Obesity Definition

It is no wonder we are having such an epidemic when poor and bad eating habits are so out of control, and these are leading to a world of obesity.
Not only are people not eating healthy but their conception of portion size has gotten larger and larger over the years. Now when the correct portion size is suggested people are mortified. “That won’t sustain a mouse let along me” they scream.
When did our eating habits and portion sizes change? When did a meal for 4 turn into a meal for 1?
There is a preconceived idea that if the plate is not heaped with food then we’re not getting enough to eat. A lot of this is due to manufacturers and fast food chains, with larger packaging and super sizing everything, and all you can eat buffets.
Larger portion sizes are expected, therefore, when out for a meal, if the portion size is not what is expected, we feel cheated. We are at a time that we just want more. However, if you eat more, have larger portions than your body needs and can use, eventually you will become larger in size.
More is definitely not better!
Eating habits and portion size are the key to controlling weight.
If your eating habits are poor then there is a good chance your children’s eating habits will be as well.
In Britain, the government has introduced healthy foods into school meals, and are looking at nutrition, as being part of the curriculum. Teaching children to eat properly will lead to healthier adults later. They are hoping to combat the obesity epidemic through education.
Get children eating healthy so they do not crave unhealthy foods.
As a parent or guardian, one way to help, is by providing your child with interesting and easy to eat meal. Most schools have a time period for children to eat, so make the meal simple.
Some suggestions may be; hard boiled eggs, proper cheese pieces, raisins, vegetable sticks and fruit already cut to bite size pieces, crackers or even cereal which may be more appealing and easier to eat.
Healthy eating does not have to be boring or even uneventful. Nor does it have to be time consuming to prepare healthy meals.
With health and the obesity epidemic being at the fore front today, most restaurants, even fast food outlets are offering a healthier choice. However, it is up to you to make the choices.
Having a good understanding of how the body uses food and which foods promote weight gain and which promote weight loss will help. People get caught up on calorie intake but really do not understand what is best for them. Others believe that, you can never have a sweet again, but this does not have to be the case.
When we think of food, do we really understand what the different types are? For example, when you think of potatoes, do you think this food is good for the body as it provides energy? Or are you convinced that it will only cause you to gain weight? Potatoes are a carbohydrate and we need carbs for energy. But the trick to eating carbs is not which ones but how much. This is why portion size is so important.
Understanding your body and knowing the correct portion size you require, is the key to controlling your weight. Too much of any food will lead to too much of you, because your body can only use up so much food at one time. Therefore, you need to understand your body’s needs before you start jumping into trying to lose weight.
You may have to start by measuring and weighing your portions, in order to understand what is right for you. You need smaller portions of carbohydrates and proteins and more of vegetables. After a while you will find it becomes easy and natural to only take the right amounts.
One way to help you get started, if you can afford it, get rid of your large plates and bowls and replace them with smaller one. That way your plate does not look half full and you will not feel cheated.
Eat slowly, allow your body time to know it is being fed and it will alter your hunger mechanism and you will become satisfied. If you eat quickly you tend to over eat then later you will feel uncomfortably full.
Learn which foods are better for you and eat the ones you enjoy, rather than forcing yourself to have foods you don’t like. Know which foods should not be eaten often, therefore make them special treats for yourself and your family.
Make meals a sociable time, that way, you will look forward to them and you will feel better. Remember not to let yourself get so hungry you just eat anything and quickly. Think ahead and plan, always have some fruit, vegetable sticks, or a healthy snack bar in your bag or desk rather than missing a meal.
If you have to eat out a lot in restaurants, then make healthy choices. When ordering your meal ask to have any sauce or dressings on the side, that way you are in control. Ask for a larger portion of vegetables and less carbohydrates. Pick leaner cuts of red meat or better still, choose chicken or fish dishes. If bread is brought before the meal, place a piece on your side plate and eat it with your meal rather than filling up on it and then forcing yourself to eat your meal. Share a starter if possible rather than having the whole thing.
For more ideas on eating healthy and understanding portion sizes, then look at Eating for a Healthy Lifestyle and Lose Weight Program found at u2canloseit.com.

Tags: Diet, Healthy Eating, Healthy Lifestyle, lose fat, Lose Weight, Understand Foods, Weightloss

A well-known psychologist recently wrote about the issue of obesity in America for the Practical Advise column, which appeared in my local newspaper. The title of her article, “Obesity Is A Medical Illness, Not A Behavioral Disorder,” shocked and frightened me. She stated, “Obesity meets all of the clinical definitions of a disease.”

In view of the fact that this is a syndicated column and hundreds of newspapers will carry this article, I am compelled to write a rebuttal to this outrageous miscarriage of facts. Maybe with some stretch of imagination, being obese may have earned a medical disease diagnosis—becoming or staying obese is the result of emotional adaptations and indoctrinations—environment, family, religion and society are contributors to the onset and proliferation of obesity.

The frightening aspect of this article is the proclamation that obesity is a disease, reinforcing the doctor’s role as an authority and the person’s role as a helpless sick person. This indoctrination instills the belief that a “disease,” is out of the direct control of the person and that the doctor has a “treatment,” and that the person must “listen to the doctor” in order to “get well again.” Thus, learned helplessness and submissiveness is then vastly amplified by this insidious edict. The person becomes more dutiful to the doctor and to the demoralizing principles of prescriptions, which is the mainstay of Traditional Western Medicine. Denial of ones responsibility for ones health and compliance to the doctors authority becomes a way of life, anchored in place by false facts.

The National Center for Health Statistics, 2007, set the obesity rate for Americans at 31 percent. This statistic is no doubt low, because many obese people do not appear in statistical data, because they seldom use medical services in order to be counted.

Side effects of obesity includes: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea and depression, which are diagnosed as medical conditions. However, from a metaphysical standpoint, these issues can be traced back to emotional issues which precipitated the person to use food as a coping mechanism.

Reasons for excess weight include:

• Emotional issues—Fear, Hidden anger, Resistance to forgive, Need for protection, Running away from feelings. Insecurity, Oversensitivity, Self-rejection. Seeking fulfillment, Childhood trauma—sexual abuse, corporal punishment and verbal abuse• Diet high in carbohydrates• Lack of exercise• Thyroid imbalance• Insulin imbalance• Adrenal problems• Water retention—kidney/heart malfunction (edema, phlegm accumulation)• Weak digestive function

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Definition of Obesity

Excess amount of body fat is Obesity. Excess weight of muscles, bone, fat and water in the body (like body builders and athletes) is Overweight. Over weighted persons are at increased health risk than normal persons. They are more prone to chronic diseases like heart diseases, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and few types of cancers.

Is fat necessary to our body?

Certain amount of body fat does the following function

1. Heat insulation.

2. Absorption of shock.

3. Storage of energy. Etc.

Ayurveda describes the functions of body fat as

“Medaha sneha swedaudhrudatwam pushtim asthyancha” This means in normal conditions the body fat keeps the body moisturized, causes sweating, gives energy to body (by storing energy) and nourishes bones. (By protecting them from shock)

Distribution of fat

Women have more body fat than men. In women usually the fat accumulates around hips giving them a pear shape. In men it accumulates around belly giving them an apple shape. The obesity related problems start when fat accumulates around waist.

In ayurveda the distribution of fat is described as follows:

Medastu sarvabhutaanamudarenvasthi thishtathi

Ata evodare vriddhihi prayo medaswino bhavet

Fat gets deposited in and around belly in all living beings. It is also present in bone. Hence when a person becomes obese his stomach bulges out.

And also the characters of an obese person are described as “Medo mamsa ativriddhatvaachalasphigudarastanaha” which means the hips, belly and breasts of an obese person sag and sagged parts flap as that person moves. An obese person will not be active.

Causes of Obesity

When a person consumes more calories than he burns then the excess calories get stored in the form of fat causing obesity.

1. Genetic factors–Obesity tends to run in families. If parents are fat then the offspring also show a tendency to accumulate fat. Even the diet and lifestyle habits which are practiced in family also contribute to obesity.

2. Environment. – A person’s eating habits and the level of physical activities a person has also contribute for excess deposition of fat. When a person eats food containing more calories and has a sedentary work then the calories consumed are more than calories burnt. The excess amount calories are stored as fat.

3. Psychological disturbances.- There is a tendency to over eat in response to negative emotions like boredom, sadness or anger. This leads to obesity.

4. Binge eating disorder.

5. Diseases and conditions like Hypothyroidism, Cushing’s syndrome, Depression, and certain neurological problems lead to overeating which in turn leads to accumulation of fat.

6. Medicines such as steroids and some antidepressants may cause weight gain.

Causes of obesity according to Ayurveda

The causes of obesity are very clearly explained in ayurveda. The following reasons which are mentioned in ayurveda increase the deposition of fat.

Avayamadivaaswapnashleshmalaaaharasevinaha | Madhuroannarasaha prayaha snehamedhovivardhati || According to ayurveda the causes of obesity are defined as:

1. Avyayama: Not exerting physically

2. Divaswapna: Sleeping in afternoon.

3. Shleshmala Ahara Vihara: The diet and life styles which increase Kapha

4. Madhura Annaha: Consuming sweetened foods.

Health risks due to Obesity

Obesity leads to the following problems.

1. Type-2 diabetes

2. Heart disease.

3. High Blood pressure.

4. Stroke

5. Few types of Cancers

6. Gall stones

7. Liver diseases

8. Osteo arthritis.

9. Gout

10. Infertility

11. Irregular menstruation in women.

According to Ayurveda the obese persons are more prone to the following diseases.

1. Diabetes.

2. Kidney related problems.

3. Hepatitis.

4. Low libido.

5. Low energy levels.

6. Skin problems.

7. Fistula

8. Piles.

9. Filariasis . etc

Tips to reduce Obesity

1. Determine with the help of your physician how much weight has to be reduced.

2. Set several short term realistic goals .

3. Reward yourself each time you make progress (Not food items)

4. Even small weight losses have shown to be beneficial.

5. Make gradual changes in eating habits.

6. You will lose weight when you burn more calories than you consume. Hence eating less and being more active help in losing weight.

7. Sound eating habits keep you out of putting on weight.

8. Stay motivated to lose weight.

9. Slow weight loss is the safest and most effective. ( one to one and half pound per week).

10. Gradual weight loss, promote long term loss of body fat.

11. A person who is moderately active needs daily, 33 calories per kg of body weight to maintain his weight .

12. Reducing calories intake by 300 per day and increasing the physical activity to burn 200 calories per day results in weight loss of 400 Gms per week.

13. To satisfy basic nutritional needs eat a variety of foods every day. Choose from each of the five food groups milk, meat, fruit, vegetable and cereals. Balanced food plans encourage making wise choices about everyday food choices. This type of diet helps to stay at your proper weight for life.

14. Allow for an occasional treat.

15. Evaluate your eating pattern.

16. Try to cut down on foods high in fats and sugar.

17. Most successful weight – loss plans stress on reduction in both calories and the amount of fat eaten

Physical activity:

1. Determine the type of physical activity that suits your life style.

2. Regular aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging or swimming, is a key factor in achieving permanent weight loss and improving health

3. Health experts recommend exercising 30 minutes or more on all, days of the week for maximum benefits. The exercises should be moderately vigorous to be most effective but not exhausting.

4. Incorporate few simple measures to burn calories effectively. Like- taking an after dinner walk, using stairs instead of escalators or elevators, parking the car farther away to have a longer walk etc.

5. Exercises also improve sense of well being ,decreases stress and decreases appetite in some.

Ayurvedic tips to reduce Obesity

Numerous tips to reduce obesity have been mentioned in ayurveda. The following ayurvedic tips help you to reduce the obesity.

1. Very good exercises. Exercises like brisk walking, jogging, playing out door games etc help to reduce weight.

2. Physical and mental exertion. Exerting physically like doing house hold works, walking to distant places to bring groceries, vegetables etc, walking long distances to bring the child back from school, walking to working place, climbing stairs etc are types of physical exertion. Exerting physically as much as you can help to burn more calories. Mental exertion like worrying or involving in finding solutions to problems also restrict food consumption in some and there by reduces the intake of calories.

3. Having sex frequently is also a good physical exertion.

4. Consumption of honey. This is advisable for non diabetic patients. Consuming 2 tea spoon of honey with a glass of herbal tea which includes weight reducing herbs help a lot in weight reduction. Honey along with these herbs scrapes and dissolves the Kapha and medha (body fat).

5. Sleeping for less hours. Avoiding sleeping in afternoons help to increase the burning of calories. This avoids slowing of basal metabolic rate.

6. Avoiding the food and beverages which increase kapha and medha. The foods which increase kapha and medha are sweets, sweetened drinks, large quantities of carbohydrates and oily food.

7. Consuming wheat products than rice products help to reduce obesity.

8. Using Green gram and horse gram help in reduction of kapha and medha.

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