In 1990, the estimated U.S. cost for treating obesity and its resultant diabetes, heart disease and blood pressure was 45.8 billion dollars. In the same year, Americans spent approximately 33 billion dollars on weight reduction. At any time, as many as half of all Americans are on a diet (while millions of others think they should be). Even those who manage to lose weight often struggle to keep it off, often because they don't know the answers to successful weight management.
In the U.S., 44 million people are obese. The Body Mass Index Calculator (for women) can help you determine where you fit on the National Institutes of Health scale.
To lose weight, you must take in fewer calories than you use.
Remember:
Exercise uses calories and gives your weight-loss effort a big boost. On any non-medically supervised weight-loss program, women should consume at least 1,200 calories a day and men at least 1,600. Any less and your metabolic system – responding to fear of starvation built in during our evolutionary past – will slow your metabolism, making it more difficult to peel off the pounds.
Some people will never reach an ideal or desirable weight, but everyone who is overweight can certainly lose some of those extra pounds and maintain a healthier weight. The only absolute rule for weight loss is to be realistic. Your attitude must be positive if you are to succeed, and you have to accept the fact that permanent weight loss is a slow process. The following guidelines may help:
Making smart dietary choices to maintain or lose weight is a challenge, but not impossible. The following links can help you avoid “feast or famine” extremes and prepare you to make lasting change.
Assessing Your Diet
Is your diet giving you what you need — or more than you need?
Fat Matters, But Calories Count
Many people obsess over fat grams while they ignore total calories. That’s a mistake.
Eating Healthy with Ethnic Foods
Whether you like Chinese, Italian or Mexican, you can find lower-fat food choices when dining out or eating in.
Eating Healthy When Dining Out
Learn how to weed through the thickest of menus to find tasty, low-cal meals.
USDA Food Database
Find nutritional information on a variety of foods — just enter the name and click.
Burning calories through vigorous exercise—and through casual daily activity—is the perfect partner to watching what you eat. The options for variety are numerous.
Weight Control
Use exercise to lower your appetite while burning calories.
Physical Activity and Weight Control
Whether trying to lose weight or maintain it, you should understand the important role of physical activity.
"Deskercise"
Take a break during your workday with these easy, fun, simple exercises.
Fit Activity into your Routine
You don't have to train like a marathon runner to benefit from physical activity! Any exercise, even if it's done for just a few minutes a day, is better than nothing at all.
Exercise for Health: Weight Control
You just ran three miles, followed by a mile swim. Can you now “pig out” and not worry about calories?
Even though genes may affect an individual's susceptibility to obesity, some people simply eat excess calories. Obesity, which is a problem for about one third of the adult population in America, can contribute to heart disease. Managing your weight requires that you:
Get rid of bad habits
Avoid eating foods that are high in fat, especially saturated fat. These foods add even more calories to your overall diet. Furthermore, most foods high in saturated fat can raise the level of cholesterol in your blood--which can lead to risk for heart disease.
Develop an eating plan for life
Most women can lose an average of one to two pounds a week by consuming 1,200 to 1,500 calories a day; most men can lose this amount by consuming 1500 to 1800 calories a day. One to two pounds a week is the ideal rate of weight loss. Three different nutritionally complete diets are listed below. Your doctor, a registered dietitian or licensed nutritionist can tell you which of the three calorie levels is best for you.
Maintaining your body weight
To maintain your body weight, multiply the number of pounds you weigh now by 15 calories. This number represents the average number of calories used up in one day by a moderately active person of your weight. If you're sedentary or get very little exercise, multiply your weight by 13 instead of 15. Less-active people burn fewer calories.
Losing weight
To lose one pound, you need to burn 3,500 calories more than you take in. In other words, you need to run a calorie deficit. To do this, reduce your caloric intake by 500 calories per day. (Seven days times 500 calories equals 3,500 calories – one pound.)
To maintain your ideal weight, weigh yourself once a week. When you're three to five pounds more than what you should be, start eating less or exercising more (or both) until your weight is back down where you want it.
If you lose too much weight, increase your caloric intake primarily by eating foods lower in fat such as grains, vegetables, fruits and dairy products with skim milk. Try to stay within five pounds of your best weight. To get all the nutrients your body needs, carefully follow the food plan you selected.
Other helpful hints include:
- Plan the kinds of food you'll eat and the number of meals and snacks you'll have.
- Don't skip whole categories of food.
- Vary your diet by eating different foods within each group. (Eating a variety of foods is essential to get all the nutrients you need.)
- Try to enjoy your food with less salt.
Engage in physical activity as a way of life
To manage your weight, you must use up more calories (energy) than you consume. You can do this in three different ways:
- Eat a variety of low-calorie, nutrient-dense foods.
- Increase the calories you burn up (for instance, by increasing the amount you exercise).
- Combine directions 1 and 2.
Seeing a Doctor
First, if you are middle-aged or older, have a medical condition, have not been physically active and plan a relatively vigorous exercise program, your doctor will help you find a program suited to your needs and physical condition. It's good to take an exercise tolerance test to determine your present capabilities and identify potential hazards. Besides weight control, exercise may help relieve tension and help control cigarette smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol and diabetes.
There's a lot you can do to increase the amount of CALORIES you burn, even when you're sitting around doing nothing. The key is understanding your metabolic rate.
The metabolic rate is a rough estimate of how much energy — calories — the body uses each day. Your total metabolic rate is determined by three factors:
- The basal metabolic rate (BMR), which is the minimum amount of energy required to keep your heart pumping, and brain and organs functioning while you are at rest
- The energy you burn during physical activity
- The energy you burn during the digestion of food
By adjusting each of these factors, you can boost your metabolism without making radical alterations to your diet.
Despite what fad diet books may say, the only sensible way to lose weight permanently is to eat less and maintain or increase physical activity. Some major medical centers prescribe extremely low-calorie, high-protein diets for selected patients carefully monitored by physicians.
A healthful diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables in combination with regular physical activity can assist most people in managing and maintaining weight loss for both cardiovascular health and appearance. The American Heart Association urges people to take a safe and proven route to losing and maintaining weight by following our guidelines for healthy, nutritionally balanced weight loss for a lifetime of good health.
These resources can provide you with more information about healthful weight, weight loss and making permanent changes for better living.
NHLBI Health Information Center
P.O. Box 30105
Bethesda, MD 20824-0105
Phone: (301) 592-8573
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/index.htm
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20201
Phone: (202) 619-0257
Toll Free: (877) 696-6775http://www.hhs.gov/
Weight-control Information Network (WIN)
1 WIN Way
Bethesda, MD 20892-3665
Phone: (202) 828-1025
Toll Free: (877) 946-4627http://win.niddk.nih.gov/index.htm
