Weight Management And The Shame Associated With Obesity
Weight management ought to be a simple, rational, and straightforward undertaking. After all, it is a simple formula. Eat more calories than you burn in a day and the extra calories get stored as fat. Eat the same amount of calories you burn and you maintain your weight. Eat fewer calories than you need each day and your fat gets used and you lose weight. That does not seem too hard. Does it? Unfortunately, humans have a complicated relationship with food and it is not that easy to get how to lose weight fast.
Obesity Epidemic
We have all heard the statistics that one-third of adults, 72 million people, are obese. We have probably also heard that 16% of children are obese, that more and more kids are getting lifestyle diseases like diabetes II, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol at younger and younger ages. It has been said that today's youth will be the first generation not to outlive their parents in more than a hundred years.
The Struggle
People basically understand that being overweight is bad for their health. Carrying around all of that extra fat is hard on your body. Death could come early, sickness is a real possibility. In an effort to keep fat burning under control, some people have resorted to equally unhealthy practices, such as laxative abuse or bulimia. If we know that being overweight is bad for our health, why do we have such a hard time with weight management?
Resigning Ourselves To Our Fates
Is the struggle worth it? Should we just eat whatever we want, enjoy our food and accept the fact that we will probably go to an early grave or should we continue the battle with weight management? The answer lies on the middle ground. Stop for a moment and consider this before jumping on yet another diet plan. What are your expectations of yourself on your new diet? You expect to lose weight, right? You intend to be 100% faithful to your eating plan, exercise religiously and just lose weight once and for all. If that is your expectation of yourself, you are already dooming yourself to failure before you even start. Nobody can be perfect at anything.
Re-framing Expectations
What if we re-framed our expectations to something more reasonable? Let's look at the issue from another angle. Percentages. Could you eat healthy foods 50% of all of your meals in a day or a week? What about 60% of meals? 75%? Could you eat healthy for 90% of your meals? What is the highest percentage of meals you think you could reasonably achieve with a minimum of stress and anxiety? Start there. Increase that percentage over time until you are eating healthy 90% of your meals. That means you ultimately have 10% wiggle room built right into your eating plan.
To boost weight loss, approach exercise in the same manner. Would it be possible for you to exercise 10 minutes a day three times a week? Start there and work up to 30 minute sessions five days a week.
Take Care Of Yourself
Has listening to that critical voice in your head helped you to understand how to lose weight fast? Probably not. It is time to take another track and acknowledge the fact that not having access to or eating our favorite foods to our heart's content is frightening for many people. Food is a comfort and the thought of being deprived brings up a lot of anxiety. What if we respect that? Have a talk with yourself. Let that scared part of you know that you are not out to deprive yourself. You will have a chance to eat that beloved food, but not in excess. Make sure you tell yourself that you will take fat burning step by step so that this time you will have permanent success and be kind to yourself in the process.
Published August 10th, 2010
Filed in Health