How to safely and effectively lose weight!

You’re in your twenties and, especially if you’re a female, you may be starting to worry about your weight. In fact, chances are that you will have started to worry about it in your teens, what with peer pressure and the images of stick-like celebs that gaze out at you from the pages of the magazines and from TV programmes. You may not be overweight at all but you may well, by now, have tried a number of diets, only to find that they were difficult to stick to and that when you stopped, you quickly regained any weight you had lost. Well, you’re not alone. There are millions of people like you, and the diet industry is growing fat at your expense while you grow slim.....and fat again.

There’s no doubt that, whatever your age, obesity is a major health problem and of all the nutritional disorders that affect the total population, it is the most common in affluent society. As well as being irrefutably and closely linked to premature death, being seriously overweight is an almost certain guarantee that you will suffer from a range of other health problems.

What happens if I’m overweight?

These health problems include degenerative arthritis in any and all of the weight-bearing joints-ankles, knees, hips and lumbar spine. You risk back pain, disc problems, haemorrhoids, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, increased risk of heart disease and stroke, varicose veins, gallstones, foot problems, and increased risk of breathing difficulties and diabetes. Obesity in children is already producing eight- and nine-year-olds with TYPE 2 diabetes, the sort that is normally associated with adults in their fifties.

Being seriously overweight has social consequences, too. For many people, it carries a heavy emotional burden and can lead to psychological disturbance. It can result in relationship problems, lack of self – esteem, poor self-image, and all these can combine to reduce your enjoyment of life both in social and employment terms. It also restricts exercise, leading to a gradual decline in overall fitness and a corresponding increase in obesity.

What causes obesity?

Apart from bad eating, your basic metabolic rate (BMR) is a key factor. This is the efficiency with which your resting body burns up food and converts it into fuel. People’s BMRs differ; two brothers living in the same house and eating the same food can have totally different body shapes.

The body also contains white and brown fats. The brown fat is able to store huge amounts of energy without causing obesity. Those unfortunate people whose bodies have smaller percentage of brown fat turn their surplus energy into less healthy white fat.

While there are some glandular disorders which cause weight gain, they are comparatively rare and usually treatable. Thyroid disorders are probably the most common. Steroid drugs, oral contraceptives, HRT and insulin used by diabetics may cause weight gain, too.

Of all the multitude of weight-reducing treatments, the only one that really works and keeps the weight off is to permanently change the way you eat. This is what you have to do.

Eat lots of good carbohydrates like wholemeal bread, brown rice, potatoes-but not fried- root vegetables, beans and pasta for their high energy, slow-release calories and zero fat content.

Eat fresh fruits, vegetables and salads to provide vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals and fibre. These should constitute around a third of your food. Eat a minimum of five portions a day, excluding potatoes. As a simple guide, a portion is an amount roughly the size of your fist, so an apple, one pear, one peach, about fifteen grapes, two tangerines, two plums, a large carrot or a handful of cabbage count as one portion.

Choose leaner cuts of meat and cut down on all visible fat-if you can see it don’t eat it.

Eat more fish and poultry without the skin and never eat chicken or duck skin-they’re oozing with fat.

Choose semi-skimmed or skimmed milk and look for lower fat cheese and yoghurts.

Avoid all thickened or creamy sauces as well as fatty meat sauces. Use low-fat yoghurt or fromage frais instead of cream.

Watch out for hidden fat in biscuits, cookies, cakes, desserts, sweets and chocolates, and all processed meat products.

Modest amounts of alcohol are both enjoyable and healthy as they benefit the heart and circulation. Two glasses of wine for women, three for men, OR a couple of small measures of spirits for women, three for men, OR 600ml of beer for women, 900ml for men daily are believed to be safe. Don’t save it all up for a drinking binge.

Eat a nourishing breakfast cereal like porridge or muesli or a whole-wheat product without added salt and sugar.

Eat at least five slices a day of wholemeal bread and be very mean with the butter.

Avoid all sugar if possible.

Never miss a breakfast and don’t go for long periods without food.

Watch how you cook your food as more often it’s what you do to it, rather than the food itself, that piles on the weight. Don’t fry, but grill, steam or bake instead. Roast meat or poultry on a rack so it won’t soak up the fat.

Try using a smaller plate - it looks as if you’ve got more in front of you - and take plenty of time over your meals so they are more satisfying.