The Risks of Being Obese and Not Dieting

Obesity is going to epidemic proportions. This does not include the people who are termed overweight. Obesity and overweight reaching epidemic proportions insurance companies are looking away at ways to cut costs and make people more responsible for their health. People who are overweight or obese have many problems to face and now another one.

List of problems that obesity causes is long and day of deadly. Baylor College of medicine recently did a study of people who are obese and surgery. They found that people who went to surgery and are obese were three times more likely to have complications. They also discovered that people are obese and overweight have a larger tendency to have rectal cancer. This number almost doubles if the person has been obese since childhood.

The study showed that people with larger waists 45 inches or more were three times more likely to experience surgical site infections and twice as likely to require re-operation after the initial surgery. With bariatric surgery becoming more and more common the risk for infection and complications and obese people is growing. Bariatric surgery at best is part of a whole weight loss program. Even with bariatric surgery, you will still need to eat a well-balanced diet and continue to monitor your weight.

People who are obese and are looking for an easy out by going to bariatric surgery are in for a surprise. The risk for these people of obstructions, infections, and other complications are greater. The complications and risk that being obese have on the body are many times greater than the overweight person. Bariatric surgery is now reserved for the extreme we obese people.

Most experts agree that people are overweight and obese should start losing weight as quickly as possible. This means that losing one to 2 pounds a week and starting now rather than later is imperative. The longer you wait the harder it becomes and the more dangerous it becomes for you. Losing weight is not easy, but they are deadly, if you do not lose weight and keep it off.

What can be done? The consequences of doing nothing are deadly. Today's society is starting to make people who are overweight to an obese responsible for themselves. Some airlines are talking about charging people extra if they are overweight or obese, insurance companies raise your premiums when you are obese or overweight, and society in general has a negative look on overweight or obese person. The simplest but not necessarily the easiest way is to go on a complete diet and weight loss program. This includes education of how your body reacts to food, learning behavioral modification, setting realistic goals, and an exercise program that is tailored for your specific needs. If you are overweight or obese you need to take control of your life and take steps to lose weight and eventually it off. Benefits of a implementing a complete weight loss program will result in you feeling better, having more energy, and generally being healthier.

Weight Loss For the Obese

Obesity is the number one health challenge in the western world, so if you suffer from obesity and have decided you want to do something about it. Congratulations. Weight loss for the obese person brings with it challenges but the benefits you will gain by far outweigh the difficulties. Just remember it probably took some time for you to gain your weight and you need to look upon weight loss as a long-term goal

The very first thing you must do is to get checked by your doctor, they are the best person to give advice about how much it is safe for you to do.

Once you've had that check and know how far to push yourself there is some good news. The more weight you are carrying the more calories your body will burn in carrying out any activity. Moving excess weight requires more energy.

Your best approach is to slowly increase the amount of activity you do while at the same time cut back on the amount of calories you are consuming. If you try to do either of these things too quickly you are likely to give up. Exercise too hard at the beginning and you are likely to pick up an injury that will stop your progress. Cut back too hard on your food and you will feel hungry all day and think of nothing but food.

The next thing to do is to recognise your starting place. You may have very restricted mobility. You may be tied to your home. You may find your increased waist line makes some movement hard. Whatever your position it is possible to increase the level of your activity. Many aerobic activities can be performed in a sitting position. The simple act of raising your hands above your head will raise your heartbeat. Performing 3 sets of hand raises may be your starting point, but do it every day, then twice a day, then with a small weight in your hands and you will be increasing the calories you are burning.

Do you rely on others to fetch things for you? Wherever you can set yourself the goal of doing things for yourself - this will naturally increase your activity. Standing and walking around your room could be a really good starting point. Are you beginning to see the point - any activity you add and continue to build on a regular basis will start to burn off extra weight. Of course if you are already more active that's great, just add to whatever you do.

Apply a similar strategy to your food. Begin to switch some of your snacking from junk food to more healthy options. Try to have plenty of healthy alternatives around. Sweet summer fruits can make a good substitute for candy and vegetable sticks and humus is a great alternative to bags of savoury biscuits or fries.

You can also cut your intake by reducing your portion size, just do it gradually. Try having just one fewer potato at each meal this week, cut back slightly on the dressing. Try leaving some food on your plate - I know that will be difficult for some. Another good strategy is to reduce the size of your plate, you won't notice the reduction of food so much.

If you increase exercise and decrease food every week for a month you will soon be burning more calories than you consume. Taking this gradual approach means you are much more likely to stick to it.

Obese Workers Cost The US $73 Billion A Year

Obesity is not only a medical disorder but is also found to affect the normal life of an individual. The medical expenditure incurred annually by a regular employee who is obese is much more as compared to a normal person. Studies reveal that about 73 billion dollars is spent annually for these workers. They are also found to be less productive during work primarily due to their health disorders.

Obese people in this article refer to those individuals whose BMI, or body mass index, is more than 40. While the per capita cost of an obese woman was almost $17,000 a year, an obese male incurred an expenditure of more than $15,000 annually.

The total sum of 73 billion dollars accounts to hiring about 1.8 million professionals with an annual salary of $42,000 each. This is the average yearly wage of a US worker.

The absenteeism levels of obese people are found to be much more than a worker with normal weight. In addition, the average time that an employee takes to settle down in his workplace after his arrival at the office is found to be higher in obese people. This also means that the concentration levels are lower wherein the employee tends to repeat certain jobs as he or she does not do it properly the first time. Fatigue levels are higher and hence, the individual is slower than the normal while performing tasks. The actual productive time where the employee achieves the targets are also found to be lower in the case of obese people.

How Can You Tell If You Are Obese or Just Overweight?

Being overweight or obese are two closely tied conditions of the body that have serious health implications. Obesity is the advanced stage of being overweight; and both obesity and overweight are the common type of malnutrition in advanced countries. While malnutrition in less developed countries result from inadequate quantity of food intake, in advanced countries, malnutrition results from taking excess calories and exercising less; daily exercise does not commensurate with the quantity of food that is being taken.

Causes of Overweight and Obesity

Overweight and obesity result from two distinct factors- genetic and lifestyle. Overweight and/or obesity can run in families such that almost every member of the family easily accumulates fat from the food he or she eats. Similarly, as mentioned earlier, eating foods that are high in fat and exercising less is a lifestyle that naturally leads to overweight and may advance to obesity.

Percentage Fat that Indicates Being Overweight and Obese

A person is said to be overweight when the body fat increases above the ideal by 1% to 19%. This means, a 1% -19% increment in your body weight beyond the desirable or ideal weight for you is a sign that you are being overweight. Consequently, obesity results when your body weight reaches 20% or more above your desired or ideal body weight.

However, there are degrees of obesity- mild, moderate or gross. About 90% of obese people have mild obesity which is between 20% and 40% above normal weight; 9% have moderate obesity which is above 40% but less than 100% above the normal body weight; whereas about 1% of obese people have gross obesity which is 100% or more above the normal body weight.

What is the Ideal Body Weight?

A common method you can employ to determine your ideal body weight is your body mass index (BMI). A BMI of over 25 is overweight and over 29 is obesity

Other methods of determining your weight are waist/hip ratio, measuring of skin fold, hydrostatic weighing, electrical impedance etc. Yet, the most common and widely accepted method of determining being overweight or obese involves using the BMI. However, it is still used together with other methods e.g. waist circumference.

To conclude, the most basic solution to overweight and obesity is regular exercise and healthy eating habits. Once you detect that you are approaching overweight, you should begin to institute measures to stay fit.

Effective Exercises for Obese People

Are you suffering from obesity? Well, you can always do something about it. Try reading this article. It provides some effective exercises intended for obese people:

1. Sitting down exercises - Sitting down has been considered as one of the most effective exercises for obese people. This is also considered as one of the safest exercises. For overweight people or obese people, you can opt to do sitting up and down exercises that are effective for you. This type of exercise can actually help in building basic muscle strength and lessening fat production. While you are sitting down on your chair, you can do various arm movements and arm raises, you can do leg lifting and back bending or body leaning. These are gentle exercises that will prepare your obese body to do strenuous exercises in the future.

2. Walking exercises - Walking exercises is one of the most common exercises too for obese people. It is best recommended that you do short or long walks for at least thirty minutes every day. If you cannot tolerate doing a thirty-minute walk, then you can adjust it according to your capabilities. You should make sure that you keep yourself comfortable as much as possible. Consider wearing comfortable shoes when walking. It will greatly affect your activity for the day. Wear something that is not too tight and not too loose. You should always bring water with you as to replenish all fluids lost due to sweats. This will keep you hydrated. Always remember to take several breaks so as not to overwhelm your body.

3. Swimming exercises - Swimming exercises are also one of the most effective exercises recommended for obese people. This can be a great alternative for some exercises or activities. Remember that water allows you to feel lesser loads from your body because you become lighter when you are in the water. It actually allows you to get rid of more serious strains and injuries as well. You can do all strokes in the pool and you can move every single part of your body. You can do butterfly stroke, breast stroke, or the freestyle. You can do whatever you wish to do in the water.

There are so many effective exercises for obese people, but try considering these exercises first. These have been proven effective and are the safest. Tone down your weight and have a healthy body.

Disease Acquired by Being Obese

Irregular or extreme fat build up that causes health problem is what we usually call as overweight and obesity. Globally, it has reached to an epidemic percentage with almost a billion adults overweight, 300 million are medically diagnosed as obese- the major provider to the worldwide burden of chronic diseases and disability. In countries with problems in under-nutrition, obesity is a multifaceted situation with social and psychological aspect that affects all ages and socioeconomic status.

The condition of overweight and obesity may cause harmful effects on blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides and insulin resistance. Consequences of obesity may lead to some confusion because a lot of medical circumstance implicates in the growth of obesity per SE.

Normally, when body fats increases, Type 2 diabetes and hypertension develops. Sad to say these diseases affects obese children even before reaching puberty. According to statistics, 85% of people with diabetes are type 2 and among these 90% are obese or overweight.

Another disease that can be acquired with obesity is the life threatening breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate, endothermic (mucous membrane lining the womb), kidney and gallbladder. The unceasing overweight and obesity add to the significant number of people who suffer from osteoarthritis, a main cause of adult disability.

Hypercholesterolemia, an unusually high level of cholesterol in the blood is another disease caused by obesity and overweight. Obese children may even acquire high blood pressure and the occurrence of hypertension regardless of race, sex and age. The metabolic syndrome, a problem relating to or typical of metabolism may give the higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. Orthopaedic complications in child obesity are important. It causes Blount disease, an overgrowth of medical aspect of proximal tibial metaphysic that may lead to curving of the legs.

The most common though to overweight and obese children that may also cause hypertension, daytime fatigue and pulmonary hypertension is the obstructive sleep apnea. The NAFLD or the Nonalchoholic fatty liver disease is the mild growth in transaminases, a hyperechoic liver on ultrasound and proof of steatosis and peeriportal fibrosis on histologic emaninations. Thus in due time, liver cirrhosis may take place.

The weight of a person is a result of how you interact witht he environment, family history and genetics, metabolism (the way the body changes food and oxygen into energy), the behaviour and habits among others. Some of these factors may not be change such as family history but lifestyle habits can.

In order to get healthy and fit body, weight-loss treatments should take into consideration. Eating calories fewer than you are used to and doing physical activities are just a few of the methods for weight loss. Medicine and surgical weight loss are another option when changes in lifestyle are not meet.

What comprises a healthy eating plan is that it must be low in saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium (salt) and added sugar. A healthy eating plan gives nutrients the body needs on a day to day basis. To lose more weight or maintain your weight loss program is to continue lifestyle changes. It is really essential to make changes of bad habits.