In order to explain why been overweight and be obese are different, I must start defining these terms.

The medical community defines overweight as an excess amount of body weight.

However, this includes: fat, muscle, bones and water.

While obesity is defined as an excess amount of body fat.

So, as you can see, overweight does not always denote an unhealthy person, or even a weight problem.

For example, an athlete who has a large amount of muscle mass, as a wrestler, a football player, a weight lifter, all of them can be overweight in a healthy manner, and they are not obese.

So, we need to understand than obesity isn’t a cosmetic problem, it’s a health problem, a serious one, even for children.

Being obese all your body must work harder in order to carry the extra pounds of body fat. This includes your lungs, heart, kidney and skeleton.

I remember when I was pregnant; to carry anything more than my own body (as groceries bags) was almost a torture: my feet and knees hurt me, my heart beat increase, I feel exhausted very fast, and my own consolation was thinking all these will finish in a few months, but just think about carry all that weight permanently!

Some health problems related to obesity are:

Cancers
Diabetes
Heart diseases
Hypertension
Respiratory problems
Osteoarthritis
Psychological and social negative effects
Asthma
Depression
Gout
Menstrual irregularities
Pregnancy complications
Strokes

Now that we see some of the main health problems related with being obese, I will tell you good news: Even a small reduction in your weight can improve many of the health problems you already suffer.

People usually use Overweight and Obese as synonymous, but actually they’re not having the same signification. One means a health problem, the other maybe not…

Maybe you feel terrible when you see your own image in a mirror, but that mirror didn’t reflect the real problem, the real problem it’s inside of you.

Sophie Barbosa specialize in diet, fitness and weight loss.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sophie_Barbosa

1. You don’t read the nutritional information on the labels often enough.

Keep an eye on the foods you consume and make sure they’re healthy and low in calories. If, for example, you eat a muffin every morning thinking it’s a healthy breakfast choice, you likely underestimate the caloric content of foods in general. (A large, store-bought muffin contains about 400 calories and 16g of fat, which is the equivalent of two honey-glazed doughnuts.) Be sure to also check the food label not only for its caloric content, but for its fat, sugar and sodium levels.

2. You consume more calories than you burn.

A great way to count calories is to keep track of what you eat and drink on a daily basis. That way, you’ll be able to see whether you consume more calories than you burn through exercise. If you consume just as many calories as you burn, you’ll maintain your weight. Therefore, you need to burn more calories to start losing pounds. Find out your daily caloric needs as well as how many calories your favourite activities burn to help you keep track!

3. You rush through your workout.

Exercise is paramount to a healthy weight loss. If you often take a rain check on your workout sessions or you hit the gym only for a few minutes, there’s your reason for not achieving great results. Make sure to do at least 30 minutes of exercise each day, combining both cardio and muscle training. If you lack the time and motivation, try practicing some activities that burn plenty of calories in little time.

4. You drastically deprive yourself of certain foods.

Many people try diets because they feel they are a good (albeit temporary) solution in order to achieve their target weight. However, eating healthy without depriving yourself of too many foods is a better option if you want long-term results. Some diets are so strict that people become depressed, which increases the risk of them cheating on the diet, or giving up altogether. It’s been proven if you deprive yourself of a certain food, your desire to have it will eventually double. Make sure to eat whenever you’re hungry, even if you’re hoping to lose some weight; otherwise, you’ll be tempted by unhealthy foods and snacks more easily and more often.

5. You cheat too often.

So you’re depriving yourself of the foods you love, but figure you’ll suck it up for the week and cheat on the weekend? By doing so, you’ll likely regain all the weight you lost in five days in just two. Proper weight loss is based on a healthy and stable lifestyle—not one that jumps from starvation to binging and back.

6. You believe in miracle diets.

If you take on a diet that promises fast and effective results, then you’ll likely find the results don’t last. You’ll probably lose quite a few pounds in the first few weeks, but are also likely to regain them (as well as extra pounds) as soon as the diet is over and you go back to your old eating habits. This is what is called the yo-yo effect.

7. You don’t need to lose weight.

Before starting up a weight loss plan, make sure you truly need to shed a few pounds. If you have a healthy body weight and have maintained it for a number of years, this would explain why you can’t manage to shed pounds. To check if you have a healthy body weight, consult your doctor.

Provided by Myreille Simard

http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/

So why does the thought of your bathing suit – or a cholesterol test — still make you shudder? Chances are you’ve fallen for a food myth or two.

Here are four of the most seductive — and persistent.

Myth #1: Margarine has less fat than butter

Fact: Blame this one on slick marketing. A teaspoon of butter and stick margarine have exactly the same amounts of fat (4 grams) and calories (35). The only difference is the kind of unhealthy fat: Butter has saturated fat, the main cause of high cholesterol. Margarine contains trans fat, which is so insanely unhealthy that it’s being banned in several US cities, many restaurants, and some European countries.

Smart move: For baking and cooking, switch to soft tub or liquid margarine; many are now trans fat-free and reasonably low in saturated fat. For toast, use soft spreads or, even better, dip your bread into a little extra-virgin olive oil – one of the healthiest fats nature ever invented.

Myth #2: Low-fat = low-calorie

Fact: Not nearly always. The problem is that manufacturers often replace fat with high-calorie, unhealthy fillers. For instance: Two tablespoons of natural peanut butter have about 190 calories. Low-fat PB made artificially creamy by adding corn syrup and trans fat? About 190 calories. And those calories are a lot less healthy.

Smart move: If you prefer the real deal (who doesn’t?), just spread nut butters less thickly to cut calories and fat naturally.

Myth #3: When all else fails, do the grapefruit diet

Fact: Versions of this food fable have been around for years. They usually involve eating nothing but 800 calories worth of black coffee, boiled eggs, and grapefruit for as long as you can stand it. Who wouldn’t lose weight?

Smart move: Try starting every meal with either half a grapefruit or a glass of grapefruit juice. As this blog reported a few months ago, some highly reputable scientists have found that people who do lose about half a pound a week. Without dieting. Or going crazy on the treadmill. Or doing anything differently except eating grapefruit like they owned a citrus orchard. Why? Grapefruit contains certain plant compounds that seem to lower insulin levels, which encourages weight loss. Which suggests that you might be able to skip not only the crazy grapefruit diet but all diets and still shed a few pounds.

Myth #4: Eggs up your cholesterol

Fact: For years, this misunderstood food — low in calories (75), high in vitamins (D, B12, folic acid), and nearly perfect in protein — was shunned. True, an egg yolk delivers about 220 mg of cholesterol, close to the 300 mg daily cut-off recommended for healthy people. However, heart researchers now think that the mix of fats you eat is more important than the cholesterol in food, plus not everyone seems to be sensitive to it.

Smart move: If you’re lucky enough to have enviable cholesterol counts (HDL above 40 mg/dl, LDL below 100), you can enjoy an egg every day, or a couple of really great omelets a week. Otherwise, check with your doctor about how many eggs you can eat  — you may be in for a happy surprise.

Besides getting over your fear of bathing suits and cholesterol test — no small feat — there’s a third reward for staying diet smart: Steadily maintaining a desirable weight can make you feel as much as 6 years younger.

Provided by: RealAge, Yahoo! Editorial Team

Dear So and So,

What the hell are you doing?

I’m trying very hard to keep all systems going: brain, heart, liver, GI, lungs, the whole shebang. And what do I get from you? A bag of chips and a pop.

This isn’t going to help. Let’s try focusing, shall we?

Here’s my deal.

You give me something to eat right after you wake up, and I don’t mean a donut and a coffee, and I’ll make sure you don’t pass out at your desk before lunch.

And that midday meal would come in handy. I just can’t think clearly if you aren’t going to give me something with protein around 12:00 noon. A nutrient dense egg would be nice, maybe some heart healthy beans, or how about a nice roasted turkey sandwich on whole grain bread?

Remember that time all you had for lunch was a latte and then you inadvertently pushed send and that pissed off email that was supposed to go to the Mayor ended up going to your boss? Nice one, that’s what happens when you don’t have any protein at lunch.

I’d love to have a snack around 4:00 pm so you don’t have to give the finger to the guy that cut you off. I need your blood sugar to be on an even keel when you’re driving a ton of steel through traffic.

And how about dinner? Please let’s stop snarfing down fast food. Would it kill you to eat some veggies? As a matter of fact it will if you don’t. I’m not playing hard ball here, just letting you in on the facts.

I’ve sent warnings. That rise in blood pressure, the breathless feeling you get after walking up the stairs, the whole tingling thing in your left arm; but so far nothing. Don’t make me smite you.

Give me a break here. I can only do so much given the fuel you keep putting in. ‘Cause, you know I saw the premium gas going into the car. What the vehicle is more important than me? The dog eats better. Come on, it’s National Nutrition Month and you’re doing really badly.

How about trying for five servings of fruits and five servings of vegetables tomorrow? Whole grains would be nice. So would a handful of unsalted nuts. What about eating salmon a couple of times a week? How about adding an apple a day? Washed well, peel left on. You can carry it to work.

I just don’t know how much longer I can keep doing my bit if you don’t come on board. You need to try a little harder. Who am I kidding?

You need to try a lot harder.

Love,
Your Body.

Excess fat in this region not only looks unattractive but a person is prone to several ailments due to weight gain. The heart and gall bladder are the major organs that get affected.

Both men and women are prone to gain weight in the abdominal area but women add on extra inches post delivery due to changes in the body.

Tips to reduce weight from the abdomen:

• Do regular aerobic exercises like cycling, swimming, jogging. Play football and/or basket ball. These exercises break the fat stored in the system and burn the excess calories.

• Deep breathing helps in burning fat fast.

• Have a low-calorie diet that contains fibre, green vegetables, unsaturated fats, fruits and wheat bran.

• Reduce the intake of salt.

• Eat your dinner by 6:30 PM. No salt should be consumed after this. An apple, orange, or pear can be had at bed-time.

• Stair Climbing helps reduce the abdomen.

• Lie flat on your back. Keep your hands under your head. Raise your legs, keeping the knees bended, and bring forward so that the knees touch the chest. This exercise is very effective as a lot of pressure is put on the abdomen.

• Boost your metabolism through boosters such as Green Tea, Nuts, Coco Beans and husk.

• Have a balanced nutritious diet: For breakfast have wheat cereals with skim milk, white of a boiled egg, a glass of orange juice and brown bread toast without butter. For Lunch have a soup, a baked non-vegetarian or vegetarian dish (without processed cheese) and a fruit. For dinner have a clear vegetable or chicken broth soup, green salads, and a dessert made of skimmed milk and using a sugar free sweetener.

It is not only important to look attractive but also to be healthy. If the tips given above are followed weight loss will be gradual, the digestive system will remain clean, toxins will be removed and overall there will be an increase in energy levels along with having a trimmer abdomen.

Jenny Banks ezinearticles.com  2009

The United States, and many other countries, have populations that are increasingly getting fatter and fatter.  “Round is in” and “skinny is out”.  Almost everybody these days is trying their best to look like “butter balls” instead of “zippers ” so I am going to tell you how you can get very fat, so that you are not “left behind” in the great American “Get Fat Trend.”

The most important thing you should do is eat high glycemic foods.  These are foods which cause a rapid surge in blood sugar.  The number one high glycemic items are plain old white sugar and white flour foods.  So make sure you get lots of those, especially when combined together.  Examples are:  cookies, cake, donuts, pie, rolls, crackers, spaghetti, white bread, donuts, buns, pancakes, waffles, etc.

Since candy has sugar in it, eat as much as you can, any kind of candy will do.  Eat lots of ice cream because that has lots of sugar too. Next is anything made from corn.  Anything made from corn is very fattening.  Look at labels in grocery stores and if the label on a  product has high fructose corn syrup, “buy it” because that stuff is very fattening.

Next is potatoes.  Eat all the potato chips, french fries, mashed potatoes. baked potatoes, etc. because that will definitely fatten you up. Whatever you do, don’t eat raw foods found in nature like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and stuff like that.  Those foods will make you slim and you will be left out of the “trendy” Get Fat Trend and you will have NO fat friends.

Finally, do not exercise any more than is necessary to just get around and do only what you have to do.  Be the best Couch Potato that you can be.

On the other hand, if you just want to be normal and do not want to look like a “butter ball” or a “zipper” just eat what is natural.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Donald_Ballard

Women vs. men: Orange colour indicates areas where men showed greater decreases in inhibition than women. These brain regions are involved in emotional regulation, conditioning and the motivation to eat. (Brookhaven National Laboratory)

Faced with their favourite foods, women are less able than men to suppress their hunger, a discovery that may help explain the higher obesity rate for females, a new U.S. study suggests.

Researchers trying to understand the brain’s mechanisms for controlling food intake were surprised at the difference between the sexes in brain response.

Gene-Jack Wang of Brookhaven National Laboratory of Upton, N.Y., and colleagues were trying to figure out why some people overeat and gain weight while others don’t.

They performed brain scans on 13 women and 10 men, who had fasted overnight, to determine how their brains responded to the sight of their favourite foods. They report their findings in Tuesday’s edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

“There is something going on in the female,” Wang said in a telephone interview. “The signal is so much different.”

In the study, participants were quizzed about their favourite foods, which ranged from pizza to cinnamon buns and burgers to chocolate cake, and then were asked to fast overnight.

‘Even though the women said they were less hungry when trying to inhibit their response to the food, their brains were still firing away in the regions that control the drive to eat.’— Gene-Jack Wang, researcher

The next day, they underwent brain scans while being presented with their favourite foods. In addition, they used a technique called cognitive inhibition, which they had been taught, to suppress thoughts of hunger and eating.

While both men and women said the inhibition technique decreased their hunger, the brain scans showed that men’s brain activity actually decreased, while the part of women’s brains that responds to food remained active.

“Even though the women said they were less hungry when trying to inhibit their response to the food, their brains were still firing away in the regions that control the drive to eat,” Wang said.

Hard-wired to eat?

Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Addiction and a co-author of the paper, said the gender difference was a surprise and may be because of different nutritional needs for men and women, although she stressed that idea is speculative.

Because the traditional role of the female is to provide nutrition to children, the female brain may be hard-wired to eat when foods are available, she said. The next step is to see if female hormones are reacting directly with those specific parts of the brain.

“In our society, we are being constantly being bombarded by food stimulus,” she said in a telephone interview, so understanding the brain’s response can help in developing ways to resist that stimulus.

Eric Stice, an expert on eating disorders at the Oregon Research Institute, called the findings provocative.

“I think it is very possible that the differences in hunger suppression may contribute to gender differences in eating disorders and that they are likely linked to gender differences in estrogen and related hormones,” said Stice, who was not part of Wang’s research team.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 35.3 per cent of American women and 33.3 per cent of men were considered obese in 2006.

Training treatment proposed

Rosalyn Weller, a professor of psychology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, said she was surprised by the results and “thought the dissociation between subjective reports of hunger and brain activation in women but not men was very interesting.”

The results suggest that training in reducing food desires or in reacting to food cues could be effective treatments to combat obesity, said Weller, who was not part of the research team.

Weller was a co-author of a recent paper in the journal NeuroImage that studied women’s brains when participants were shown pictures of food. They found that obese women had a much stronger reaction than normal-weight women in brain regions related to reward.

Wang noted that behavioural studies have shown that women have a higher tendency than men to overeat when presented with tasty food or under emotional distress.

This may result from differences in sex hormones, he said, and further research is planned to see if that is the case.

“As we learn more about the different factors that go into making that decision we’ll be better at helping people regulate” their eating, said Alice Lichtenstein, an expert in eating behaviour at Tufts University. She was not part of the research team.

The study was funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and by the General Clinical Research Center of Stony Brook University.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009
© The Canadian Press

Exercise — physical activity — is a requirement of any plan to achieve and maintain good health. You should start any exercise or activity program with light to moderate efforts and increase your level of activities gradually over time. Even taking the stairs or parking further away in the parking lot increases your level of activity. Start slowly-but start something.

If one of your personal goals is to eliminate excess fat, exercise may not be sufficient. While an increase in physical activities helps you work off calories, getting enough activity in itself for the purpose of weight loss may not be practical. As an example, the average person would have to run as fast as they could for 30 minutes without stopping in order to burn the equivalent number of calories found in a typical chocolate bar. Unless you are very physically active or have a high metabolism, you may not be able to exercise enough to keep fat from developing.

The goals of exercise are to improve your cardiovascular health and to tone and/or increase your lean muscle mass. A healthy, lean body will feel and look better, regardless of weight loss or gain. Concentrate on inches reduced-the circumference of your waist, for example-rather than pounds lost.

One mistake many people make when they begin any program of regular exercise is that they attempt to do too much too quickly. You must gradually work your way up to greater exertion and more vigorous types of exercise. Otherwise, detrimental health results may occur.

Another common mistake some people make is that they do not perform adequate warm-up activities before beginning the actual exercises. Warming up is not an option: It is absolutely necessary if you are going to exercise safely and get maximum results from your exercises. Warm up by stretching your arms, legs and back to increase blood flow to your muscles. You will then do the exercises better, minimize health risks, avoid feeling frustrated and get better results over time.

Additionally, ample stretching prior to any level of exercise will cause less discomfort and/or muscle soreness during the days immediately afterward. If you begin your exercise/activity sessions wisely by warming up and work your way up to your goals gradually, there should be little or no discomfort.

There are many good exercise plans readily available. Exercise program books, videos — both are everywhere you look. Health clubs and spas with excellent facilities and personal trainers have been opened in most major cities throughout the U.S.

The most difficult part will be to choose the exercise/activity plan that will work best for you, is within your time limitations, suits your budget and that you will enjoy.

Finally, always consult with your doctor if you are considering starting an exercise program.

Not low-glycemic

Here are ten simple rules to help you follow a low-glycemic food plan. These rules will make eating very simple and easy to remember.

Read the reasons for these rules, refer to them often and, most importantly, follow them all the time. Before very long, they will become second-nature to you.

1. Whenever possible, eat foods that are in their natural state.

In this rule, reference is made to a food like carrots. What is the natural state of a carrot? Raw. When carrots are eaten raw, they are safe and natural-the way they were designed to be eaten.

Raw carrots also fit the second rule-to eat foods that are harder to digest. Carrots also fit the third rule since they are high in fiber. Raw carrots have an index number of 35 (low-glycemic), but cooked carrots (not in their natural state) have an index of 65 (moderately glycemic).  (Note: This rule does not apply to meats and other foods that are dangerous to eat raw.)

2. Eat foods that are harder to digest.

The harder a food is to digest, the lower-glycemic it usually is. The harder it is to digest, the longer it takes to convert to sugars. This longer process minimizes insulin reactions. You can then maximize your conversion of food to energy and minimize the amount of food converting to fat. For example, cooked carrots are very easy to digest, so their index is much higher than raw carrots.

3. Eat foods that are high in fiber.

Fiber ranges from hard to digest to impossible to digest. Impossible to digest is actually good for humans. It not only helps with a feeling of fullness, but also helps to clean our colons-which is essential for good health. The higher the fiber, typically the more absorbent it is for fats. The slower the digestive process is for a specific food, generally the lower the glycemic index will be for that food.

4. Do not use artificial sweeteners.

There is preliminary evidence that artificial sweeteners may in fact slow the fat-burning process by confusing the normal chemical signals to the brain. These signals are normally associated with sweet tastes. There is also an increasing body of evidence that indicates some artificial sweeteners may have harmful effects on the human body.

5. Do not eat fried foods.

Fried foods stress the pancreas which is never advisable regardless of your weight, health or weight-management goals. One of the many benefits of low-glycemic eating is keeping the pancreas healthy.

6. Avoid white foods.

There are, of course, exceptions to every rule if you look hard enough. In general, however, white foods tend to be high-glycemic. White potatoes are the highest (85-98) on the glycemic index. They are a starchy complex, and those starches convert to glucose rapidly. Additionally, they are very easy to digest (Rule No. 2) and contain very little fiber (Rule No. 3).

7. Drink sufficient water.

Water is the essence of life itself. Most people complain about having to drink water, but you simply cannot maintain proper balance without it. Water is vital for cleansing your body, maintaining proper hormonal balance (extremely important in weight management) and vitally important for fat transport. In fact, the body of the adult male consists of approximately 60% water, while the adult female is approximately 50% water.

Naturally, this water has weight that will be reflected when you step on a scale to weigh yourself. This extra water-weight can be misleading as you monitor your progress. That’s one important reason why you should check your progress by how your clothes fit and by using a tape measure, rather than a scale.

Still, do not expect long-term success on any program without proper hydration-water.

8. Time your food intake.

It is very important to your overall health-but particularly important to achieving a lean body-to keep your blood sugar balanced. Skipping meals may save calories, but will eventually backfire since your body will perceive a state of starvation and reduce the rate at which you convert your stored fats.

Snacking is fine if it is with the right foods. Snacking helps keep your blood sugar balanced, and this in turn helps control appetite and maintain your ability to convert stored fat as energy. It would be ideal if we could get everyone to snack only on fresh fruits or vegetables that are low-glycemic, such as peaches or celery. But this isn’t always convenient, so here is one practical (and tasty!) suggestion: A dozen almonds in their natural state eaten every two hours between meals should help the average person maintain a reasonable level of blood sugar.

9. Do not mix fad diet principles with low-glycemic eating.

Some fad diets give quick, temporary results that make for good marketing but result in bad health over the long term. Whatever you see or hear from any media or individual about those other failed diet methods, just ignore them. Keep them out of your mind and focus on only on low-glycemic eating. As the old saying goes, if you do not learn from your mistakes, you are doomed to repeat them.

10. Make the commitment to be healthy for life.

This is the last rule on the list, but certainly not the least. In fact, this rule is vitally important. Unless you are prepared to make a commitment to your health, don’t start any system. Low-glycemic eating is designed to support good health, not just fat loss. It is a system you should adopt for life – not just until you can fit into a particular item of clothing. A person needs to change their behavior in order to have a healthy and fit body.

Gotta Lose Weight

Hey guess what? I’m at the library right now! I’m trying my hand at doing my work outside of the house a couple of days a week to see how I like it.

Working from home can be really lonely and distracting at times. My only complaint is the lack of outlets for those using laptops.

Plus, I wore my gym clothes so I can get a workout in while I’m out.

I have a lot that I want to ramble about today,

First, I need to set some goals. I know I talked about not having a date to lose weight by and that’s not really what I mean. I need to set some goals to aim for because right now while I’m doing o-kay I could be doing a lot better.

I know my main goal is to lose weight, but I want to be more specific and organized about my efforts.

I watched old episodes of The Biggest Loser last night and man that it was inspiring. Every time after I watch the show I want to go running and screaming down the street and have people cheer for me every time I lose weight. I know its not deemed healthy to lose that much weight alone, but they make it look so tempting.

I really loved when they showed the contestants their progress after three months at the weight loss campus. One girl improved her insulin, one guy was taken off of his blood pressure medicine and the other guy lowed his cholesterol by over 100 points. It really shows how hard our bodies work when we are overweight.

I have to go to the dentist tomorrow to take care of a filling that has fallen out of my tooth. Not looking forward to that. I had the filling put in, in Brooklyn over a year ago and it never felt right.

Lorie
tokenfatgirl@gmail.com

http://www.myallnaturalweightloss.com/