The Unhealthy Truth About Obesity

Health and fitness... It seems that this is something that so many people are struggling with in the world today - along with financial stress.

• The question is how can we take control of it?
• How can we reach the fitness level that we want?
• How can we become healthy and happy?

Now it's an interesting thing - a lot of people know the right and wrong foods to eat, they know that they need to do some sort of exercise every day to stay healthy and happy; they know that over consumption of anything is harmful to their health... So why do they still do it?

In March 2011, around 50,000 people were weighed, measured, interviewed and had bio-medical samples taken by the Australian Health Survey.

The results of the study have shown that obesity rates in adults are continuing to grow and grow and grow and that 63% of Australians are now in the class of overweight or obese.

It has also shown that 67% of Australians to little to no exercise.

Obesity in Australia has doubled in the last 20 years, which has left Australia ranked as one of the fattiest nations in the world.

In America, over $147 billion is spent, per year, on obesity related medical costs. It was stated in a report that by 2030, that will rise to $210 billion per year with new cases of type 2 diabetes and other obesity related diseases rising from the 1.5 million per year mark, all the way up to the 8 million mark.

There has been a massive uprise of childhood diabetes and it's thought that parents will begin to out-live their children.

Now my little sister has recently turned 13, and for her birthday she had all of her friends stay over. I went over to say happy birthday and I was shocked when I saw that most of her friends were well overweight and one friend in particular was wider then she was tall - I don't know about you, but to me, that's totally unacceptable.

As I stayed there for a few hours I watched how these young girls were eating - nothing but candy, cookies, ice cream, doughnuts, and just unhealthy foods.

The one really obese girl was eating almost the entire time I was there...

• It made me wonder what's happening in her home life?
• It made me wonder what her parents health is like?
• It made me wonder how on earth they can let that happen to their daughter?
• Did they not notice their daughters width steadily grow?
• Did they not care?
• Were they just unaware, un-educated in these matters?

As children we just do as we see and if you are overweight and don't really care, then consider the effect it will have on your children.

Do you want them to grow up to live happy, healthy and successful lives?

Because the only way that we can start to combat this epidemic is through making the decision to live healthy and sticking to it. If we start now and keep at it, then the effect will carry through the generations, like knocking over domino's.

See living a healthy lifestyle is an easy thing to do, and the catch is that it is also easy not to do. Most people think that it will be hard so they don't even begin - those that do begin, they don't stick at it, they didn't notice instant results and give up and go back to the "comfortable" lifestyle they are used to.

You didn't become obese overnight, it was the accumulation of years and years of mistreating your body and not choosing the better options that are always available.

The thing is this; if you are overweight and sick and tired of having no energy, and not liking the way you look, then just start doing something, start small, it only takes a small shift that is done consistently to move you from where you are, and to put you on a new path.

You just need to build that momentum - once you've done that you may even notice that weight-loss and a healthy lifestyle is really enjoyable.

Why do you think that there are people who just love staying fit?

It's because they don't think about it as a chore, they actually enjoy the thought of exercise and being healthy.

First change the way you think about a healthy lifestyle, then decide on some little action steps you can take and stick to, then allow the momentum to build and build and build, and as it builds, start to add more and more little steps and stick to them, before long you will be exactly how you want to be and you will look back and think "How did I actually let myself live like that?"

Secondly, have a preparation phase - the time where you are mentally building yourself up for your amazing weight-loss adventure, where you are making all the little decisions that count.

Thirdly, remove all potential hazards from your environment during the active phase - i.e. unhealthy foods, the people that want you to go out indulging in unhealthy habits etc. Clean the fridge out, get rid of all unhealthy food, no excuses like "The cookies and cake are for the kids lunch", if you are going to get healthy, then the entire household will! This isn't forever, just until you're happy with yourself.

Fourthly, the very important key to long term healthyness is this: Start eating more then you normally do. This will increase your metabolism, all you need to do is that your food intake is of the right stuff! The clean stuff!

Now what will happen is this; you will lose lots of weight and then it will just stop. Expect this, this is your plateau, just have a days rest where you indulge just a little (Many people find they don't enjoy it), that will trick your body back into fat loss mode.

(as a note: Get friends to join you, make it fun! It will be much easier)

So the question is this:

When would now be the best time to get started on transforming your life?

Living a healthy lifestyle is easy to do, and it's easy not to do - you just need to decide on what your end destination is.

Because if what you're doing now isn't taking you there, then you have to change things or you will never make it.

There is no time like now to take control of your life, I discovered when I was a fitness instructor that I wasn't getting 100% results, in the gym people would being going great, but when they left - well thats when they let themselves down.

I wasn't able to create the right emotional and psychological shifts in my clients back then that would help them create a self perpetuating weight-loss and fitness change.

As a rapid results coach and now working with the mind to produce those results, I've found that I can help people make those shifts and because of that - get some amazing results that last.

Do it for yourself, do it for your family and be happy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7483741

Category › exercise , Fitness , get started on transforming your life? , Health , Obesity , Stress

Wheatgrass And The Fight Against Obesity

Are you overweight? Have you tried to diet? Why do I think that Wheatgrass and other so called super foods' can help in the fight against obesity / overweight. Let's first look at some of the symptoms associated with obesity / being overweight.

These include; high blood pressure, heart disease, being overweight, lack of energy, high cholesterol and poor complexion.

Let me explain quickly what Wheatgrass is and where it originates and how I think it can help fight obesity / overweight.

Wheatgrass is a very nutritious food created by growing wheat and cutting the small green wheat shoots when they are between 7 and 10 days old. From these shoots, Wheatgrass is juiced and used as a drink or freeze dried and converted into Wheatgrass powder.

The many benefits of Wheatgrass include:

• It is free from additives eg colouring, preservative and flavour.
• It helps with weight loss.
• It provides 20% of your daily requirements of Vitamin A in a 2g serving.

• A major benefit of taking Wheatgrass juice is that it is easily digested with little energy.
• It lessens the effect of radiation or too much sun on our skin.
• It lowers blood pressure.
• It has large quantities of Chlorophyll
• It is a naturally rich source of vitamins, minerals, fiber, amino acids (including 9 essential amino acids)
• Wheatgrass is a complete food that contains 98 of the 102 earth elements.
• It helps relieve constipation.
• It has been beneficial in the treatment of cancers.
• It helps the body detox.
• It helps to improve skin condition.

The benefits of Wheatgrass, stated above illustrate how effective the use of Wheatgrass could be in combating obesity / being overweight, particularly, in combating heart disease, high blood pressure and being overweight.

Using Wheatgrass as part of a balanced diet or in combination with other super foods' could help to reduce your calorie intake and lead to a gradual more, healthy lifestyle. Wheatgrass is a cheap food source it is possible to grow in a small space at home in trays on a 7 to 10 day cycle, cut then juiced.

There are many ways to enjoy Wheatgrass, added to water / fruit drink stir thoroughly, and drink, there are many more. If you haven't tried Wheatgrass as part of your calorie controlled diet, or if you just want to shape up, wheatgrass is a good all round nutritional supplement. Please remember to consult your doctor / physician if you are on medication or pregnant prior to introducing a new food source into your diet!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/7520989

Category › Diet , high blood pressure , lack of energy , Obesity , Wheatgrass

Soda More Closely Related to Obesity, New Studies Suggest

New research shows that soda and other sugary drinks are some of the main culprits for obesity. A study of more than 33,000 Americans was carried out over a period of more than 10 years and looked at how much their weight changed based on what they drank. The researchers found that there is now proof that soda and other sugary drinks greatly increased the risk of a person becoming obese.

 The results also suggested that soda was especially harmful to people with genes that are pre-disposed to weight gain. The main message which came out of the study is for overweight or obese people to reduce their soda intake. Similarly, findings from three studies which were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine suggest that reducing children's access to soda and other sugary drinks can help in successfully controlling weight gain. 

Collectively, these results suggest that drinking sugar drinks makes you pile on the pounds, this is not including other unhealthy habits such as overeating or not exercising enough. Consumption of sugary drinks and obesity has more than doubled since the 1970s in the US.

The gene research in particular provides a major breakthrough as to what was originally known about obesity and the results show how consumption behaviour combines with our genes to determine how fat we become. Having many genes which are more likely to make you gain weight does not guarantee that a person will become obese, but if they then drink large amounts of sugary drinks, becoming obese can become much more probable. "The sweet drinking and the fatness are going together, and it's more evident in the genetic predisposition people." says Jules Hirsh of Rockefeller University in New York who has looked at evidence from other studies.

Soda and sugary drinks are one of the most calorific sources in the American diet and they are becoming increasingly blamed for being responsible for obesity in children. In contrast to these findings, the beverage industry has hit back on these claims. The American Beverage Association states "Studies and opinion pieces that focus solely on sugar sweetened beverages, or any other single source of calories, do nothing meaningful to help address this serious issue. The fact remains: sugar-sweetened beverages are not driving obesity."

A growing number of countries worldwide are considering increasing taxes on products which contain a lot of saturated fat or sugar. David Cameron, the Prime Minister of the UK, said that his government would consider following the example set by other European countries such as Denmark which have introduced a "fat tax" scheme on foods containing 2.3% saturated fat or more, as a way of minimising the huge social and financial implications to healthcare that are caused by increasing obesity levels within the country.

The soft drinks industry branded the idea "ineffective, intrusive and unfair". Richard Laming, media director of the British Soft Drinks Association, states "A tax on soft drinks is not the way to fight obesity. The cause of obesity is an excess of calories in the diet over calories expended in exercise, and not the overall amount of calories consumed, still less the calories from any individual source. Many people enjoy soft drinks within a balanced diet: those people should not be targeted for additional taxes. Balanced diets and active lifestyles can only be achieved through information and education and not regulation or compulsion."

However, in contrast to this, genetic research have been part of a much larger set of health studies which have gone on for many yeas and are led by the Harvard School of Public Health in the USA. The results obtained from the study indicate that for every 10 risk genes someone had, the obesity rose in proportion to the amount of sugary drinks the person consumed on a regular basis. Dr Frank Hu, Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology, Harvard University added "Two bad things can act together and their combined effects are even greater than either effect alone," Hu said. "The flip side of this is everyone has some genetic risk of obesity, but the genetic effects can be offset by healthier beverage choices. It's certainly not our destiny" to be fat, even if we carry genes that raise this risk.

After evaluating the evidence from studies it is clear that soda and sugary drinks have an impact on weight gain, but in order to see a long term decrease of obesity, people would also be advised eat a calorie controlled diet as well as exercising regularly.

  ©ezinearticles

Category › Diet , Health , Obesity , soda

Obesity and Exercise

In the increasing obesity rate, obesity causes dangers to people's health. Because obesity brings many complications, people should find out the dangers that are caused by obesity. To avoid the illnesses, people can get help from pills, but the main remedy should be exercise to lose weight safely. Especially, exercises help to avoid heart disease as it helps to strengthen bone as exercise makes body uses muscles and parts that had not been used. However, obese patients must be careful with excessive exercise, so they have to find out the safe exercises that does not pose stress to knees. Even though people start to exercise, they need to keep the exercise schedule such as 3-5 times in a week. The most effective way to get interest in exercising is making a group to meet in an appointed time. Group exercise improves the percentage of losing weight and achieving the desired goals, and it makes sedentary obese people change their habit. For obese children, they also have to get help from parents to exercise and move in daily life through chores and family events as rules, because children do not have strong will to lose weight, they infallibly need parents' help. If parents show that they are enjoying exercise, it can stimulate children to exercise. Most obese people directly start to exercise, but it makes them quit easily, so they have to find out the purpose of exercising and the group to exercise everyday on appointed time.

After the obese people have to find out a group to work out with, they need to try out a variety of exercises that do not cause stress to body, especially knees. Swimming, walking, riding bike machines, and lifting dumbbells are helpful for obese patients. Because walking helps to burn total fat and running helps to burn total calories, the patient should start to walk and then run when their bodies are warmed up. If people walk and run repeatedly, the exercise become as interval training which is helpful to burn fat and calories. However, interval training can cause torn muscles, joint problems, heat exhaustion and dehydration, so obese patient should avoid interval training.

Not only are outdoor exercises effective, but also inside exercises give huge results to lose weight. For example, exercise bikes, resistance band, and dumbbells help to burn calories, at least 600 calories in 60 minutes and promote muscle growth. In addition, obese patients should fix their sedentary habit in house through diet TV programs such as The Biggest Loser. Because the program focuses to find out the purpose of losing weight to patients, they get confidence through the program and follow the exercise routine at home. If they want to know how much they moved during a day, a pedometer that shows the number of steps is helpful to check their own activities. Most people desire good bodies when they start to lose weight, but they should consider their bodies' condition and do safe exercises. Even though the goals focus in beauty, they have to recognize that excessive exercises are harmful, but exercises that are fit to patients lead to health and beauty.

  ©ezinearticles

Category › calories , exercise , Fitness , muscle , Obesity , Weight Loss

The Main Causes Of Obesity

Obesity is not only a national problem; it is an international problem that is mostly found in predominantly wealthy industrialized countries. Obesity contributes to the development of other diseases such as cardiac disease. In the US alone 300,000 premature deaths occur every year. But what can be done, one might ask?

The Causes of Obesity

Firstly, one must be aware that they are obese and then seek help. In order to quell the stem of obesity one need to know what causes it. Some causes of obesity include:

- The lack of exercise
- Consuming too much food
- Eating high calorie foods e.g. Pre-packaged foods and fast-foods
- Individuals' genetics
- Taking of medications that may cause increased appetite

Most people are aware that eating too much food can cause obesity. But they still indulge anyway. The main reason is because some people over-eat for a variety of reasons as follows:

- Reaction to stress
- Substitution of absent pleasures

Did you know that a person is considered obese when they weigh more than 20% of their ideal weight for their height, age and body-type?

How to Counteract Obesity

Is losing weight your New Years' Resolution? Do you actually want to lose the weight? Then, here is a good start to attacking the problem of obesity.

- Decide if stress is a factor enabling you're eating habits and reduce stress in your life or try not to eat when stressed.

- Implement an exercise regimen after consulting your physician.

- Try to eat food in moderation.

- Choose to eat more healthy foods e.g. Fruits and vegetables and less sugars and carbohydrates and plenty of water.

- Check with your doctor to see if your medications may be the cause of your increased appetite and ask for a change in medications, if any, by your doctor.

- Enjoy your life and do not replace life's' pleasures with food consumption.

I hope that this article has helped you in some way. But if you are morbidly obese, I would suggest that you go to your doctor and find ways of reducing the weight whether by bariatric surgery, restrictive procedures such as circumgastric banding, or by gastric bypass. But remember that natural ways to reduce the weight are recommended before a surgical procedure. So eat healthy, exercise, and reduce your calorie intake, drink plenty of water and rest for at least eight hours at nights and loose those extra pounds this year.

  ©ezinearticles

Category › How to Counteract Obesity , Obesity , The Causes of Obesity

Help Your Child Become Healthy: Tips for Preventing Childhood Obesity

Unhealthy lifestyle, lack of exercise, and the availability of unhealthy foods are some of the main reasons why childhood obesity is becoming a public concern. In the United States, it is estimated that around 16% to 18% of children and adolescence are obese. In fact, obesity is being considered as the prevailing nutritional disorder among the children in the country.

It is important that parents help their children deal with this disorder as early as possible to prevent complications. Obese children have greater chance of developing diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and high blood pressure. They also have higher risk of developing bone problems, sleep apnea, and joint problems. Obesity also increases the risk of children from developing multiple myeloma and some types of cancer such as colon, breast, and prostate cancer. Various genetic disorders are also being associated with obesity including Down syndrome, Tuner syndrome, and Prader-Willi syndrome.

With regards to mental health, obese children tend to have low self-esteem and poor self-confidence. They are also more prone to bullying and teasing in schools. Due to the multiple effects of obesity in the physical and emotional health of children, parents should do their best to prevent their children from becoming obese. These can be done by:

Having Healthy Food Choices

The foods that parents choose to serve to their children greatly influence their food preferences. If parents always serve oily or foods with high caloric content, there is a greater chance that children will constantly ask for that same food. What parents can do is to serve their children with meals that contain lean meats, poultry, vegetables, whole grains, and fruits. For snacks they can trade their child sweet treats with healthy snack foods such as low-fat pretzels, whole grain cookies, and fresh fruits.

As much as possible, parents should prevent themselves to keep unhealthy snacks and foods in the house. However, they should not deprive their children the opportunity to have occasional treats. No matter how busy their morning life is, parents should make sure that their children have something healthy to eat for breakfast.

Encouraging Children to Exercise

Exercise is one of the best ways to be healthy. It is a good idea if parents participate in various activities with their children. Not just because it will keep their body healthy, but because it can serve as a great bonding activity for them. It would be better if parents limit the time their children spend in playing video games, surfing the internet, or watching television. This will give children extra time to perform other activities.

Being a Good Example

Parents who are living a healthy lifestyle are more likely to influence their children to do the same. It is advisable that parents educate their children about the importance of having proper nutrition and regular exercise. This way, children can still make good choices and wise decisions even with minimal guidance from their parents.

Childhood obesity is hard to be completely eradicated. However, with proper guidance from parents and with the help of the above tips, this growing public concern can still be controlled.

  ©ezinearticles

Category › Diet , Having Healthy Food Choices , Obesity , Preventing Childhood Obesity

How Can Restaurants Help Tackle Obesity?

In 2009-2010, over 78 million US adults and about 12.5 million US children and adolescents were obese. These figures equate to one-third of Americans being obese, while another third are overweight. Some 26 million Americans have Type 2 diabetes and an additional 79 million more are pre-diabetic.

The number of obese Americans soared during the 1980s and 1990s, doubling among adults in the US and tripling among children. Sedentary lifestyles and changes in eating habits have contributed to weight gain, as more Americans work at desk jobs, use electronic devices and get served increasingly larger food portions in restaurants.

In 2008, medical costs associated with obesity were estimated at $147 billion; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

Tackling obesity

New York is currently preparing for a ban on sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces in places like restaurants, movie theatres and stadiums.

With the attention on obesity in America, the heat is on restaurants and bars to take action with things such as their portion sizes.

Steps for restaurants to take

In today's busy lifestyle, it's tempting to hit the drive through or dash into a diner for food - yet this is where the problem lies. A lot of restaurant menu items are loaded with calories, sodium, saturated fat, and other things that really aren't good for your health.

Knowing that there can be the danger of eating out shouldn't prevent people from eating out though - far from it. The American Heart Association is making it easy to find better options when eating away from home with the Heart-Check mark certification for heart-healthy meals.

Simply look for the Heart-Check mark on a menu - it's similar to the one you may recognize from heart-healthy foods in the grocery store. When you see the Heart-Check mark on the menu, you'll know that the meal has been certified to meet Heart Association's nutritional standards.

Many places are taking steps and introducing calories onto menus. In September last year, McDonald's announced that they would be displaying all calorie contents on their menus, as well as having options for food under 400 calories.

Under the healthcare bill upheld by the Supreme Court last summer, all restaurants with more than 20 locations will have to post calorie counts on their menus, though the precise regulations and timetable for doing so have not yet been detailed. New York City and Philadelphia already require chain restaurants to post calorie counts, but so far, research seems to show minimal impact on consumer behavior.

What can restaurants do?

With diabetes affecting some 26 million Americans, it's important to know your facts. Remember that not everyone with diabetes has the same meal plan or the same nutrition goals. According to the American Diabetes Association, while cutting calories may be important for some of your customers, fat, salt, and fiber content are bigger concerns to others. The best way to help your customers is to make sure that staff are well informed of the contents of dishes so that they can educate your customers if asked. Also keep a nutrition and ingredient breakdown for every menu item so that customers can effectively evaluate their options prior to making their food choice.

Eating out for many is still a luxury, so when people enter your restaurant, they will want to treat themselves. A US study by researchers at the University of Washington published in2010 found that when nutritional information is available on fast-food restaurant menus, parents are more likely to pick lower-calorie foods for their children.

Tools to help with healthy eating

A fresh salad with a meal is always a way of starting to make a meal healthier. With salad spinners, salad can be washed and ready to serve with dishes. Food such as chicken and fish can be grilled on griddles and grills to allow for a healthier cooking option.

Soups and smoothies are always a healthy option to include on a menu, and with soup kettles and blenders available, they can be made in bulk. With smoothies, it's often fun to jazz them up and add umbrellas and stirrers to them; even serve them in cocktail glasses.

A colorful plate of food can also help as it's more appealing to the eye as it looks more attractive. Also consider serving jugs full of water with a meal to encourage people to drink water with their dinner rather than have fizzy drinks.

Small steps in a diet can help make a big difference. Restaurants don't need to have the bad reputation when it comes to food and can help tackle obesity in the US.

  ©ezinearticles

Category › healthy eating , Obesity

The Health Risks of Sedentary Living

One of the most troubling statistics related to current health trends in the United States is the fact that 25% of all Americans live a sedentary lifestyle. This means that one out of every four people in the United States get zero exercise or physical activity. What makes this even worse is recent studies have demonstrated that living a sedentary life is just as detrimental to the body as smoking 1 ½ packs of cigarettes a day. 

While most people are aware of the health risks of smoking, many people do not link lack of physical activity to potential serious health concerns.

Obesity is becoming an epidemic in the United States with estimates that 1/3 of the adult population is currently obese. What's worse in this case is the fact that more and more children and young people are within the obese category. Studies have demonstrated that children that are obese have a substantially higher risk of heart disease as an adult. Poor dietary choices, lack of education, and lack of exercise are what I see as the main causes of obesity in our country. In my opinion I feel that while genetics can play a small part in a "predisposition" to being overweight, it has more to do with the choices the individual makes. My entire family is overweight, with most members falling into the obese range and at one point in my adult life, I too battled with obesity. 

That experience demonstrated to me that if I could lose weight, then so could the rest of my family if they made the commitment to do so. I made the choice to do something about my weight by eating a clean diet and adding exercise to my daily routine.

Another area of concern in the United States is the ever rising healthcare costs. Being overweight and non-active almost certainly doubles the need for medical care as we age, and more and more insurance companies are denying coverage or increasing premiums for those people that are obese.
I too have some experience with this being that prior to losing weight, I was faced with being put on both cholesterol and blood pressure medications, for what the doctor said could potentially be for the rest of my life. It was amazing that within 60 days of exercising and losing weight, both my blood pressure and LDL (bad cholesterol) levels were within the healthy range. All it took to avoid being put on medications for the rest of my life was losing weight and making the commitment to live a healthy lifestyle. 

So that being said, I became a huge advocate for health and fitness and I hope that we all can become passionate about taking our health and wellness seriously. Even if you are fit and eat a well balanced diet, go out and inspire others to join the wellness movement. We can all use a little motivation to push ourselves to be more active and improve our nutritional intake and our quality of life depends on it!

  ©ezinearticles

Category › Health , Obesity , Weight Loss