4 minute read
Nina Radcliff, MD
Why Excess Body Weight is Bad for You
Modern life in America, including the holidays and COVID-19, has led many people to eat more unhealthy foods, eat bigger food portions, and be less active. As a result, the number of Americans who are overweight or obese (very overweight) has been rising dramatically. The question is: “Are you carrying excess body weight? Are you heavier than you should be?” DR. NINA’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: About Excess Body Weight & Weight Loss
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Your battle of the bulge is multi-factorial and also includes modern life issues of: • The overuse of sugar, fat and salt in foods that entice our taste buds and excite our brain’s pleasure centers • Larger serving sizes of foods and drinks at the store, our homes, and restaurants • Increased out-of-home dining • Generally, unhealthy and cheap food options in school and work cafeterias • Prevalence of chronic stress, anxiety and depression which often leads to emotional eating. Comfort foods are aptly named because they are rich in sugar, fat and salt – giving a sense of pleasure, though temporary and fleeting…while the calories and fat stay put. • The culture of holiday overindulgence • Long-work hours and productivity demands that contribute to sedentary lifestyle, stress, unhealthy choices and unbalanced lifestyles • Insomnia impacting appetite regulation • Affordability and convenience of processed, packaged, fatty, fast-food choices • Marketing of unhealthy foods (e.g., double orders for better prices, toys with kid’s meal, and misleading merchandising with images and words like “organic and healthy,” when the product is laden with sugars and unhealthy fats). • Sedentary lifestyle which has been exacerbated by technology--computers, smart phones, tablets--at our workplace, school, and homes • Yo-yo dieting –our bodies are designed to hold onto fat. Long-term calorie restriction sends signals to the brain that triggers a craving for food. Because of the frustration of failure, many people are simply giving up on slimming down, making excess weight their accepted norm.
Weight Loss: Key factors play an important role in your ability lose weight effectively.
• Create realistic goals. Patience is a virtue, and, too, a key component of any weight loss plan. Most experts recommend a gradual and steady weight loss of ½ to 2 pounds per week. But for those who are 30 pounds overweight, the idea of a 15-60 week period before attaining that goal can be daunting, frustrating, and defeating.
It is important to understand that there is good reason for this recommendation. To lose a pound of fat, it requires that you burn 3,500 calories. In a seven-day week, if you burn 500 more calories than you consume in food, that would equal a onepound weight loss. And, if you burn 1000 more calories a day than you consume in food, that would equal a two-pound weight loss. And generally speaking, losing weight faster than that can become dangerous, either from not eating enough, or exercising too much. It is paramount to stay focused on this day, this week. Make your commitment to your best health, each day. • Steer clear from fad diets. Many of us greatly desire to lose weight, and as a result can be easily tempted by fad diets—weight loss plans that promise dramatic results. However, when it comes to losing pounds fast or other gimmicks, there is abundant truth in the saying “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
Fad diets can range from only consuming cayenne pepper and water, grapefruit, or even the ever-popular Atkins eating plan. While these diets can help you drop several pounds quickly, for most humans, they are nearly impossible to maintain for long periods of time. As a result, their effects are short-term and fleeting when we stop them. And, too, they can also be dangerous to our health as they oftentimes fail to provide our body with essential vitamins and nutrients (malnutrition), cause intestinal issues, and can even dehydrate us. • Exercise is Important – But Not the Key to Weight Loss: Burning calories with exercise is important but cannot overcome bad choices and unhealthy eating habits. But with all the emphasis on working out to “burn off” what you eat, experts underscore you’ve missed the real problem: What you eat. The calories that are burnt in any sixty minutes of physical activity can be wiped out in just minutes with the wrong food.
And people who try to lose weight by dedicating hours each day to exercise, get discouraged when the pounds don’t magically melt off. On the other hand, successfully changing what you eat and drink does help when combined with physical activity.
