Many people who think they are fine are actually overweight, and many who 'sort of know' they are overweight are actually obese. It is funny how these people are kidding themselves about their true situation.
Yet the reality is that even mild overweight is dangerous to your health and will definitely contribute to a shortened life span. Being overweight or obese will bring on a whole plethora of health issues, most of which are directly life threatening.
The Western World in general and USA in particular needs a big wake up call that obesity is getting worse at an ever more frightening rate. It is now classed as a nationwide and World Wide epidemic.
To get some idea of the scope of the problem, there was no state in USA with an obesity rate above 14% in 1989. By 1999, most states were in the 15% to 19% range, and in 2007, Colorado was the only state left with a rate of under 20%.
How can you tell if you are overweight? The best way to tell if you are overweight or obese is with the Body Mass Index, also known as the BMI. This is a simple mathematical equation, in which the weight in kilograms is divided by the height of the person in meters and then squared. Enter 'body mass index' in Google and it will do the calculation for you. So now you know the awful truth that you are obese, what are you going to do?
The most important single thing you can do is to take a stand today; in fact right now! I mean this minute! Make up your mind you are going to do something about your weight problem. Thousands have gone before you and taken off tens or hundreds of pounds of flab. If they can do it, why not you?
To be brutally frank, if you are overweight or obese you are very unhealthy and thoroughly unwell. You will lack energy, be lethargic and cannot make as useful a contribution to society as you could if you were slim, fit, healthy and active.
If you achieve your weight goal, you can look forward to a wonderful life style you can't enjoy now, plus numerous healthy problems will resolve themselves automatically, and you will dramatically extend your life span. Just think, you can dance again, run again, play sport again, you will even be able to jump for joy!
How you are going to achieve this is the next big question we should address. There is tons of help out there, all sorts of programs and diets that are available, but please let me mention a note of caution. Do NOT use any diet that is restrictive and/or leaves you hungry, such as the low calorie diet, the low protein diet, the low carbohydrate diet, the Atkins diet, etc. Also, be wary of the well known programs that are heavily advertised, it seems they are more interested in your money than your health.
A good rule of thumb you can use: if you can see how you could stick to a regime for the rest of your life, then that is a good bet. If you can't see that, do not touch it. That type of program will cause yo yo dieting which is bad for your health and will actually cause weight gain.
There is one other sensible thing you can do, and that is find a group of other people online who have the same problem and share the same goal. Harvard University have proved that when you join such a group, provided you are active in it, weight loss can spread from person to person. This makes weight loss easy, effective and fun.
The author, J. Duncan McNeill, has created a social networking site with a weight loss theme. Find out how easy and effective weight loss can be at this exciting website: http://www.weight-loss-neighbourhood.com
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