LIFESTYLE CHANGES TO CONTROL BODY WEIGHT

Obesity or being overweight is a common health concern for many people nowadays. Also being slim and trim is a new look that everyone expects of himself/herself. Losing weight (if excess) or maintaining a healthy weight is not only important for your looks but most important for your health. Excess weight increases the risk for heart diseases, stroke, diabetes, infertility, sleep apnea, arthritis, respiratory problems, and many more. So it is advised to always have a check on your body weight.

Also before starting any type of remedy you need to understand that it’s not important how much weight loss per week or per month should be kept as your target. Many people fall for those advertisements put up by gyms displaying or claiming to lose 15-20 kgs of weight or maybe even more in a short span of time. Is that really required? Why can’t we lose weight slowly and steadily without much severe exercise or gym activities? Maybe too much excessive exercise in gyms may take a toll on your body? Is it important to lose too much body weight? Is it required to lose weight in record times?

Too much exercise at the gym and cardio sessions may not always be helpful, rather it can take a toll on your heart and blood vessels. So, we need to understand that we should plan to lose our body weight slowly and steadily in a proper way so that the body adapts to this change and does not hamper or negatively impact our health. It is rightly stated that even a modest weight loss of 5%-10% of initial weight and the long-term maintenance of that weight loss can bring significant health benefits by lowering blood pressure and lowering the risks of diabetes and heart disease.

We need to also identify what are the reasons for the weight gain, maybe it’s genetic, or due to an inactive sedentary lifestyle, too much junk food, improper food habits (eating too many fats and carbohydrates or wrong timings ie. eating late), increased food cravings, certain diseases (like hypothyroidism, insulin resistance, polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS), or side effects of medications.

So what are the basic things that we can incorporate into our routine day-to-day life to lose weight or avoid gaining weight? In order to lose weight, the right way, we need to bring changes in our lifestyle, like:

· Having meals at the right time

· Properly designed diet which mainly contains proteins and less carbohydrates and fats

· Eating only when hungry

· Controlling your meal portions (avoid excessive eating), specifically at night (dinners)

· A 20-30 mins walk after meals (helps improve digestion) before going to bed

· If overweight, avoid using lifts, prefer staircases

· Avoid junk food or reduce the frequency of eating outside (prefer home-made food)

· Say no to carbonated drinks and fried foods

· Reduce stress

· Quit or control a few bad habits like smoking and drinking

· Avoid sleeping during afternoons (it plays an important role in weight gain)

Some additional tips that can also help control weight gain are:

· Avoid mangoes, particularly mango shake

· Avoid custard apples and bananas as they increase the chances of weight gain

· Avoid potatoes, potato chips, and French fries

· For rice lovers, use brown rice, if not while using white rice make a routine to thoroughly wash it in water to remove starch and also cook it in a vessel and drain off the water as it contains starch.

Some precautionary tips for Gym-goers:

· Don’t over-exercise at the gyms (consider factors like age and health). 5 hours a week of moderate exercise or 2 and a half-hour of more intense activity is generally recommended for adults

· Moderate exercises are more beneficial for health than severe or intense exercises, which may rather be damaging.

So when you are dealing with weight issues you need to keep in mind that it’s not a single thing or remedial action that will help; rather it is a set of multiple things, actions, and changes in your life that will bring the change or result you desire.