Natural Weight Loss - What You Don't Know About Obesity Could Kill You

The sad fact of life is that around 97 million Americans or around 55 percent of the total populace are overweight or suffer from obesity. The definition of "overweight" is having a Body Mass Index of greater than 25. In spite of many programs of natural weight loss, more women than men are obese with a Body Mass Index of greater than 30. This translates to 27 percent of women and 21 percent of men.

More Obesity Now Than Ever Before

Scientists have found out that the obesity prevalence has actually increased-by 12 percent in the early 1990s to 18 percent in the late 1990s. The worst increases were seen in the young adult population and in those of a higher socioeconomic status. The facts are made worse by the fact that the obese tend to underestimate how much they weigh and overestimate how tall they are.

Obesity is chronic and resistant to natural weight loss. It is part genetic and part environmental. The reasons behind why we have so much obesity are believed to fall into the categories of metabolic issues, psychological issues, cultural claims, behavioral issues and several genetic factors.

It seems that the hormone "leptin" plays a role in all of this. It seems to regulate the amount of adipose tissue made and to affect the way we eat. Leptin given to patients reduced their weight in at least one study.

A normal person keeps their weight steady to within ten percent or less and one pound translates into 3500 calories. Those who eat up to 500 extra calories per day will gain up to a pound a week.

The risk factors for obesity include diabetes, high lipids, sleep disorders, gallbladder disease and heart disease. Others suffer from excess arthritis of the knees and gout while still others suffer from chronic lumbar pain, breast cancer, colon cancer or cancer of the endometrium. High blood pressure is one of the most common complications of obesity, especially in those under 55 years of age. Instead of natural weight loss, up to eighty percent of type II diabetics suffer from obesity.

Exercise and diet appear ineffective in curing the complications of diabetes as more than 90 percent of those who try a conventional diet will gain the weight all back again. Even supervised diets in which a lot of weight is lost, once the supervision stops, the weight comes back on.

Ideally, one should lose about ten percent of their body weight in six months or so. This translates to about a pound a week with 500 calories lost per average day. Heavier people should lose about 2 pounds per week. The diet needs to be low in sugar and whole grains. This is what natural weight loss is all about. The actual intake depends on one's activity level throughout the day. On average, the women should eat around 1000 to 1200 calories daily and men should eat 1200 to 1500 calories daily.

Exercise is a natural part of this kind of eating and weight loss. It helps the heart and decreases the fat around the abdomen. Think about 30-45 minutes of exercise for at least three to five times weekly. Eventually the goal is to exercise every day.

When you eat, you should eat at regular intervals and be seated at a table. Your focus should be on the meal at hand. You should use smaller plates and cook small quantities. Refuse second helpings of food and throw away extra food right away into the garbage.

Diet and Weight Loss Tips For Men and Women Who Are Weight Loss Resistant

Here are diet and weight loss tips that will help your body work more efficiently at losing weight even if you are weight loss resistant. There are many reasons that your body can become resistant to losing weight and while thyroid issues and other medical reasons should be investigated with your doctor the problem could be that you have been overweight and inactive and your body has become inefficient at burning fat. The good news is that anyone can take steps to prime their body for weight loss success again and this article shows you how, I encourage you to read on and learn how you can start losing again.

Diet And Weight Loss Tips

1. Two Week Carb Shift. One of the most common reasons a body will stop losing is because it has become too dependent on burning carbohydrates for energy and is now neglecting to burn body fat for energy. If you feed your body a steady supply of carbs throughout the day it will burn use them for energy because they are quick and easy to break down.

For the next 2 weeks cut carbs out of your diet after lunch. This gives your body no choice other then to become efficient at burning body fat for it's energy needs later in the day and because you are retraining your body to burn fat you will prime your body for continued fat burning.

2. Prioritize the right type of exercise. Not all exercise is created equal in a weight resistant body. If you are walking or exercising at a slow and steady pace you are burning calories but the benefit of the exercise ends as soon as you stop moving. You want to exercise in a way that stimulates your fat burning metabolism so your body continues to burn fat for hours after your exercise is done.

To do this exercise using intensity bursts. Simply warm-up for a few minutes at a comfortable pace and then alternate between periods of high effort/pace and periods of low effort/pace. This small variation is what you need to move your body back into fat loss.

Use these diet and weight loss tips to get your body burning fat again and you will be well on your way to success.