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Sometimes, a Healthy Weight
is the Way to Go
When overweight clients ask a dietitian Cindy Wong what
a healthy weight is, she tells them it's not necessarily
as low as they might think.
In light of the obesity epidemic, that news might make a
sizable difference to the two-thirds of people who are overweight
and the one-third who are obese.
Some experts define healthy weight as a body mass index
under 25 (a person 5-foot-5 who weighs 150 pounds has a
BMI of 25). Others say a person is allowed 100 pounds for
the first five feet of height and five pounds for every
additional inch.
Wong advises people to take those formulas as guidelines
and to think about healthy weight a little differently.
If someone's weight is close to those guidelines and the
person doesn't have blood pressure problems, cholesterol
problems, aches and pains and other health concerns, they're
probably at a fairly healthy weight, she says.
And with January 18 to 24 declared Healthy Weight Week,
experts hope more Americans will try to shed pounds and
get to a healthier weight, if not a healthy one.
Currently, many Americans put on a pound or two a year as
they move from early adulthood to middle age. So when their
40th or 50th birthday rolls around, they're officially overweight
or even obese.
"Exercise is one key," Wong says. She tells her
patients to exercise at least 30 minutes a day.
Buying a pedometer can help you keep track, especially if
you've been sedentary and need some extra motivation. Most
experts suggest starting by trying to get in 2,000 extra
steps a day. That's the equivalent of about a mile and will
burn an extra 100 calories.
When it comes to food, pay attention to portion control,
as well as calories. For weight loss, figure you need to
eat 500 fewer calories a day to achieve a slow, reasonable
weight loss of a pound a week; maybe less of a calorie deficit
if you are increasing your exercise.
While slow and steady can be frustrating if you need to
lose a lot of weight, experts say cutting back even just
50 calories a day and expending an extra 50 in activity
will at least keep you from getting heavier.
Diet and exercise aren't the whole story, says another expert,
Anne M. Fletcher, a Minnesota dietitian who has written
several books, including one in which she interviewed people
who shed pounds and kept them off.
"If you lose weight by diet and exercise alone, and
you don't change anything else in your life, you are probably
going to gain it back," she says.
What's missing from that equation? "It's the whole
head thing," she says.
"Look at why you overeat, and what is your motivation
to change, which is where I think the real solution lies,"
she says.
Instead of considering your new eating plan a diet, look
at it as a healthier approach to eating that you will probably
follow the rest of your life if you want to keep off the
pounds.
And, a final question worth asking, Fletcher says, is: "How
can you get pleasure from life from stuff other than food?"
Curling up with a good book, catching a flick (without the
popcorn) and even shopping can be very satisfying, she notes.
"Learn how to get more out of life so food isn't your
only reward that you have for yourself," Fletcher says.
Article Source: Reuters Health
Article Author: N/A
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