Weight Criteria. Ideal Weight. BMI 20-25. Overweight. BMI 25-30. Obese. BMI 30-40. Severely Obese. BMI Over 40.
It is very worrying that statistics show in the USA, there are 50 million overweight people and of these 12 million are severely obese. Records show that in the last thirty years of the twentieth century, the percentage of overweight Americans went up from 31% to 35% and the severely obese rose from 13% to 31%. Interestingly half of African American women are obese.
The total cost of obesity in USA is staggering. Direct cost is $6.1 billion annually. Indirect cost is estimated to be over $56 billion. This does not include Healthy Care costs and cost of illness directly due to obesity such as diabetes, hypertension etc.
There are three main factors to consider when looking at the cause of obesity. These are genetic factors, sedentary lifestyle and cheap and readily available palatable foods.
A child growing up within a family with two obese patents has an 80% chance of becoming obese. In addition there is good chance that a high birth weight baby will become obese as an adult.
It is important that an obese person go on a weight loss diet. There are serious health risks associated with obesity. An obese person has an increased risk of diabetes, arthritis, kidney disease, cardio-vascular disease and obstructive sleep apnoea. It significantly increases the mortality rate and there is a 10 times greater risk of sudden death.
Losing weight is not an easy task. There are numerous people who have gone from one diet to another without any real weight loss.
You must decide your weight loss target, then work on a specific scheme including both short term and long term plan. Once you have reached your target weight, you must know what to do to maintain your target weight.
You must do your research and plan a weight loss diet that is balanced, tasty and not lacking any of the essential elements of a healthy diet. It is not vital that you count the calorific value of the food you eat. Just eat less.
The best plan is one that has a sensible weight loss diet plan with organised regular sessions of aerobic exercise. Weight loss groups and family involvement and support are also important but the most important aspect for weight loss and long term maintenance is behaviour modification. It is vitally important to have the right mind set. This implies setting your goals and doing your best to achieve them.
Statistics show that most people who just go on a weight loss diet plan and do regular exercise quickly regain the weight they lost if they have the wrong attitude.
After several failed attempts at weight loss, an obese person may well find it diffiult to get into the right frame of mind to again try to lose weight and keep this weight off. Hypnotherapy works well here. Under the guidance of a good and experienced hypnotherapist, you can change you belief, attitude and expectations. Unfortunately this is costly and time consuming.
Several people I have used hypnotherapy on are living happy lives with the weight they are comfortable with. Hypnotherapy changed their attitude and determination so that even though they had failed in the past, they were confident they were going to succeed. This is the mindset you must try to gain. Next time you diet, you must have the determination that you will succeed. Nothing must get in your way.
Dr. Phil Hariram ran a very successful weight loss Clinic. He is using his expert knowledge to create a complete resource blog that is intended to help everyone who wants to lose weight. Go to his Blog. http://www.realdietandweightloss.com and plan your own weight loss diet.