Obesity Health Article

Diets

Reducing calories is one requirement for weight loss. Cutting only 100 extra calories a day from one's diet will lead to a weight loss of 10 pounds in a year, while cutting 500 calories a day will lead to a loss of 50 pounds in a year. Most health organizations recommend a specific distribution of calories. For example, about 25 to 30 percent of total calories should be from fat (mainly unsaturated fat, such as olive oil, corn oil, and safflower oil), 15 percent from protein, and 50 to 60 percent from carbohydrates (mainly complex carbohydrates, such as fruits and vegetables). Recommended total calories should be based on height, weight, age, and activity level. A plant-based diet, consisting of an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit and limited in calories, seems to be a healthful one for most people.

Physical Activity

Burning only an extra 100 calories a day by walking briskly for about 20 minutes will lead to a weight loss of about 10 pounds a year, while burning an extra 300 calories by walking briskly for about 60 minutes a day will lead to a weight loss of about 30 pounds. Physical activity contributes to weight loss, decreases abdominal fat, increases cardiorespiratory fitness, and helps with maintenance of lost weight. Any aerobic exercise, such as swimming, bicycling, jogging, skiing, or dancing, leads to these benefits, but for most obese people brisk walking seems to be the easiest activity to do. Other forms of exercise, such as resistance training or lifting weights, can also be helpful in a weight loss program. Finding ways to be more active every day, such as walking up a flight of stairs rather than taking the elevator, or walking somewhere rather than driving, can help a person burn calories without much effort.

Combined Diet and Exercise

The combination of a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity will lead to better weight loss than either one done separately. Small changes in diet and physical activity done each day is the key to long-term, successful weight loss for most obese people.

SEE ALSO BODY IMAGE; BODY MASS INDEX; CHILDHOOD OBESITY; FAD DIETS; FAST FOODS; OVERWEIGHT; WEIGHT LOSS DIETS; WEIGHT MANAGEMENT.

John P. Foreyt

Bibliography

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