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Most of us at some point in our lives have tried to lose weight. Some of us, are still trying. Unfortunately not everyone is successful at this attempt. In fact, most of the people who have tried to lose weight and succeeded, gain it back. In some occasions they regain even more. But what is holding us back? Why do people fail to lose weight? And yet is there a plan that shows how to increase the chance of success?
Scientific explanation
For a long time the popular explanation to the problem has been that people eat too much and excercise too little. That is part of the truth but according to the scientific explanation of doctors and health specialists all over the world, it is not that simple. The numbers of obesity in the past few decades have risen tremendously and still continue. Currently, more than 60 percent of Americans face weight problems and over 30 percent among them are diagnosed with obesity. The forecast tells us that by the year 2030 more than 42 percent of the population in United States will be obese.
So, what has changed over the years to create such a health problem for so many people?
The experts answer: "The environment". What do they mean?
They mean that “the average person can simply not maintain a healthy weight in this obesity-promoting-environment”
Take a minute and think about that. Why do people fail to lose weight? Because there is a number of factors apart from our personal responsibility beyond our control.
- Food industry: Companies make serious efforts for so many years in promoting ready and easy meals.
- Super-markets: The section with raw ingredients for a healthy meal to cook, like fruits and vegetables, meat and fish, is much smaller than the refrigerators.
- Advertisements: They try to convince people that in these refrigerators they can find the most easy-to-heat-and-eat tasty meals.
- Fast food outlets: They are everywhere. Near schools, near fitness centers, near residential areas, in our neighborhoods.
- Agricultural policies: Instead of having farms with growing fruits and vegetables, all farms grow corn and wheat. People in charge have only recently started taking steps in the healthier direction.
- Television and press: Films, series and magazines. The message all of these years was clear. Famous people, like actors, singers, models and people of influence in general, never cooked, neither in films or series nor in real life. It was trendy to order or eat out, mostly in fast foods.
- Everyday life: It has become so cruel, especially in the big cities. We work so many hours, drive a lot, have to take care of the children, family and home. No wonder why the easy solution is so attractive.
How can we increase the chances to a successful weight loss?
The key to successful weight loss is information. If you want to succeed at loosing weight make sure you have all the information you need to make it work.
Step 1-Learn
Learn what obesity is, what does it do to your body and how dangerous it can be to your health. Learn how the body works. What do the muscles and other organs require to work properly.
Step 2-Forget all the magic “fast-weight-loss diets” and get off the scale
Try to weight yourself only once a week, every same day, or even better use your clothes and see how they fit to measure yourself. The reason is that it takes time for the body to adjust to changes before the numbers on the scale start counting down. Don’ t stress yourself with this, it can only block your metabolism. First you will feel better, then your clothes will fit better and much later will you see the change on the scale.
Step 3-Change your lifestyle
Start off with cooking. There is nothing better to eat than a home made meal, full of vitamins, minerals, proteins and carbohydrates without any fats, chemical additives and conservatives. Enjoy your meals with others and decide for some activity during the day, which will wake up your metabolism.
A healthy diet suggestion
There are many types of diets that have received attention, but according to most scientific studies over the years the strongest evidence for numerous healthy benefits and decreased mortality belong to the Mediterranean diet. The statistics show that more and more specialists recommend this healthy diet to their patients, who are diagnosed with heart problems, diabetes, obesity, cancer, dementia and other health issues. Moreover, most of scientific organizations suggest the Mediterranean style of eating and living to healthy adults encouraging them to follow it in order to prevent chronic diseases.
All it takes to lose the excess weight and live a healthy life is a bit of serious effort. To follow a healthy diet suggestion.
If we can manage so many things every day, should' t we give our health a chance?
Nice Article. These 3 steps are only as effective as your action, so don’t put it off any longer. Get started!
Thanks Maria another great article, my wife and I try to eat healthy, rice and pasta with fish or chicken very rarely red meat. If I see the middle stretching I just cut back a bit and it falls back off. Guess I'm lucky I can do that. Have 2 Labrador dogs to walk every day so that helps.
Thank you Mark. I am really glad to hear all that and yes you are lucky, first of all because your wife is also willing to follow, so neither of you hold the other back. The dog walk is one of the greatest ways to exercise, good for you! Keep going and you will always be healthy and fit.
Just had couscous with olives, red peppers grapes followed by Greek yogurt and blackcurrants, yum yum!
Ouaou! That is awesome! You really get the point Mark. Really glad for you. Try also some of my recipes (click the links) and next time you should try couscous with tomatoes and cucumber cut in small cubes and olive oil-balsamic vinegar-salt-pepper dressing. It is better when eaten cold :-)
Thank you Joe. Your saying was one of the best! TV and Computer are indeed the most important media for advertisements. Older generations never had obesity problems!
See? Life was so much simpler back then, food was natural and people had to work physically.
Hi Maria, I've found that simple carbs cause me problems in the weight gain department. If I cut those out, or just limit them, I drop weight. We cook in all the time. We used to go to restaurants quite a bit. Now, we cook Mediterranean food at home. Tastes so much better. I think another reason people are getting obese is TV and computers. It's a sedentary lifestyle. We need to move. Hours can go by unnoticed when you are online. Also, all the sugar and oversized meals are not helping. No one needs that amount of food. I'm trying to get into the habit of systematically under eating. So far, I am eating less, but I need to decrease my intake even more. I've read that is the road to longevity. Thanks for the tasty article.
You are so right Joan. These are the factors we can not control. That is why we need all the information we can get to understand how important it is to say no to this system and start a living a healthy lifestyle. Thank for reading! Always know that any change you want to make takes 2 days to be registered in your brain as habit although it takes much much longer to see the results to your body. But the most important is for the information to be registered in the brain. The rest comes along.
Thank you Lemuel! Indeed the most important part happens in the kitchen. Once we start off there I believe exercise is the next step everyone takes.
Excellent article for those trying to loose or keep weight off Maria. I think your step 1 is very important, the more you learn the harder it is to eat things you know your body will have a hard time processing.
Thank you for your comment Penny. What we eat is our health and body. It is very important to know how our body works and respect its needs. I am glad you found helpful information in my article.
Thank you for this article Maria. I am very fortunate that I , as well as my family have not had over weight problems. More so the under weight. Funny enough, I can eat chocolate very day and still lose weight.....as soon as I over indulge in drinks and savoury, I tend to put on weight. Thank you once again.
I am really glad you found my article interesting and helpful. You are among the lucky ones Ronnie!
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