What is Obesity?
Before we address the problem of being overweight or obese, we have to know what it means and understand what it does to the rest of the body.
Obesity is simply a condition where a person has an excess of bodyweight, which is usually caused by the consumption of too many calories while doing too little activity. Being obese causes a lot of problems within our body, as the excess adipose tissue itself creates many problems.
These include things like hormonal imbalances, increased levels of stress, moodiness, and chronic fatigue. If the problem persists it can lead to even more serious complications, such as diabetes, heart disease and cardiovascular disease; all of which can be life threatening.
Being overweight or obese is determined based on the BMI scale, which gives certain ranges of ideal weights for people based on their height. This BMI scale is a good way to get a general idea of how healthy a person is.
With that being said the BMI scale isn’t perfect, and can give an inaccurate reading so to speak based on the body composition of an individual. For example some professional athletes and bodybuilders fall in to the overweight or even obese categories on the BMI scale. This is because the BMI scale only take in to consideration the weight of the individual, without considering the type of tissue.
With all the negatives about obesity being said, there is a silver lining if you fall in to that category. There are plenty of things you can do to lose the weight, and in turn many of the problems that come along with it like all the hormonal disruption.
Change Your Diet to Help Drop Those Pounds
One of the best things to do when we want to lose weight is to modify your diet. Chances are that if you are overweight and live in the United States or western world, the foods you eat and the portion sizes are both major issues.
To say that you should ditch the soda, ice cream, cookies and fast food would seem rather obvious, however again the amount of calories is the real problem here. You could survive on an all fast food diet and still lose weight if you keep a check on your calories, although that won’t be great for your overall health.
The point here is that you really want to be focusing on smaller meals that are more nutrient dense, which will give your body what it needs, but in the form of less calories. This amount of food will still keep you satisfied as well, and probably more so than your average fast food meal.
Stick to foods that are high in fiber and high in protein, as these are the two major components behind keeping yourself full, and for a long time. Foods high in protein and fiber will help you fight off hunger for long periods of time, helping you to avoid snacking periodically throughout the day.
Use Supplements to Help You Along the Way
A change in their diet alone won’t facilitate a fast enough change for many people out there, hence why the supplementation industry is so huge. Many supplements out there have been seen to be effective in helping those looking to lose weight, especially those that are in the stimulant family.
Caffeine is one of the most popular drugs out there worldwide as tea and coffee are the #1 and #2 drinks consumed in the world, respectively. This is because of the drug caffeine found in both of these drinks, which is a substance that helps increase our energy levels.
Not only can caffeine do this, it can help to increase our metabolism as well. Our metabolism is a broad term for how our body is able to break down and synthesize material, including that of fat. The fast it works the faster it is able to process all of that fat, and hence helps us to burn it off.
In addition to these two things, exercise is another thing that everyone looking to lose weight should consider. Exercise is going to help to further increase your metabolism, which in turn not only helps you process the fat you are eating now more efficiently, but the fat you already have on your body.
