Obesity

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Are you a Nutritional Over-achiever?
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I was talking to a friend recently and she said
that people usually click on things that say
LOSE WEIGHT NOW!! when they are browsing
through the web. That got me thinking. Wow!
weight is a pretty big deal and whats bigger is
how abysmal most peoples knowledge is on the
topic. It saddens me to hear people saying that
they were just born this way or they are so
because the parents were obese. Lets dispel all
myths and clarify your nagging questions.
What is obesity?
Thats a question for the ages. Obesity is
defined medically or scientifically by saying you
have excess body fat. And to measure this excess
body fat, people use BMI. BMI stands for Body
Mass Index and it divides the weight (in kg) of a
person by the height (in cm) squared. As you
might guess, the BMI is not very accurate. To
give you an example, most NBA players
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are more than 25 BMI. Which means they are
considered overweight. Reaching the number 30
means that you are obese and some NBA players
have also achieved this. Certainly, people who
can run non-stop for at least an hour and do
acrobatic stunts and then Slam Dunk are not
obese. So where is the fallacy in the BMI. Well,
the BMI assumes that the excess weight is by fat
only. And it does not differentiate between fat
and muscle. Meaning that healthy sports
people(body builders, weight lifters and
wrestlers) have increased BMI. That said, every
person with a high BMI is not a jolly fellow. I
am sure that people who have high body fat will
know that its fat and not muscle. The
differentiating point? Well the sagging skin
should say it all. Want to know your BMI? Well
you can. Talk to our Doctors anytime online
for help. Hey, but why am I obese? Most
people want to think I was born with it and no
matter what I do I have to live with it. While
this might be true in some people, genetic causes
form only a minute part of obese people. The 2
big factors that cause obesity are plain simple
actually Food and eating a lot of
it People eat to live. And live to eat. There
are so many foodies out there nowadays and
calorie consciousness takes a U turn in a lot of
people. Put a yummy desert and everyone will want
to devour it. Improper diet and excessive eating
cause a big belly. The link is that simple.
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Having a lazy life or a sedentary life
People are fond of luxury. So, they prefer a life
where they are at ease. People sit and watch TV
rather than go out and sweat out over a game of
anything. The result is that calories consumed
stay consumed and then pump their way around the
body to convert to fat cells and store away for
eternity.
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There are other factors for obesity as
well
Social pressure - Children are easily influenced
by parents to overeat. Some societies place
importance on being obese as a sign of
wealth. Some diseases - Prader Willi disease,
Cushings disease, Hypothyroidism and eating
disorders just form a small piece of this
pie. Genetics - Barring diseases, a special
mention here goes to Leptin and Leptin alone. And
to throw in a mnemonic, you can remember that
Lep-tin makes you thin. A defect in the Leptin
gene has found to make people obese and thus the
genetic culprit is found. I am sure you are
thinking if your obesity is genetic. Get an
online Doctor visit at askthedoctor.com and you
can find out if you have a genetic cause.
Ok, so I am obese. How do I get rid of
it?
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At the risk of making this sound very cliche,
pick up any Medical text and look up management
under the obesity section. And you will see 2
magical words Diet and Exercise (No points for
the right answers) Medicine and our ageing old
and the robust young professors still stick to
the old adage. Get back to the basics, go find
your roots. If you want to lose weight, reduce
the calorie count of your food and get off your
couch or chair and put on those jogging shoes.
You may want to see a Doctor to confirm this is
safe first. Or you can talk to our online
Doctors. Of course, this is easier said than
done. But here are 2 tips that will do wonders.
Join a group to do what you love. You can trek,
dance, trek and dance and then run and then play
a sport and cycle. Or do all of them together.
And as the saying goes, 3 is always a party right!
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The food part is not an easy one. Most people
find it beneficial to start making healthy
choices. Reducing the amount you eat drastically
is difficult and impractical as the body will
soon crave food and you will rush to the store
and overeat. But making healthy food choices is
not. Snack on fruits and veggies instead of fried
tidbits. Eat good wholesome meals with slow
glucose release rates like brown rice and brown
bread. Avoid overly sweet food. Avoid sugars in
beverages. And avoid one or 2 big heavy meals.
Instead you can break them up.
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There are also some medications which help but I
will stop from describing those. The reason is
that the medications are very dangerous and you
should talk to a Doctor. You can ask our Doctors
for more info at askthedoctor.com Lastly, if all
else fails go under the knife. Bariatric surgery
or gastric banding or making your stomach into an
egg size pouch will definitely work. Sure there
are some side effects of Bariatric surgery but
all is fair in love and war which is truer if you
have a love hate relationship with obesity. All
the best and have a safe weight loss!