Weight Loss: Detailed Guides
Overweight and obesity are the results of abnormal or excessive body fat that can be harmful to your health. Body Mass Index (BMI) is a simple ratio of body weight to height, often used to diagnose obesity and overweight in adults. The index is calculated as the ratio of body weight in kg to the square of growth in m (kg / m2). If your body mass indicates obesity, you have to find the motivation to weight loss.
Motivation
The topic of weight loss will always be actual. It is rather difficult, sometimes, to find the motivation. Weight is an extremely unstable value. We list the most basic and common motivation issues.
“You’re up extra pounds!”. Who wants to hear a similar phrase. Unfortunately, we are not always surrounded by tactful people. Even if you didn’t really care about your figure, what others are saying, this thought will soak into your mind anyway, and sooner or later you will think, “Is this not true?”. It turns out that other people are very motivated to lose weight. Women spent gyms and swimming pools or running for weight loss.
“I don’t fit into my favorite dress!” If the problem of impolite friends and relatives has bypassed you, then your clothes will easily remind you of extra pounds. If everything was just right for you last year, this year the zipper on your favorite dress is fastened with difficulty or does not fasten at all, then, of course, you need to think. But this is only if you really care about your figure. There are women who do not care, and probably these are happy women, they care about other things. So, the motivation for losing weight – getting into your favorite dress and not buying a new one – is also very important and objective.
“I want beautiful pictures on the beach!” Summer, sun, sea … we all want to look in the best way so that men do not take their admiring glances away from our figure. This is one more motivation for losing weight? The beach is one of those places where all our flaws are visible.
“How hard it is to walk and breathe!” Women with curve figure will not let you lie, extra pounds is not only an aesthetic problem but also the cause of various diseases: varicose veins, swelling, shortness of breath, diabetes, heart problems and hormone-producing organs (thyroid, pancreas, ovaries, etc.). Health is the most important motivation for losing weight, and no one can argue with that. Usually, doctors, beginning the treatment of such diseases with the condition to lose weight. Getting rid of extra pounds will make your body lighter, which means the load on all organs, including the skeleton.
“Hey, baby, let’s meet?” If you are interested in your health, then the most important factor affecting the motivation for losing weight is the desire to please men. Alas, no matter what, women may attract a man by appearance. At the very beginning, they evaluate our appearance, and then our “rich and deep inner world”. And even if they say that they do not care, you need to trust such words with caution. A woman should always be beautiful and desirable. Finally, this is the best motivation for losing weight.
Dieting
Before creating a menu, you need to understand some of the principles of healthy nutrition. Consider the main ones:
Eat often and little by little
It is best to divide the entire daily diet into 5 portions and eat at the same time. The last time you should take the meal is 2-3 hours before bedtime. Such a system does not allow the body to starve excessively – which means you will not overeat. Fractional nutrition for weight loss is indispensable.
Give up on fast food
This includes not only hamburgers but also any semi-finished products, sausages, french fries, canned goods and more. Ready-made food is extremely high-calorie. It contains a huge number of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors, giving it a delicious smell and taste, as well as fatty or spicy sauces. In addition, in fast-food restaurants, hundreds of servings are made on the same burnt oil containing carcinogens. If you still have doubts, think about this – one standard set of hamburger, a glass of cola and a bag of french fries contain 1200-1400 calories, that is, almost the daily norm, but there are no vitamins, healthy fiber in such a dinner and almost no proteins. But this portion contains an excess rate of saturated fats and simple carbohydrates.
Chew your food well
Experiments have proven that if you chew food about 40 times, you can lose weight a little without changing your meal plans. In combination with a healthy diet, such a simple technique gives truly amazing results. You even do not need to how much does weight loss surgery cost. Carefully chewed food is easier to digest, in addition, in this case, we eat much more slowly and the brain receives a satiety signal in time, which eliminates the risk of overeating.
Drink fresh water
Water is a catalyst for all life processes. Two liters of clean drinking water per day will help speed up the metabolism, remove toxins in time and avoid fluid retention. Remember that the concept of “water” does not include tea, coffee, juices and other drinks: for example, black tea and coffee, on the contrary, dehydrate the body, fruit juices and drinks contain sugar. This does not mean that you should not drink juice, just for the body, the juice is more like food than liquid. There are people who buy apple cider vinegar for weight loss. Read the instruction properly before taking this means.
Be attentive to the balancing
We need proteins, fats, and carbohydrates for health, well-being and harmony. The approximate balance is 75 g of protein, 60 g of fat, 250 g of carbohydrates, 30 g of fiber. Protein food is necessary for building muscle tissue, fats – for the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system, as well as for the skin. Carbohydrates give us energy.
Exercise
Watch the video to find the best exercise for weight loss:
Medication
Excess fat in the body is formed when the amount of energy consumed with food exceeds its consumption. That is when we eat more than our physiological processes require. Medications can be aimed at reducing appetite or enhancing metabolic processes.
In the middle of the last century, such a means of reducing appetite and increasing efficiency – was found. It is known as amphetamine, it immediately became popular. But the disadvantage of this drug is that it turned out to be addicting substance. Actually, any narcotic substance reduces appetite and increases metabolism. So, for example, nicotine acts. Therefore, the smoker, abandoning his addiction, begins to gain weight.
Attempts to replace amphetamine with analog drugs, for example, Fenfluramine, did not contribute to the best results. It caused various side effects, sometimes fatal ones. The drugs were banned for use, and therefore they have to be illegally sold. Such occasions come up with horrible outcomes.
Modern medicine offers two pills for weight loss:
- Anorectic, Sibutramine (Meridia);
- Orlistat (Xenical), a fat blocker in the intestines.
Clinical studies of sibutramine in the United States showed a maximum weight loss of 7.4% over the course of 24 weeks! If you have normal tolerance to the drug (1 in 5 quits because of side effects,), you will lose 7% of the weight.
Orlistat binds the fats consumed with food in the intestines, preventing them from being absorbed. They “ate” a piece of sausage – the protein was digested contributing to the body benefit.
Two-year clinical studies have shown: taking orlistat during the first year yielded a 10% weight loss. A placebo reduces weight by 6% over the year. The second-year showed the following results: taking orlistat gave an increase in weight of 2.5%. In general, a two-year intake of the drug gave a result of 6.5%. In addition, he lowered blood cholesterol. A very important indicator. Side effects? Fats, without being digested in the intestines, quickly release from the body. Remember: weight is reduced only while taking drugs.
Surgery
Surgery is an extreme option for losing weight. Only people who need to get rid of obesity should resort to it. Any surgical intervention carries with it certain risks (including fatal ones). Besides, there will be a difficult recovery.
Moreover, the study shows that many people who have lost weight using surgical methods return to their surgeon to either fix the bandage or remove it. Therefore, experts insist that only people with pathological obesity, that is, with a body mass index of 40 and over, should be taken on such operations; and people with a BMI of 35 if they are obese with complications such as type 2 diabetes, severe joint pain, or temporary respiratory failure during sleep (apnea).
Even in such cases, operations should be carried out only under the condition that the patient really tried to lose weight by means of physical activity and proper nutrition, and if his health allows such a serious surgical intervention. So, if the patient’s medical records include heart attacks, kidney failure, or blood clots, they will be denied such operations.
If the patient is no contraindicated in all respects, then the operation can be very effective. About 80-90% of patients who underwent the most common types of procedures – gastric bypass surgery and sleeve gastrectomy – were able to permanently lose weight.
Here are the most common surgical methods for weight loss:
- gastric bypass with gastrojejunostomy according to Roux;
- laparoscopic vertical extended excision gastroplasty;
- laparoscopic gastric banding;
- sleeve gastrectomy.
Loose skin
What to do if the skin is loose after losing weight
Due to a sharp decrease in weight, the skin of the hands, hips, abdomen, face and neck do not have time to adapt and sag. The norm of weight loss to prevent sagging skin is 3-5 kg per month.
The structure of the skin also changes due to a lack of fluid in the body. Therefore, during training and diets aimed at losing weight, it is recommended to drink from 1.5 to 2.5 liters per day.
To tighten loose skin the following options are used:
- massage;
- wraps;
- moderate exercise;
- diet;
- masks and creams;
- cold and hot shower;
- essential and vegetable oils.
Massage for skin restoration is carried out using a massage jar. For the procedure, nourishing cream or vegetable oil (castor, linseed, almond) is applied to problem areas of the skin and rubbed thoroughly. It is recommended to massage at least 3 times a day.
Start playing sports. Daily exercise will help tighten the skin and build muscle.
It is not necessary to attend the gym, you can do it yourself. Morning jogging for an hour, leisurely walks on foot or by bicycle, dancing, all this together will help restore lost skin elasticity. But remember that you need to engage constantly, otherwise you will not achieve the desired result.
The introduction of protein foods, fresh vegetables and fruits into the diet guarantees a good mood, lightness in the body and skin restoration after weight loss.
Daily contrast shower and rubbing with a hard washcloth helps to strengthen the epidermis. Problem areas are removed from dead cells, blood flow is enhanced, which improves skin nutrition.
Masks and creams based on collagen, hyaluronic acid and other lifting components can be used only as additional means.
All methods for returning skin integument after weight loss are effective only in combination. One method will not be effective in any case.
Stretch marks
The main reason for the occurrence of the stretches lies in the low elasticity of the skin, and, as a result, poor ability to regenerate. In areas where the smallest fibers are stretched and torn, connective tissue begins to form, which is noticeable in the form of strips of different sizes and shades (from white and pink to blue).
What can reduce the elasticity of the dermis:
- hereditary predisposition;
- endocrine system diseases (Itsenko-Cushing syndrome, adrenal tumors, hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism);
- taking certain drugs (hormonal drugs, steroids);
- constant fluctuations in weight;
- poor nutrition, lack of trace elements and vitamins.
Many experts believe that longitudinal stretch marks may appear due to problems with excess weight. Transverse stretches are most often caused by hormonal problems. Others argue that no one can predict in advance whether they will appear or not. After all, too many factors affect this: self-care, habits, nutrition, genetics, whether there was a pregnancy, whether hormonal drugs are taken, and so on.
The appearance depends on:
- amount of weight loss;
- individual skin features;
- hormonal background;
- age of cosmetic defect;
- change of the dermis.