WEIGHT LOSS
Being overweight or obese increases our risk of many diseases. In Australia, around 75% of men and 60% of women are carrying too much body fat and 25% of children are overweight or obese. This means the incidence of obesity-related disorders (such as coronary heart disease and diabetes), is also on the rise.
Losing weight has become a multi-billion-dollar industry. It’s hard to go a day without seeing or hearing about 'the answer to' or a 'miracle' weight-loss solution.
The sensible answer to losing excess body fat is to make small healthy changes to your eating and exercise habits. These changes should be things that you can maintain as part of your lifestyle – that way you will lose weight and keep it off.
Popular media is full of fad diets and magic weight loss potions endorsed by celebrities and supported by personal success stories. While many of these diets may help you to lose weight while you’re following them, as soon as you resume your usual lifestyle, the weight starts to creep back on. That’s because losing weight isn’t necessarily the problem, it’s keeping it off longer term that is difficult.
Managing your weight is a life-long commitment – not just following a diet for a few weeks to drop kilograms.
Remember, if the strategies you’re putting into place to lose weight are not strategies that you’ll be able to follow for the rest of your life, chances are you’ll regain any weight you lose.
Risks of dieting
Dieting can be harmful because our body responds to these periods of semi-starvation by lowering its metabolic rate.
When you lose weight too quickly, you lose fat and muscle. Muscle burns kilojoules, but fat doesn't. So, when you stop dieting and return to your usual habits, your body will burn even fewer calories than before because the relative amount of muscle in your body has decreased, and your metabolic rate is slower.
This kind of eating pattern can also affect our general health – just one cycle of weight loss and weight gain can contribute to an increased risk of coronary heart disease (regardless of our body fat levels).
That's why it's more important to be able to maintain weight loss. Weight loss of about ½ to 1 kg per week is considered reasonable and more likely to be maintained.
If you are carrying excess weight, changing the way you eat and increasing your physical activity, in a way that you can continue with over the longer term, is the best way to lose and maintain weight loss.
To maintain a stable weight, your energy (kilojoule) intake needs to equal the energy you use. If you use more energy than you consume, you will lose weight.
On the other hand, if you eat more than you use, you will gain weight. Small imbalances over long periods of time can cause you to become overweight or obese.
How to start losing weight,
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the information available.
If you can avoid unplanned or habitual eating, and keep to regular meals and snacks, this will help you to lose weight
If you have been on crash diets for several years or finding it difficult, seek help from a dietitian. Dietitians can guide you to a healthy way of eating that is based on the latest research and tailored to suit your health and lifestyle.
If you are overweight, over 40 years of age or haven't exercised regularly for a long time, check with your doctor before you start any physical activity.
Make a healthy weight loss plan,
Once you understand your current habits, the next step is to plan how you will lose weight.
Be kind to yourself, if things don’t go according to plan, keep trying. You may need to adjust your goals or the time it will take to achieve them.
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