Obesity – Complications and Management

A person who weighs 20% or more than his Ideal Body weight is said to be obese. Obesity is a growing problem across the globe. More than 300 million adults are obese worldwide. If not taken care of, obesity can lead to Diabetes, Hypertension, Heart stroke, Osteoarthritis, Sleep Apnea, Gout, Fatty liver disease, cancer and various other complications.

How many of you have read those weight loss advertisements appearing daily in your newspaper supplement? “Get Back in Shape”, “Lose 10kgs in 5 months just for Rs 10,000/-”, “Lose Now Pay Later”, “No Workout, No Dieting. Lose weight by our formula shakes”, “Acupuncture Weight loss”. We all want to get in shape hence we fall for such marketing gimmicks. These are all temporary approaches towards weight loss.  But if you want stay fit lifelong then here are some tips and techniques.

There are three main causes of obesity - eating more food, hence more energy, than your body can utilize, not getting enough exercise and/or drinking too much of alcohol. There is a famous proverb in English – “To lengthen your life, shorten your meals.” One should opt for healthy snacking options and avoid junk food in order to shed those extra pounds. Watch your potion size, read nutrition labels, avoid sodas and flavoured beverages and make smart choices. For example one Mc Veggie burger has 23.9g fat whereas one Subway Veggie Delite contains only 2.2g of fat.

Eat as many fresh fruits & green vegetables as you can and keep a watch on your diet. We have a wrong notion in our minds that ‘Dieting means to stop eating.’ In fact dieting tells you to eat every 2-3 hours a day by incorporating the right food and eliminating the bad ones. Reduce your overall carbohydrate intake by increasing your protein intake.

Introduce healthy cooking alternatives like steaming, baking, grilling, boiling instead of frying. One can Google hundreds of “Zero-oil” recipes and try them out. Let’s accept the fact that Spices & Condiments enhance the taste and not Oil/Ghee. Select oils rich in MUFA (Mono Unsaturated Fatty Acid) like Peanut Oil, Olive Oil or PUFA (Poly Unsaturated Fatty Acid) like Sunflower oil, Soybean oil and cut down your SFA (Saturated Fatty Acid) intake like cheese, butter and ghee.

One should also exercise daily for at least 30-45 minutes along with the dietary changes mentioned above. Don’t stick to one form of workout. One may lose interest by just running on a treadmill daily and eventually quit working out! Don’t do that! Form a routine that gives you a good combination of weight loss, inch loss, stamina build-up as well as body toning. Make sure that your energy output is more than your energy input by eating a well balanced rainbow diet and regular workout. This will definitely help you in getting rid of that unwanted paunch.

Obesity is a lifestyle disorder which can be corrected before it gives rise to other life threatening diseases. It’s never too late to lose weight and gain confidence.