Doctors talk about our body mass index when they refer to weight issues. If our index shows we come in above 18.5 and below 25 then our body mass is appropriate. An index greater than that reveals we have weight issues that could need dealing with. What’s more if we take that figure over thirty we’re defined as obese – over forty and the definition is morbidly obese.
To work out your own index – You’ll need to know your weight and height in kilos and metres respectively. Your index is your height squared, divided by your weight.
So your figures might look something like this: You’re 1.45m tall (1.45 x 1.45 = 2.10). Your weight is 68 kilograms (68 / 2.10 = 32.38). The above illustration plainly shows that with those stats you would be designated obese.
Unless we restrict highly calorific food to high days and holidays, the weight will stay put! Smaller, higher fibre lower fat meals will help the body to metabolise the fat stores that have previously built up.
You should avoid crash diets which usually end up with you either feeling ill or giving up in desperation. Dietary regimes that propose a calorific consumption of no more than 1,200 a day are what we consider crash or ‘miracle’ diets. These ‘quick fix’ options are not real solutions. Weight that comes off quickly usually goes back on quickly as well.
Healthy dieting that will make you fitter for life can take months. If you consume around five hundred calories less each day than you normally eat, you can expect to lose up to two pounds a week in weight. So not the un-realistic promises fed to you from the instant remedy brigade, but a real solution to help you stay out of the danger zones.
Fat-laden food tends to contain the highest calories. So the easiest way to drop the calories is by cutting out fatty food. To stay satiated, eat more grains, and enjoy liberal amounts of veg and fresh fruit. You’ll soon start to notice the health benefits associated with this change.
Trying to eat fewer meals to preserve calories doesn’t work. (Snacks become too irresistible when the hunger really bites!) Really, you’ll do yourself more favours if you have four or five little meals spread throughout the day. Starving yourself actually makes it more difficult to lose weight. Your metabolic rate (which affects your body’s ability to lose weight) is assisted when you nourish yourself little and often.