Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting – Aim to eat a healthy balanced diet

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting is a significant remedy and the results are very realistic.

Special diets which are often advertised are not usually helpful. This is because after losing weight, if your old eating habits remain, the weight often goes straight back on. It is usually not a special diet that is needed but changing to a healthy balanced diet, for good.

What is a healthy diet?

Understanding the meaning of what a healthy diet is very important if you are to use it as a means of eradicating obesity in your life. Therefore consider the following points as the possible meaning of a healthy diet:

• Making up a third of most meals with starch-based foods (such as cereals, bread, potatoes, rice, pasta etc.). Wholegrain starch-based foods are preferable.
• Eating plenty of fiber in your diet. Foods rich in fiber include wholegrain bread, brown rice and pasta, oats, peas, lentils, grain, beans, fruit, vegetables and seeds.
• Having at least five portions, or ideally 7-9 portions, of a variety of fruit and vegetables per day. These should be in place of foods higher in fat and calories. For example, fruit makes a good, healthy snack if you feel hungry.
• Limiting fatty food such as fatty meats, cheeses, full-cream milk, fried foods, butter, etc. Use low-fat options where possible. Examples are:

1. Skimmed or semi-skimmed instead of full-cream milk.
2. Using low-fat, monounsaturated or polyunsaturated spreads instead of butter.
3. When feeding on meat it is necessary that you consume lean meat or poultry like chicken.
4. Try to grill, bake or steam rather than fry food. When using fry food, select vegetable oil like rapeseed, olive or sunflower.

• Discourage use of sugary drinks and sugary foods like biscuits, chocolate, cakes, sweets etc.
• Reduce use of other foods likely to be high in fat or sugar like some takeaway or fast foods.
• Eating three meals a day and not skipping meals. Always have breakfast. Eat each meal slowly. Skipping meals will just make you feel more hungry, make you think more about food and make you more likely to overeat in the evening or snack between meals.
• Trying not to add salt to food and avoiding foods that are salty.
• Including 2-3 portions of fish per week, at least two of which should be ‘oily’ (such as herring, mackerel, sardines, kippers, pilchards, salmon, or fresh tuna).

Make an assessment of your eating habits

For example:

• Eat slowly.
• Be careful that your food portion sizes are not too big but proportional.
• Avoid second helpings when you are already full.
• Switch unhealthy snacks and desserts to healthy ones.
• Don’t skip meals.
• Plan your meals ahead of time so that you can acquaint yourself with what you will be eating next.

Be selective on what you drink

Many people use drinks full of calories to quench their thirst. However what they may not know is that sugary drinks like cola, tea and coffee with milk and sugar, milk and alcoholic drinks, all contain calories. One of the best and easiest ways to cut back on calories is simply to drink water as your main drink.

Increase your physical activity levels

It is recommended that all adults should aim for 150 minutes of exercise a week.

• One way to do this is to do 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise in bouts of 10 minutes for five days of the week.
• Another method is to do 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity spread throughout the week or a combination of moderate and vigorous activity.

Remember that moderate physical activity includes:

• Brisk walking
• Jogging
• Dancing
• Swimming
• Badminton
• Tennis etc.
• It is equally important that besides the list above try to do more in your daily routines. For example, use stairs instead of lifts, walk or cycle to work or school, etc.
• Avoid sitting for too long in front of the television or a computer screen. Take regular breaks whilst working.
• The good news is that you don’t have to do this physical activity all in one chunk.
• You can break it up into blocks of 10-15 minutes. See separate leaflet called Physical Activity for Health, which gives more details.
• Build your exercise levels up gradually. If you are not used to physical activity, try starting with a 30-minute brisk walk every day and then building up from there.

Evaluate your behavior and progress

Just as keeping a food diary can be helpful at the beginning of a weight loss programme it can be useful as a way to monitor your eating during your weight loss. You can use the same diary to keep a track of your physical activity levels as well. It is also important to weigh yourself regularly to monitor your progress. Once weekly is recommended. However, don’t be discouraged by minor weight increases or leveling off for a few days. Focus on the overall trend over several months.

Keeping the weight off

Many people lose weight but at the end of their diet, the weight goes back on. The main reason this happens is because their weight-reducing diet was only a temporary change to their unhealthy diet and lifestyle. To keep your weight off, it is important that you make permanent changes. This usually means:

• Keeping to a healthy diet.
• Exercising regularly.
• A change for the whole household. It is difficult for one member of a household to shop and eat differently to the rest. It is best that the whole household should eat a healthy diet.

It does not mean less enjoyment of food. However, it may take a while to learn to enjoy different foods, meals and recipes. Some people need more support to keep to their new weight than when they were actually dieting and losing weight. A local support group may be able to help.

Prevention of overweight and obesity

You can help to prevent becoming overweight or obese by:

• Following the healthy eating guidelines prescribed above.
• Doing 150 minutes of physical activity according to the above prescription.
• Spending less time being sedentary (for example, less time in front of your computer or watching TV).
• Weighing yourself from time to time so that you become more aware of your weight and you can do something about your weight if you start to put some on.
• Encouraging a healthy lifestyle for your whole family.

Finally for you to remain focus on all this, you will need the professional guidance to keep you on truck from time to time and this you can get at AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care where focus is on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE, calling doctor Akoury is all you need to keep on truck for a quicker and speedy weight loss.

Fighting Obesity and weight gain through Dieting – Aim to eat a healthy balanced diet