Big is beautiful…but why will it kill you?
- Are you resigned about carrying those extra kilos?
- Do you want to do something about it?
- Why is it that we all get defensive about our weight when we know it is not healthy?
- Are you one of those people that say, "I’m not like other people, my weight is not giving me any health problems yet."
Your size, shape, fitness level and athletic ability shouldn't alter the beauty you have on the inside, but sadly it can take you away from this life sooner than you would like.
Big is beautiful, but halving your life expectancy is not so beautiful. What about the quality of life that you could have if you were leaner, fitter and healthier?
The statistics quoted are both upsetting and scary and yet we choose to live a shortened life.
According to the World Health Organization, 1 in 3 of the adult population is overweight and 1 in 10 is obese. The economic burden of being overweight has significant financial consequences on individuals, systems and countries. The World Health Organization estimates that over the next ten years (2006-2015) China will lose $558 Billion in national income due to heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes comprises 90% of people with diabetes around the world and is largely the result of excess bodyweight and physical inactivity. In 2005, Australia had an estimated 1.1 million people die from diabetes.
So losing weight is really about being healthy. If you really want to feel fantastic, have loads of energy and look your best, aim to keep your weight under control.
So how do you lose weight?
- You have to want to! All the information in the world will not make any difference if you don’t really want to do anything about it.
- Eat more of the stuff that comes out of the ground. You have probably heard about the 2/3-1/3 rule, which means 2/3 of what you eat should look like it came out of the ground (fruit, veges, legumes) and the 1/3 is the other stuff (animal fats and processed foods). Start by introducing one more piece of fruit or vegetable a day. You will find it easier to manage if you make small changes to your diet at a time.
- Aim to move more. See everything that you do as an opportunity to get more active. Take the stairs and not the escalator, walk the dog, play with your kids, park your car further away at work, or when you are out shopping, walk around while you are on the phone. Aim to do 180 minutes of exercise per week. Break this down into 6 lots of 30 minutes or 12 lots of 15 minutes etc. You could plan to do 10 minutes in the morning, 10 minutes at lunch and 10 minutes at night. The result will be exactly the same.
- Lift weights. By getting stronger you will have a faster metabolism because you have more lean muscle tissue.. The more lean mass, the faster the metabolism. The higher your metabolism is the more energy you will burn.
- Don’t waste your time doing 100 crunches every night. They won’t burn fat from your tummy and won’t make you stronger. Aim to do the exercises that move more of the body. In the time that it takes to do those crunches, you could go for a walk or find some stairs and do some step ups. By moving more of your body you will use extra kilojoules and burn more body fat.
- Find the exercise that you enjoy doing. It doesn’t matter how good the program is, how much weight you will supposedly lose or how much muscle you will gain, if you can’t, won’t or don’t have time to do it, it will never work! If you enjoy doing it you are more likely to stick to it. Don’t let any person, book, or expert confuse you. What is missing from most exercise programs that fail is that the person found it too complicated, uninteresting, and non enjoyable.