www.1001TopWords.com |
What is Your Healthy Body Weight
Everywhere we look in the western world we are inundated with pictures, images, icons and inferences of the 'perfect' female shape! The truth is that many of these images are altered or enhanced in some way and do not depict the typical female form. The pressure to lose weight is immense when we are bombarded every day with media selling products based on slimness, sex appeal and fashion. The constant message is that slimness will make you desireable. With the current demographic trends in western countries, and faced with a sea of high fat, high sugar combined with physical inactivity; it is time to pay attention to our weight but not for any reasons of desirability. The most important reason for wanting to be a healthy body weight is for health rather than for how your body looks. Overweight and obesity are major public health problems in western countries. Since the 1980s both adult men and women have become heavier, with obesity rates more than doubling in the last 20 years! Children are also becoming heavier. There is a growing concern that we are inadvertently training our overweight children to become obese adults. It has been said, we are digging our graves with out teeth! So just why should we be concerned with achieving a healthy body weight? Overweight linked with diabetes. In January 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association featured two studies that highlighted the topic of obesity and its impact on health. The first study focused on the relationship between obesity and diabetes, as well as the growing concern of diabetes in the U.S. between the years 2000 and 2001. The numbers don't look good, with an alarming 5.6% increase of obesity in both men and women-from all ethnic groups, age ranges and educational levels. The occurrence of diabetes also increased-up 8.2% from 2000. Overweight linked with premature death. The second study found that obesity appears to markedly lessen life expectancy, especially among young adults. The researchers compared Body-Mass Index (BMI) to longevity and found a correlation between premature death and higher BMIs. For example, a 20-year-old white male, 5'10" weighing 288 pounds with a BMI of greater than 40 was estimated to lose 13 years of his life as a result of obesity. Findings were similar for women with higher BMIs, who were estimated to lose an average of eight years. While these studies reference extreme levels of obesity, there are still millions of overweight people in developed countries with a life expectancy rate that is three to five years less than their healthy-weight counterparts. Overweight linked with heart disease. Overweight people tend to have higher blood pressure and higher blood cholesterol, which are major risk factors for heart attack and other blood vessel disease. Being overweight can contribute to problems in the joints, and is also associated with other serious diseases such as diabetes. How you tell if you are overweight As we are all different shapes and sizes, there is not one recommended weight for your height. Instead there is a range of weights that are healthy for your height. One way to check your weight is to calculate your Body Mass Index or BMI. Your BMI is a ratio or comparison of your height and weight expressed in a number. To find out your BMI you need to divide your weight (measured in kg) by your height (measured in m) squared. If you do not know your measurements in the metric system you can find any number of BMI calculators online that will do the conversion for you into empirical measures. One such calculator is at the website listed below. The accepted definitions of weight categories by BMI are: Underweight - BMI less than 18.5 These BMI values only apply to adults aged 18 years and over and are based on studies of Caucasian populations. Therefore, they are not applicable to children and adolescents and they may not be appropriate for people of other cultural backgrounds. Another way to check your weight is to measure your waist circumference, using a tape measure. This gives you an idea of whether you have a lot of fat stored around your middle. Waist circumferences associated with increased health risk are: For men Waist circumference greater than 94cm Being a healthy weight can help: - improve blood cholesterol levels, blood pressure and blood glucose levels If you are obese or overweight?try not to gain additional weight. This will help you in years to come as people tend to increase weight with age. Better still look after your body and follow a healthy lifestyle incorporating a nutritious, delicious, health enhancing weight loss program. Just by losing 10 pounds you can significantly improve your overall health. (c) Copyright Kim Beardsmore Kim is successful a weight loss coach who will cut through the diet-hype and help you reach your goal weight and never 'diet' again. No public 'weigh-ins', meetings that cost you money or fads...simply results you'll love. You can receive a free body fat assessment at http://leanmachine.org/?refid=overweight-23705
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Say Goodbye to the Dreaded Weight Loss Plateau Dieters dread the plateau. You're on a roll, losing weight steadily and happily for weeks. Your confidence is high and your goal is in sight. Then suddenly your scale freezes. No matter how hard you try, those extra pounds just refuse to budge. You've hit a wall and you know the frustration of seeing no progress could easily lead you to gain back what you've lost. So how do you break through the plateau? Lose Weight and Keep it Off Permanently Without Fancy Diets For years the experts have been telling us that diets do not work, and my experience in the field for almost twenty years confirms that. Yet every year several new fad diets and supplements emerge, claiming they have the answer, and making people rich. Seven Reasons Why You Might Take Hoodia Good health is all too easily taken for granted until something unexpected happens in life. A drug that solves a typical health problem is seen as a minor miracle for its sufferers. Today's medicinal world is littered with supposedly high benefit drugs that proclaim a lot about obesity reduction but do nothing to cure the disease state. Obesity, Whats The Big Deal Nowadays, so much of the public is obese (fat) that it is the"norm". So much so, that we are starting to ignore thisepidemic. Close Kept Secrets to Weight Loss Lesson #11 You are the GREATEST, aren't you? You are focusing on you and attracting all the wonderful things you deserve. You are enlightened about your Divinity as God only creates the Divine. Think thoughts of abundance and be amazed at what shows up for you. Referring to Lesson #2 will help you as it is all about clearing your thoughts to keep you focused on the positives. This is your year. It's all about you and being the person you want to be. I have my own sign that people bought me that I put on my refrigerator: It's All About Me! You have achieved your weight loss goals. Remember to think of it in terms that it has already happened because the brain does not know the difference between what is real and what is imagined. This is exactly what athletes do! A Look at Bariatric Surgery Patients Individuals who are interested in bariatric surgery need to be aware of the ramifications. Although significant weight loss can be achieved with the procedure, patients need to have realistic weight loss expectations. Even after the surgery, most patients will not achieve their ideal body weight. Patients with a lower BMI to begin with generally lose a greater percentage of excess weight, while those with a higher initial BMI will likely lose more total weight. Patients who approach the surgery with a goal of improving their health resulting and quality of life will have the most success. Low Carb Diet - The Way To Weight Loss? Everybody you know is on the latest weight loss bandwagon: The Low Carb Diet. They've seen the astounding results on the scale and have lost 10+ pounds in a short period of time. So you want to join in on this also? Lose Fat by Choosing The Best Weight Loss Plan For You Are you sick of the hype? Wondering what diet products really work? The fact is, most of them do. It's simply a matter of finding what works for you. In general, the best diet plan is a healthy balance of low fat and high protein foods, plenty of fruits and veggies, and a little bit of sweets and fats. You can also never underestimate the importance of those eight glasses of water a day. If you have trouble getting in the recommended amount of water, try having water instead of a soft drink at lunch, or keep a Nalgene bottle with you throughout the day. Combine all of this with some moderate exercise, and you'll be good to go! The fact is, that fundamentally the only way to lose weight is to burn more calories than you consume. What Makes Your Blood Cholesterol High or Low Your blood cholesterol level is affected not only by what you eat but also by how quickly your body makes LDL-cholesterol and disposes of it. In fact, your body makes all the cholesterol it needs, and it is not necessary to take in any additional cholesterol from the foods you eat. Exercise Resistance! - The Secret Barriers that Prevent Weight Loss Getting started on an exercise program is one thing. Stayingon it is the bigger challenge. We have all been there. New Years Eve comes around and wham! Instant motivation! Itis only a small percentage however that sticks with it. Why? When you hear the term exercise resistance you of course think of strength training with weights, don't you? Well, it can also mean something else. The Truth About Losing Fat On Your Stomach Do you know anybody who does not wish to get rid of the fat on one particular area of their body? I have not met anybody like that! Farewell To The Atkins Low Carb Diet Atkins Nutritionals recently announced that they are filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It seems that the "low carb craze" was nothing more than just a passing fad. Well my friends I have come to both praise and bury the Atkins Diet. When Losing Weight Seems Hopeless Sometimes it's good to just let the feelings flow. Take out a piece of paper and just start writing your feelings down on paper. I do this when I start to feel overwhelmed. We all have certain tendencies and mine is to put too much on my place (food or otherwise), then when I'm upset because I have too much (to eat, too much to do), I feel hopeless. It's too much to handle, and I just don't know what to do. Fast Weight Loss for Special Occasions Losing weight quickly is not advisable as most of the loss will be muscle tissue and water; you put on the weight slowly (usually over years) so normally you should take it off slowly and then you will know that the majority of the loss will be body fat. How Body Mass Index Works ? Set Your Weight Loss Goals Many people want to lose a few of those annoying pounds, but they just don't know where to start. If only there was some sort of guide that would help dieters to set goals. Body mass index, or BMI, creates an opportunity for weight loss enthusiasts to determine their ideal body weight in order to set their goals. Hoodia - An Elixir that Fights Obesity Part 1 Humanity is always in search of a wonder drug that ends all physical ailments. While it is a wishful thinking yet, there are areas where the dream is almost accomplished. One such problem that has got an answer is obesity. Walk Your Way to Weight Loss "The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best." Thomas Jefferson Can Writing Actually Improve Your Health? According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, writing about stressful life events helped reduce symptoms of asthma and rheumatoid arthritis in patients with these chronic illnesses. The effects of the writing exercise were still evident four months later and resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in patient symptoms. Little Weight Loss Goes A Long Way From driving up your blood pressure and cholesterol, to increasing your risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and more, there's no question that being overweight is more than just a cosmetic problem - it's a serious threat to your health. Could False Memories Be An Efficient Diet Helper? Speculating on the scientifically proven memory unreliability, the memory specialist Elizabeth Loftus, a professor of psychology at the University of California at Irvine thought of using the technique of false memory induction as a new approach to dieting. And this is how: by inducing false memories about specific foods. |
© Athifea Distribution LLC - 2013 |