One of the biggest threats to health in North America today is overweight and obesity. Being overweight makes one at risk for the most serious diseases including coronary heart disease, stroke, breast and colon cancer, types 2 diabetes and osteoarthritis. To lower the risk of chronic disease and, indeed, for overall optimum health, it is imperative that Canadians achieve and maintain an appropriate weight for age and body build. The question is how can this be achieved?
It must be said at the outset there is no magic bullet. Any diet or supplement that sounds too good to be true is just that! An effective weight loss plan is largely a common sense approach and will demand work and commitment. People nowadays want things to be quick and easy—a good weight loss plan does not meet these criteria.
Why has obesity and overweight increased so dramatically over the last 25 years? The answer to this will throw light on how to deal with the problem. We can safely say increasing rates of overweight can be attributed largely to changes in work and leisure time which have affected eating patterns and activity levels. Convenience-type foods—high in sugar, fat and sodium—have become more available and accessible, and form a large part of many diets. At the same time there has been a shift to non-physical work and passive leisure activities such as television viewing and Internet cruising.
In order to lose weight, the body must burn more calories than it takes in. While this is obviously simplistic, it is essentially true and points out why both diet (consuming calories) and exercising (burning calories) are part of a weight loss plan.
Let’s look at diet. The first step in implementing a weight loss plan is cutting back on fat—that is replacing fatty and greasy foods with healthier options. Never fry meats and vegetables—bake or roast instead. In fact, lower your intake of meat and more often eat foods such as eggs, beans and lentils, high in protein and low in fat. Use low-fat dairy products and go easy on the cheese. Snack foods are one of the biggest culprits in weight gain. Be wary of munchies (chips of all varieties)—one can eat them almost endlessly and remain unaware of how the calories (not to speak of sodium intake) are adding up.
Replace sugary foods
Secondly, replace “sugary “ foods—desserts and snacks—with healthier foods. Decide to forego desserts most of the time or for a sweet kick if you need it, eat fruit, slightly sweetened yogurt, or rice pudding or custards (made with skim milk). If you absolutely love desserts, allow for a cheat day—for example, the first Saturday of each month, eat any dessert you like. It will not throw you off the wagon, and give you something to look forward to! Leave pop alone and don’t overindulge in juices (eat fruit instead).
The second component for weight loss is regular physical exercise. The best thing is to make movement part of your lifestyle—walk during your lunch hour, pick up an easy outdoor activity such as walking, swimming or cycling, run stairs when you have the opportunity, join a team sport, or use a treadmill while watching TV. You should aim for 30 minutes of activity every day—do it in a number of shorter periods if you want. Some individuals seek out gyms which offer group exercise programs, a good option if you live in town.
There are certain dietary aids you might wish to investigate to help you lose weight, particularly if you need to shed many pounds. Some capsules are effective in making one feel full so you eat less, while others contain substances that inhibit sugar or fat absorption. One recent study has shown that green coffee beans contain chlorogenic acid which inhibits the release of glucose (sugar) in the body while boosting metabolism (burning of fat). Unfortunately, this is not true for roasted coffee beans or one would perhaps have the licence to increase coffee intake! Since green coffee beans are bitter to the taste, you can check out green coffee bean capsules, quite easy to swallow.
