Obesity and Weight Loss

How can a person be defined as obese? The Body Mass Index(BMI), released by WHO of UN, can be used as an indicator. This concept was originally put forward by a Belgian talent called Quetelet in the mid-nineteenth century, which was defined as follows: BMI equals the value of the body mass divided by the square of the body height. Here is the BMI-based weight standard of a Chinese adult: lightweight: BMI<18.5, healthy weight：18.5<= BMI <24， overweight：24<=BMI<28， obesity：28<= BMI

The ideal BMI is 22

Being fat is not what people pursue anymore, which is a chronic disease per se, the main culprit causing various diseases, and can even shorten one’s life expectancy instead. Therefore, WHO has categorized obesity as a severe chronic disease that needs great prevention efforts. There are various ways to reduce fat. What with one shortcoming and another, every fat-burning approach can cause damages to our health during the treatment. So we should reduce fat in a reasonable and scientific way.

How to reduce fat?

(1) Reasonable diet

As we all know, the increase and decrease of weight are directly related to the amount of energy consumption. All recipes should be designed based on the balance between food intake and consumption. There are three kinds of foods, which are fat, carbohydrate, and protein. The excess fat and carbohydrate that can not be consumed will be stored in our bodies. Protein is an exception, which can promote calorie consumption in the body and even use fat as energy for its decomposition. Sugar and starch are easiest to be stored in the body as fat. So, having a recipe that can make you eat less, or eat a reasonable ration of food and following it for a long time is good for our bodies. If you can keep taking a kind of exercise at the same time, the effect will be better.

It must be pointed out that a blind fat-reducing diet is inadvisable. Women have less fat on their upper body than on their lower body. It can only make their breasts less plumped up and worsen their body shapes when they desperately control their weight going on a diet. In order to reduce the fat around the waist, some females choose to control their food intake, which only removes the fat on cheeks and breasts instead of the fat on the waist. Though the fat on the abdomen can be reduced in time if they continue to do so, cheeks and breasts will lose more and more plumpness.

For the adipose cells, control on food intake can indeed slim down the body, which is because nutrients and water in cells are reduced, and then cells shrink. But this will happen only when you keep strict food control. Otherwise, the cells in a starving state will become bigger than before. People will be fatter for” regaining weight”.

(2) Reducing fat through exercise

Of all the healthy approaches to reducing fat, aerobic exercise is the one that is easily taken and widely popular such as walking, jogging, rope skipping, gymnastics, dancing, swimming, and exercise in gyms. And running can effectively strengthen muscles, reduce fat, promote respiratory function, and make the heart, cerebrum, and limbs healthier. Walking is the exercise everyone can take. Though it is not the fast approach to reducing fat, having 45-60 minutes of walking on a daily basis can constantly help reduce fat or keep a stable weight.

Reducing fat through exercise also need skills. Firstly, we should take exercise on an empty stomach. For the fact that there is no fatty acid entering into adipose cells, excess fat can be relatively easily reduced and obvious effects can be seen. Secondly, the exercise we take should last longer than 30-45 minutes. Fat in our bodies is consumed to provide energy only when we take longer exercise. Only long-time and low-intensity aerobic exercise can help consume excess fat. In addition, reasonable diet regulation is needed to have long-lasting effects as well as exercise. Because several biscuits or candy can cancel out the effect after daily hours of tiring exercise.

The major obstacle in reducing fat by exercise is the stubborn fat on the waist and thigh. Daily exercise can only make muscles on the waist and thigh contract and become stronger, which is because consuming fat for energy is regulated and controlled by the nerve system and endocrine system. Fat on the area where blood flow is smooth can be easily removed. For example, people will see sunken cheeks but almost the same waistline after a period of time of exercise. On the one hand, it is a real possibility that abdomen fat is removed through daily moderate exercise, on the other hand, a longer time is needed for the removal of fat on the waist and thigh.

The machine can make the body produce passive movements, forcing muscles to relax and contract and fat to be consumed. But the machine is just an assisting approach.

( 3）Regulate dietary structure

Protein intake will decrease in lockstep with the overall decrease of food intake for controlling calories. Plus some protein in the body will be decomposed when fat is consumed for an imbalanced energy supply. As protein is integrally important for the human body, protein supply must be increased.

Low carbohydrate intake can not only decrease insulin secretion and fat synthesis but also lower glycogen storage and promote fat consumption, thus reducing fat in the body.

The proportion of energy supply from protein, fat, and carbohydrate is 20: 30:50. The energy from the three substances in daily meals should be balanced. And the protein intake every day should not be less than 1.5g per kilogram of one’s weight.

dietary fiber can make people feel they are full but can not provide energy for them. So, it can help reduce calorie intake, becoming the ideal food for reducing fat. Eating more vegetables and fruits that are rich in dietary fiber is recommended.

(4) Change dietary habits

a. 

Eat less but more times. It can help reduce insulin secretion and fat synthesis after a meal. Moreover, it can shrink the volume of your stomach to relieve hunger. Overall calorie intake must be kept within range and so eating more but fewer times should be avoided.

b. 

Chew food well and eat slowly. Eating slowly can help eat less

c. 

Do not have a sleep or be sedentary after a meal. You should take some exercise after a meal, which can promote calorie consumption by 200% higher than usual.

d. 

Eat less appetite-whetting foods, such as chili or MSG.

e. 

Take in a limited amount of salt. Salt can cause thirst, whet the appetite and then make people regain weight. Taking in 3~6g salt every day is recommended.

Reducing fat through diet needs a long time, which requires people to make consistent efforts. After reaching the ideal weight, people should keep their diet for three months. Otherwise, people are prone to regain weight due to undeveloped habits. Thirdly, a scientific diet and reasonable dietary structure should be established.

First of all, we should adhere to a reasonable and healthy fat-reducing approach and life habits. During the fat-reducing process, all approaches should be based on a good diet. It requires us to have a reasonable ratio of meals regularly, and we should “eat nutritionally balanced food for breakfast, eat lunch to make yourself feel full and eat less for dinner”. eating a meal to make you feel 60-70% full. And eating too late or too much for dinners should be avoided because fat synthesis goes at night. Reasonable dietary structure means the food should be nutritionally reasonable, which, in principle, refers to a proper ratio of carbohydrate, a medium ratio of protein, and a low ratio of fat. In this way, we can keep a nutritionally balanced food intake as well as a scientific dietary structure. In daily life, we should eat less pork, meat, chicken, duck, and fish that produced by the process in which feedstuff and growth hormone are used as possible as we can. And we should eat more the food made from beans, fresh vegetables, and fruits, coarse grains, wholewheat breads, radishes, oats, and buckwheat. We should eat fewer fried drumsticks, chicken wings, sausage, and ham. Daily salt intake should be controlled under 5g, which is helpful in reducing fat.