Obesity – Number One Killer

There are some causes of disease we can do little to avoid. Inherited diseases or ailments brought on by illnesses in early years are examples of this.

Obesity, however, is in a different category. In most cases it is avoidable and ‘curable’. Not easily necessarily – but with application obesity can usually be addressed. And reducing obesity – or reducing from overweight to ‘normal’ weight – is repeatedly shown to:

• Reduce many cancer
• Reduce heart disease
• Reduce ‘death from any cause’ – ie if you are a good weight, you are less likely to die from anything at all.

Of course, it can be hard to change any bad habits; and those leading to obesity are no exception. Excluding thyroid deficiency and a few other conditions, obesity is caused by poor diet and lack of exercise.

Diet And Exercise For Weight Loss

Most of us know that overeating, eating saturated fats and junk food of all types lead to obesity. Similarly, we all know that lack of proper exercise helps us put on weight. So, yes: we need to address these things.

Of the lesser well-known, or sometimes confusing, factors of obesity, these two are very important too:

1. Starch is the predominant factor in weight gain – or stopping weight loss.
Cut right down on starch to help you lose weight. This means cut down on bread, potatoes, rice and pasta. Substitute non-starchy vegetables (cabbage, cauliflower, courgettes etc) or salad.

Starchy food is bad for you in other ways too – not least, in causing diabetes. Just remember, all starch becomes sugar when it is digested. Cutting down on it is good all round.

2. A Little-Known Type Of Exercise for Weight Loss
I have talked about Interval Training a good deal in the past – and make no excuses for that: it is a very important type of exercise. This type of exercise – where you exercise hard for one minute, then recover your breath, then exercise hard for another minute – is the best exercise for long term health and also for weight loss.

It doesn’t take long and can be done anywhere.

Get Started Now!

The two previous points are vital factors to help you lose weight.

Yes – do eat lots of vegetables and salads and cut down on saturated fats (in other words, all animal products and fried food); but cutting right back on STARCHY FOOD is the one thing which many people do not do.

Yes: the ‘low carb’ people have this factor, at least, right!

For exercise – yes, by all means get regular aerobic exercise 1, 2 or 3 times a week if you can: that is excellent. But do not neglect ‘Interval Training’; do add that to your regime. It can be done anywhere, and takes only a very short time – ten minutes a day is good.

Get To Normal Weight

Normal weight’ is probably the top thing you can do to stay alive longer – and avoid serious diseases. It is also the one thing which is most within our control. I know it’s not easy to control diet for most people: but we must strive to keep improving it.

To measure you weight status, check out ‘percentage body fat’. This is the most accurate guide. It can be measured easily and reasonably by using a good pair of callipers with which to measure the fat under your skin.

Men should be 10-20% body fat and women 15-25%.

However, SELF MEASUREMENT WITH CALIPERS IS A GUIDE. It should be used mainly for monitoring progress, not for giving an absolute measurement.

Do check this link out for Interval Training information.