To determine if a person is overweight or obese, body mass index (BMI) which is a simple index of weight-for-height is used to determine. Body mass index (BMI) is defined as a person's weight in kilograms divided by the square of his height in meters (kg/m²). After calculating, a person would be said to be overweight when his BMI is greater than or equal to 25 or Obese when the BMI is greater than or equal to 30.

According to the WHO:

• In 2014, more than 1.9 billion adults (18 years and older) were overweight out of which 600 million were obese.
• In 2014, about 13% of the world’s adult population were obese whilst 39% were overweight.
• The worldwide prevalence of obesity more than doubled between 1980 and 2014.

Causes

The fundamental cause of overweight and obesity is an imbalance between the amounts of calories (energy giving foods) consumed and the amount of calories utilised in the body. This means that a person is likely to be overweight or obese when the amount of calories consumed is more than the amount of calories the body burns to give energy for the body processes. The excess calories would be stored in the body which may result in the person becoming overweight or obese. Globally speaking there has being an increased in the intake of energy-dense foods that are high in fat and a decrease in physical activity which could be due to increasing sedentary nature of work, changing modes of transportation, advanced technology and increasing urbanization.

Obesity usually results from a combination of causes and contributing factors such as genetic predisposition, family lifestyles, pregnancy, inactivity, eating unhealthy diet, lack of sleep, social and economic issues, certain medications and age. These factors can cause a person to be overweight or obese.

Individuals who are overweight or obese are at risk of many diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases like stroke, musculoskeletal disorders like osteoarthritis (a highly disabling degenerative disease of the joints) and cancers such as breast and colon cancers. Childhood obesity is associated with a higher chance of obesity, premature death and disability in adulthood. The excess calories or fat which may be stored in the body may be accumulated in the abdomen or around the waist and buttocks.

How to reduce your weight

It is possible to reduce your weight because overweight and obesity can be prevented. The individual who wants to reduce his weight needs to get the right attitude and mind-set. Your effort to overcome obesity is more likely to be successful if you discipline yourself and follow strictly the recommended strategies. At the individual level, people can reduce their weight by adopting these measures;

• Exercise regularly. You need to get at least 20 to 30 minutes of moderate to intense exercises daily preferably in the morning or before bed time. Some of the exercises or physical activities you can do include fast walking, jogging, dancing, skipping, and swimming. This exercise should be started gradually and ended gradually to reduce the pressure on the heart. To prevent boredom which can discourage you, different types of exercise should be done each day.
  
• Follow a healthy eating plan. Focus on low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods, such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. Avoid saturated fat and limit sweets and alcohol. Eat three regular meals a day with no or limited snacking. You can drink water instead of snacks which will cause you to gain weight. Just be sure to choose foods that promote a healthy weight and good health most of the time.
• Take your time to eat. Don’t eat hastily but take your time to eat slowly. Eating hastily will cause you to eat more quantities of the food than you should eat. Take your time, chew the food properly and eat slowly over a period of time.
• Stick to water after each meal. During meals, you may consume drinks like orange juice. But throughout the rest of the day, focus on water instead of juice or soda. Research shows that despite the amount of calories found in sugary drinks, they don’t trigger a sense of fullness the way food does. For this reason, you tend to eat more calories than the body can burn.
•  Avoid white foods. There is some scientific legitimacy to today’s lower-carbohydrate diets. Large amounts of simple carbohydrates from white flour and added sugar can wreak havoc on your blood sugar and lead to weight gain. While avoiding sugar, white rice, and white flour, however, you should eat plenty of whole-grain breads and brown rice. One Harvard study of 74,000 women found that those who ate more than two daily servings of whole grains were 49 percent less likely to be overweight than those who ate the white stuff.

• Avoid eating late before bed. Eating late in the night contributes to weight gain because the calories you have consumed may not be utilized before the next meal. These calories will add up to the excess calories stored in the body. You can eat fruits like apple when you are hungry than to consume high carbohydrate foods and drinks.
• Know and avoid the food traps that cause you to eat. Identify situations that trigger out-of-control eating. Try keeping a journal and write down what you eat, how much you eat, when you eat, how you're feeling and how hungry you are. After a while, you should see patterns emerge. You can plan ahead and develop strategies for handling these types of situations and stay in control of your eating behaviors.
• Avoid drinking alcohol. Alcoholic drinks such as Beer contain rapidly digested carbohydrates that shut down fat burning. This is the reason why beer is sometimes referred to as “liquid bread”. This is the reason why many people who drink alcohol tend to have pot belly which is also called “beer belly”.
  

• Monitor your weight regularly. People who weigh themselves at least once a week are more successful in keeping off excess pounds. Monitoring your weight can tell you whether your efforts are working and can help you detect small weight gains before they become big problems.

• Be consistent. Sticking to your healthy-weight plan during the week, on the weekends, and amidst vacation and holidays as much as possible increases your chances of long-term success.
• Get good night sleep. It is important to have a good sleep every night. An adult should have at least 6 hours of sleep in the night. Not getting enough sleep or getting too much sleep can cause changes in the hormones that increase your appetite. You may also crave foods high in calories and carbohydrates, which can contribute to weight gain. If you have troubles in sleeping, follow these rules.
  
• Have intermittent fasting. Fasting is also an important tool in reducing your weight. When you fast, the body is forced to use the excess fat in the body.

To conclude, it takes a conscious effort to reduce your weight. To reduce your weight, you have to make up your mind, follow the recommended measures religiously and you will see results. Overweight and obesity can cause serious health problems. Avoid it and stay healthy.