Your Ideal Weight

Do I need to lose weight even though I like myself? We often hear people say: “no, she is not fat. She is curvy,” or “my baby is not fat. He is robust,” and also, “he is a piece of a man. He is not fat,” or “I put on some bacon, but I have not gained weight “and so on. The weight status (body weight) is considered more a value linked to the overall aesthetics of a person rather than an evaluation useful to understand his confirmation concerning the effects it has on health. 

The “Surveillance Steps” (survey by the National Center for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Health Promotion) has published some data that it has defined “At a glance,” where it investigates the self-perception of one’s body weight, noting that the idea that one has of oneself concerning one’s weight differs from scientific reality.

How Are The Indians

The research conducted in 2010 – 2013 reports that two adults out of five (42%) are overweight; in particular, 31% are overweight with a body mass index or BMI (Body Mass Index) from 25 to 29.9, and l 11% are obese with a BMI of 30 or greater. The data also tells us that the phenomenon is more frequent in the age group between 50 and 69 years, in people with many economic difficulties, where 35% are overweight and 15% obese, and also that in the southern regions, the percentages are higher, as observed in Campania and Basilicata, respectively 49 and 48%, 7 and 6 percentage points more than the national average.

 But in the Province of Bolzano, the average drops to 33%, as already highlighted by the survey by the Grana Padano Observatory in 2006. Fortunately, from 2008 to 2013, there was a slight decline in India, contrary to the higher European average, which in some EU countries is recording an alarming increase. However, the data from the Passi surveillance also revealed a lack of attention by health workers, which emerged from the responses of the people interviewed.

How Indians Perceive Themselves

Only one in 2 overweight people think their weight is too high (they are those who only consider themselves curvy or sturdy and not fat or fat), and even among the obese, 10% consider their weight the right one. The survey highlights that the perception matches more with reality among women; 65% of overweight think they weigh too much, and only 8% of obese think their weight is correct, while in men, only 40% believe to be too heavy, and 12% of obese people think they are normal. This misperception is also confirmed by the statements of those who say they follow a diet to lose weight.

Only 22% of overweight people are on a weight loss diet; fortunately, 32% are obese. As with all things, to improve, you need to understand the situation you are in. If you live in places where there are many overweight people (in certain places, it is perceived at a glance), the fat people “feel” normal and tend to overlook the reality of their condition. Even if the body of someone who weighs too much does not send strong and precise signals, it is still “suffering” and “working hard.” Due to excess weight, all organs and systems of the human body work worse, so sooner or later, they will send signals of being unwell.

Overweight, Obesity And Consequences

For many years the WHO (World Health Organization) has declared war on obesity, both children and adults, considered in all countries of the world as a “global epidemic” due to the ascertained increased risk of contracting even severe diseases. The obese should expect not so much a life expectancy lower than average weight, but above all years of life not in good health. The goal of science today is not to increase life expectancy but to increase the quality of life in old age. 

Being overweight and obesity they increases the risk of contracting diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, hypertension, kidney and liver dysfunction, and pathologies that can even lead to death but certainly significantly reduce the quality of life of those who suffer from it. Overweight subjects can become ill more efficiently even when young, even during childhood and adolescence; the diseases that can be contracted, such as heart disease or diabetes, can become chronic and last for life, worsening their quality of life.

Abdominal Obesity

There is another parameter that underlines an anomaly associated with excessive weight: abdominal circumference. Again perception often differs from reality concerning health. We often hear: “I’m not fat; I only have a belly,” and she, too, “she is a beautiful woman, a little strong at the waist.” In reality, abdominal obesity highlighted by waist measurement is such when it exceeds 88 cm in women and 108 cm in men and is one of the parameters of the “metabolic syndrome.” Men and women, even if they are of average weight (BMI from 18.6 to 24.9) or slightly overweight (BMI from 25 to 29.9) can have a high waist circumference which, if beyond the limits, is defined as abdominal obesity. 

On the other hand, this state, which many consider a simple cosmetic defect, mirrors a much more severe internal fat deposit. Fat is deposited externally (subcutaneous deposits on the belly) and inside the abdominal cavity (visceral fat, the most dangerous for health), accumulating on the internal organs, particularly on the liver. In this case, we speak of hepatic steatosis, which means that the liver is enlarged due to fat, and the risk of contracting essential diseases such as cirrhosis increases.

How To Measure Your Body

As we have seen, the perception of one’s weight often differs from the actual condition according to medical science. If you have any doubts about your condition, let yourself be examined. Your doctor will tell you “how you are” or learn to measure yourself; 2 easy examples follow; people can use that over 18 because different methods are used for children and adolescents.To obtain the BMI index, use the following graph, position a ruler between the point in the left column, which indicates your height, and the point in the right column, which indicates your weight, and read your status in the area crossed by the line.

To get a more precise figure, use the calculator by dividing your weight by the square of your height (expressed in meters). Calculate your BMI by doing this easy calculation:

1. Weight (kg) ÷ height (m) ÷ height (m)

For example, a woman who weighs 75 kg and is 1.68 m tall would calculate her BMI as

follows:

1. 75 ÷ 1.68 ÷ 1.68 = BMI 26.58 (overweight)

If the same woman weighed 68 kg, she would have a BMI of 24.09 and average weight. As with all average-based surveys, BMI is not always an exact index. The index over 30 could be unreliable in diagnosing the extent of obesity in subjects who have mighty muscle masses, such as bodybuilders, but also in volleyball players, basketball players, and all those who belong to sports categories where the players are tall and very muscular. . 

In any case, the BMI must not replace a previous medical diagnosis that also uses other parameters of the person such as fat mass, etc. The abdominal circumference must also be measured with precision. Regardless of the BMI index, it is good to keep an eye on the waist circumference, which, as mentioned, must not exceed the maximum recommended limit (88cm for women, 102cm for men ). Measure it periodically like this:

1. Place the tape measure around the bare abdomen, halfway between the end of the rib cage and the upper bones of the pelvis, which is usually at the level of the navel.
2. Make sure the tape measure is parallel to the ground and taut, yet not putting pressure on the skin.

Proper Nutrition: Essential For Losing Weight

If you belong to the category that thought you were of average weight, but your BMI or waist circumference indicates that you are not, and your doctor has confirmed it, now you know that you need to lose weight. The reasons for gaining weight are varied. You can gain 10 kilos in 10 years almost without realizing it by introducing more calories than you consume energy, thus causing an imbalance in your energy balance, other times we eat incorrectly, causing our metabolism to malfunction: knowing how many calories you should consume in a day and adopting a correct and balanced diet is not easy.

Considering that a low-calorie slimming diet should always be recommended by a nutritionist, knowing how to improve our condition by adopting a better lifestyle is the basis for gaining health at all ages. To orient yourself on the average number of calories you need in a day and understand how a balanced diet is easily achieved, enter the “Calories and Menu” program”; you will know how many calories you should consume and you will receive eight menus a year (2 for each season) customized according to the calories you need to eat and balanced in macro and micronutrients for weekly intake. The menus also include delicious recipes that allow you to eat with gusto and gain health without sacrificing yourself.

Physical Activity: Essential For Losing Weight

People often go on a diet, sometimes even very restrictive (meager calories), because they believe eating tiny and starving is the only way to lose weight. Nothing could be more wrong. They also believe that physical activity is not essential for weight loss. Wrong. If you want to lose weight well, that is, lose the minimum of lean and the maximum of fat mass and avoid regaining the lost weight with interest, it is necessary to act on two fronts: nutrition and physical activity adequate and personalized.

1. No excessively restrictive or unbalanced diets (too few carbohydrates, too little or too much protein, etc.).
2. Yes, an excellent physical activity program to “burn” fat mass.

Also, remember that physical activity helps preserve lean mass more, and good training tones strengthen and give more excellent muscle resistance.

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