Introduction
People who are obese or overweight have more body fat than is healthy for their age, sex, and height. Due to widespread societal changes, obesity and overweight has become a major health issue.
About 80 million people in North America are obese or overweight. Studies indicate that, for 95 per cent, controlling their weight has been a lifelong problem. Well over half of those struggling with obesity and overweight are women who want an "ideal" figure and experiment with different diets, obsess about eating, punish themselves with starvation or reward themselves with food.
Being obese increases your risk for many different health problems, including type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, and certain types of cancer (colon and prostate in men, uterine and gallbladder in women).
Symptoms
There are often musculoskeletal problems in obese people that affect the feet, knees, ankles, hips and lower back. Obesity, combined with a sedentary lifestyle, commonly leads to circulatory problems, including water retention around the ankles and susceptibility to varicose veins. Increased sugars and fats circulating in the blood also increase the probability of illnesses such as diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. Men with pot bellies are especially vulnerable to heart problems.
People who are obese or overweight may experience skin conditions due to increased perspiration and skin folding, which encourage bacterial and fungal growth. Other frequent complications include gallbladder problems, hernias, kidney problems and pneumonia. People who are overweight or obese are also more prone to injuries, infertility and surgical complications.
In addition to physical health issues, there are many psychological problems associated with increasing weight and size, including poor self-image, problems with sexuality, lack of motivation and depression.
Causes/Risk Factors
Weight problems usually have more to do with what people eat rather than how much. Studies indicate that people can eat a great deal and still lose weight as long as they eat less fat and eliminate sugar and simple carbohydrates. Other studies indicate that hidden food allergies may play a role in suppressing metabolism. The most likely food allergens are milk, wheat, corn, eggs, chocolate and yeast. Eliminating these may be crucial to weight control for certain people.
Skipping meals can actually help to induce weight gain. Drastically lowering caloric intake lowers the metabolism, and the body starts storing fat and burning off the carbohydrate in muscles. With each cycle of dieting, the net result is an increase of body fat relative to muscle mass. This is why most dieting causes fat gain in the long run.
Many medications increase appetite or change metabolism. Sudden weight gain is often due to excess water retention, which is common with kidney failure, heart failure, and PMS.
Weight gain during pregnancy is normal and necessary to provide extra reserves for the child. The weight is normally lost again, without dieting, within months of the birth.
More serious weight problems usually stem from long-term lack of exercise. Changing these behaviours will bring lasting results.
However, by itself, exercise is an ineffective way to lose weight. Generally speaking, overeating is related to deep-seated, complex food addictions in which food is used to fulfill emotional needs or as a coping mechanism. The reasons behind this addiction must first be addressed for the person to have any hope of achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
What You Can Do
Don't adopt a fad diet. Eat a nutritious, low-calorie diet based on Canada's Food Guide or create a weight-management plan with your doctor or a qualified dietician.
Eat saturated fats from red meat and hydrogenated fats (such as margarine and shortening) in moderation. Vegetables that contain sugar, such as corn, green peas and mashed potatoes, should be eaten less often than other kinds of vegetables.
Regular exercise is the key to losing weight: walk, jog, swim or hike 30-60 minutes a day. Don't get discouraged if you don't experience immediate weight loss despite exercising. The new muscle mass you're gaining from physical activity may be offsetting the fat you're burning. After a few months, this should stabilize and your weight should drop. Consider signing up for the Pedometer Program to help you maintain a consistent regimen.
Seek the support of friends and family or 'buddy up' with someone else also trying to achieve a healthy body weight.
Find a support group to help change eating and addictive behaviours. Since many people eat to cope with stress and anxiety, work on building your stress resilience. Ask your doctor if counselling might help you.
Bear in mind that healthy weight loss should be gradual, not rapid.
What You Can Eat
Eat a diet high in whole grains and vegetables, which are rich in complex carbohydrates. Low-calorie vegetables include cabbage, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. Choose vegetable proteins like beans, lentils and tofu.
Some fats actually help the body to lose weight. The essential fatty acids found in fish, nuts and seeds, and unrefined, cold-pressed nut and seed oils such as flaxseed, walnut and pumpkin seed oil can help to metabolize stored fats. Flaxseeds absorb 30 times their weight in water and will provide a feeling of fullness.
Enzymes speed up metabolism and boost the immune system. Sources include fresh-pressed juices of leafy green vegetables, wheatgrass and green barley. Enzyme-rich raw fruits, such as cherries, contain almost no calories from fat or protein. Apples, cantaloupe, watermelon and grapefruit are other nutritious low-calorie fruits.
The body needs certain nutrients to burn off extra fat and a deficiency in these nutrients can lead to weight gain. Vitamin B5 (pantothenic acid) burns fats, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) mobilizes stored fats, and vitamin E increases fat utilization. B complex vitamins also help produce energy and relieve stress and depression, while lecithin helps eliminate some fats from the body. The best weight loss diet lowers calorie intake and provides these essential nutrients.
What You Can Take
In certain circumstances, medication and sometimes even surgical procedures may be appropriate to help reduce weight when diet, exercise and behaviour modification have proven unsuccessful. Consult your doctor regarding options appropriate for you.
Further Resources
Contact the Canadian Obesity Network at www.obesitynetwork.ca or 780-735-6799 or the Alberta Centre for Active Living at www.centre4activeliving.ca or 1-800-661-4551.
