Biggest Loser - Weight loss blog

July 14, 2010

Extreme weight loss diets may not be as safe as you think

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You may be thinking of losing weight fast. Apart from reading about effective exercises that help you lose weight fast, you may have come across many weight loss diets that claim to save your time by helping you lose weight rapidly. Some of the normal weight loss diets seem beneficial but are very hard to follow. This is one of the major reasons why you choose to follow an extreme weight loss diet.

What is an extreme weight loss diet?
An extreme weight loss diet is basically a solution that many people come up with to lose weight. Some people are unhappy with the way they look and they wish to have a toned and agile body. They think that starving themselves will help them lose extra pounds and look good.

These diets look like a quick solution to your problem but they are only short term and their side effects stay for a long time. Diets that help you lose weight within a week or two are not designed to make major changes in your lifestyle and so you come back to your normal shape and size once the diet it over. You have to avoid certain foods if you follow these diets and that may not be very healthy and safe in the long run.

Loss of muscle tissue
You cannot lose weight too fast, because your body is not designed for that. If you take the risk of losing weight rapidly, you may not only lose weight but also decrease your muscle tissues ,which is not good for the body. If you wish to lose fat, you have to make gradual changes in your diet and lifestyle.

Imbalance of metabolism
When you follow a rapid weight loss diet, your body slows down its metabolism to save energy. When you skip meals, your caloric intake reduces and the body will tap in the fat reserves for more energy. This slows down the metabolism and weight loss becomes very difficult because of this.

Other health risks
Crash diets and yo-yo dieting can cause a lot of health problems which may even prove to be life threatening. Cases of cardiac arrest and death have been reported because of extreme dieting.

Extreme weight loss diets are not as safe as you think. It is highly recommended that you make lifestyle alterations to change the way you look.

June 25, 2010

Links Between Obesity and Asthma

Obesity is a serious condition that is typically characterized by a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above. BMI is a measurement chart that provides a comparison of height weight in order to determine whether you are obese, overweight or have normal weight. Obesity can have extremely negative repercussions on your overall health, affect your quality of life and is one of the biggest causes of preventable death worldwide. Asthma is a chronic disease that narrows and inflames the airways in the lungs. An asthmatic individual often experiences recurrent wheezing, tightness in the chest, coughing and shortness of breath.

Link between obesity and asthma
Now, new research has confirmed what doctors have long suspected – there are strong links between these two conditions. It has been discovered that higher the BMI, greater your risk of having asthma. In fact, your risk of suffering from asthma will be more than tripled if you also suffer from obesity. But the reasons for this have not yet been identified. Some researchers suggest that obesity causes a low grade system wide inflammation which might be a major factor in causing asthma. But others argue that obesity leads to insulin resistance and is therefore responsible for causing and aggravating asthma.

Control your obesity
Obesity also enhances the risk of a number of health conditions such as type-2 diabetes, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and osteoarthritis as well as some kinds of cancer. That is why it is essential to control obesity with the help of weight loss treatments that include essential lifestyle changes such as a healthy diet and regular physical activity. These can be incorporated as a part of a holistic fitness program. Some cases of obesity need to be treated with prescription weight loss medications. This will help you keep obesity linked health conditions under control and reduce the severity of their symptoms.

May 24, 2010

Growing Obesity Amongst Teens

According to the latest research, teenage obesity is increasing at an unmatched pace worldwide. The rate at which obesity is rising has jolted the medical fraternity into action. Now that around 15% of the children below the age of 15 are obese, doctors have taken this as a wake up call that requires speedy and timely action.

Causes of teenage obesity
Various factors cause obesity; however, the main factors that contribute to obesity are overeating, lack of physical activity and excessive TV viewing. If you eat and drink more than your body needs, the excess fat is stored in your body. Lack of physical activity only adds to the problem. Most television studies have shown that children, who have televisions in their bedrooms, have a tendency to eat more. This leads to lack of physical activity and worsens the problem.

How to avoid/treat teenage obesity
The best method of treating or preventing obesity is to reverse the causes of obesity. Teenagers should eat a healthy diet and avoid eating junk foods, which is easily available these days. They should exercise regularly and stay active throughout the day. Teens should get involved in more activities that would help them maintain their fitness levels as well as burn the stored fat on a regular basis. Most importantly, they should avoid watching TV for longer durations and snacking in between meals.

How can teenage obesity be treated?
Most children inculcate unhealthy lifestyle habits from their parents. This is why parents have an important role to play in the lives of their children. They should guide their children towards healthy lifestyle choices. Several studies have revealed that a balanced diet ranks low on the glycemic index. This means that it is helpful in reducing teenage obesity. Parents should guide their children towards healthy diets and regular exercise for adequate weight loss. Moreover, it’s obligatory for parents to explain to their children, the risks and problems associated with obesity and the benefits of losing weight. If this is not possible, parents can seek medical treatment where the doctor is most likely to prescribe Xenical. This treatment can help children live a healthy and happy life.

May 4, 2010

Diet Pills can affect Metabolism

Filed under: Weight Loss Treatment — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:34 pm

Diet pills have great potential of stimulating the metabolism of your body. Appetite suppressant diet pills actually disrupt regular metabolism making person eat less. If you are taking diet pills then you may yourself consuming less calories than normal which is actually good for weight loss but will cause metabolism to slow down.

Diet pills are always recommended in conjunction with healthy diet and exercise regimen. People on diet pills alone end up losing only fixed amount of weight. This is because these diet pills slow down metabolism rate which further reduces the rate at which you lose weight. Diet pills provide sudden boost to metabolism and weight loss but physical workout, changing food habits, healthy lifestyle is must for long term weight loss solution. Regular exercise helps increase metabolism and digestive system.

When changes to lifestyle and eating habits do not work alone and you plan to switch to anti obesity diet pills to get into the shape, always prefer to go for prescription diet pills as they need prior consultation with doctor before you go for diet pills therapy.

April 26, 2010

What is Visceral Fat?

Filed under: About weight loss, General — Tags: , , — admin @ 1:05 pm

Visceral fat is the abdominal fat surrounding the most vital internal organs of your body. It is sometimes mistaken as “beer belly”.

Visceral fat is more dangerous than subcutaneous fat as it can lead to some life threatening health issues like heart strokes, other heart diseases, diabetes etc. As visceral fat is deep embedded within body, so it can only be detected with help of imaging techniques like MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to see how much of visceral fat is present.

Men are more likely to accumulate visceral fat whereas women have a tendency to store fat subcutaneously. Lowering the levels of visceral fat in your body can substantially decrease the chances of diabetes and related health problems.

In order to get rid of harmful visceral fats, specific diet pattern (reducing saturated fats can reduce visceral fats) and regular exercise regimen is a must. Waist slimming exercises with fat burner foods would be good choice to pave way to longer, slimmer and healthier life! Also, Orlistat is one of the very few medications which actually work to result in significant loss of visceral fats from your body. So if you are one of the motivated patients, Orlistat is safe and effective treatment for you.

April 20, 2010

Liposuction

Liposuction is a cosmetic surgical operation where in excess fat is removed from various body parts (like thighs, tummy and back) by suction. Liposuction or Lipoplasty or liposculpture is performed using special instrument called cannula which breaks and sucks the fat out from the body. Liposuction is not classified under the category of weight loss surgery but is only a cosmetic procedure.

How safe is it?

Liposuction can never be a substitute to healthy diet and good exercise regimen. Liposuction is never a good idea at first place to remove fatty tissues off your body and can even have severe side effects if not done under experienced surgeon’s supervision. But liposuction is comparatively a safer option than other surgical operations.

Serious complications result when excess fat is taken out of the body resulting in blood clot (that is, Pulmonary Thromboemboli), shock or heart seizure. It demands high personal involvement in recovery procedure post operation to make it safe for your health. Utmost care should be taken during recovery period. Liposuction cannot guarantee if you will remain in same shape rest of your life.

Reveal your complete medical history to surgeon before undertaking the operation. Also, make an analysis of surgeon’s credibility.

April 10, 2010

Junk Food and Obesity – Two Friends That You can do Without

Filed under: About weight loss, General — Tags: , , — admin @ 12:13 pm

If you love junk food, you are the ideal candidate for obesity. Studies continue to prove that those who have no control over the amount of junk food they consume are prone to obesity.

Junk food and obesity
Junk food and obesity are partners in crime. Typically, junk food is the kind of food that has high amount of calories, salt, fat and sugar. It’s termed junk, because it does not have any nutritional value. The reason why it’s popular is that it’s tasty and can become very addictive. People can be as addicted to junk food as they can to cigarettes or alcohol.

The junk food addiction
When you eat food with high fat content and sugar, it works on your brain like a painkiller. The more you eat, the more you want it. The fact that it offers an ‘empty calorie’ effect is another reason behind its addiction. The immediate effect of eating junk food is one of fullness and satisfaction, but after some time you begin to feel hungry again and want another helping of junk food. As a result, you are taking in more calories than your body can actually metabolize, which leads to the accumulation of fat deposits in your body.

The subtle effect
Unlike other addictions, junk food has a subtle effect on your body. As soon as you eat junk food, you don’t feel your arteries clogging up. Or you don’t get up the next day with excessive fat deposits in the body. As you continue eating junk food, your internal organs become fat and weak. This is the reason why you feel tired, depressed and sick all the time. But, you don’t realize this fact until it’s too late and you have become obese.

So, it’s important that you avoid junk food like the plague and if you actually can’t do without it, make sure that you restrict its intake.

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