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Weight Control
Weight Control
Your Weight
How much a person should weigh depends on many
factors, including the size of his/her frame (small, average,
large), sex, and height. There are no universally accepted
definitions of the terms "overweight" and "obesity." Overweight is
frequently defined as a body weight from 10 to 20 percent higher
than the usual weight for persons of the same sex and height.
Obesity is an excessive accumulation of body fat. It is best defined
as a body weight that is 20 percent or more above the desirable
weight for women of a specific height and type of frame, and 25
percent or more above the desirable weight for men.
Daily Calorie Needs
A calorie is a unit used to express the heat or
energy value of food. Calories are obtained from three sources:
Carbohydrate yields 4 calories per gram.
Protein yields 4 calories per gram.
Fat yields 9 calories per gram.
A certain number of calories are required by the
body for its day-to-day activities. The daily calorie need is the
number of calories used by the body each day to maintain its present
weight. The number of calories required by an individual depends
upon that person's sex, size, age, and activity level.
You can estimate the approximate number of calories
you need each day by a simple formula. Take the midpoint of your
desirable weight range, and multiply this figure by 18 for a man and
by 16 for a woman. The answer is the approximate number of calories
used daily by an adult of average activity.
For example, the desirable weight for a
25-year-old, small-framed man 5 feet 9 inches tall is about 140
pounds. If his activities are average, he will use 140 x 18, or
about 2,520, calories per day.
If you are very active, your calorie needs will be
much higher than predicted by the above formula. Similarly, if you
are relatively inactive, you will need fewer calories.
Basic Weight-Control Facts
The basics of weight control are simple: we can
control the amount of food we eat, our activity level, or both. If
we take in more calories than we expend in energy, we gain weight.
People who weigh too much simply eat more calories than they use
each day for growth or other activities. Leftover calories are
stored as fat. On the other hand, if we expend more calories in
energy than we eat, we lose weight. If we use up the same number of
calories we take in, our weight remains unchanged.
About 3,500 extra calories are required to produce
a pound of body fat. This means that 3,500 fewer calories should get
rid of a pound of body fat. Cutting 500 calories a day from your
diet will generally lead to a safe and sensible weight loss of one
pound a week and will not leave you so hungry that you can't think
about anything but food. If you are severely overweight or have
medical problems, have a doctor and/or a registered dietitian
supervise your diet.
If you don't want to decrease the amount of food
you eat, then increase the number of calories you burn through more
activity and exercise. Whether you wish to lose weight, gain weight,
or simply maintain your current weight, exercise is beneficial. Even
daily activities such as moderate walking, making beds, gardening,
and carpentry can provide useful exercise.
Planning a Day's Food
There are five basic food groups:
Milk, yogurt, and cheese group.
Meat, poultry, fish, dry beans, eggs, and nuts
group.
Vegetable group.
Fruit group.
Bread, cereal, rice, and pasta group.
When you choose among various foods, keep in mind
that some are more beneficial to your health than others. For
example, skim milk is better for you than whole milk because it
contains less fat and also has a slightly higher calcium content.
Purchasing Food Wisely
New government legislation requires that labels on
all food products contain specific information on dietary content.
The guidelines cover nearly every health and nutrition claim that
could be made by a food manufacturer, and detail what information
food labels should contain, down to the size of the print. For
example, food can be described as "light" or "lite" on the label
only if it has 50 percent less fat than other foods to which it is
compared. The word "more" can be used only if a food product
contains 10 percent more of a given ingredient than other goods of
the same type.
The back panel of the label must tell you the
number of grams of components,such as fat or cholesterol, a product
contains, and also express that number as a percentage of the
recommended total amount of fat or cholesterol the average consumer
should eat in a day. Each label must list percentages of suggested
fat and cholesterol daily intakes for both 2,000-calorie daily diets
with 65 grams of fat and 2,500-calorie diets with 80 grams of fat.
The new labels also contain information on vitamins
A and C, along with the minerals iron and calcium. Information
regarding other vitamins and minerals, however, is no longer
required.
Eating Out
"Fast food" has become a national favorite.
Fortunately, you can make healthful choices even when you go out to
eat.
In "sit-down" restaurants, the choice is a bit more
difficult, because of the different types of menu items from which
to select. In deciding what to order, try to pick the items that are
lowest in grams of fat and milligrams of sodium.
Suggestions for Those Who Want to Lose Weight
If you are trying to lose weight, here are a few
helpful suggestions:
1. Record everything you eat, including snacks,
so that you can keep track of your calories.
2. Don't eat while you are doing something else.
In this way you can avoid eating when you are not actually hungry.
3. Sit down while eating.
4. Don't eat too fast. Give your body a chance to
notice that it has had enough to eat.
5. Eat meals and snacks only in the parts of
your home intended for eating.
6. Don't try to lose weight too fast. A sensible
goal is one pound a week.
7. Don't try to lose too much weight. Be aware of
the danger of anorexia nervosa.
Suggestions for Those Who Want to Gain Weight
If you are very much underweight, you should see
your doctor and/or a registered dietitian before starting any type
of a diet. Choose familiar foods that appeal to you. If you prefer,
eat regular meals at the same time each day. Instead, you may find
that frequent, small meals or between-meal snacks along with regular
meals work better for you. In any case, eat more of the higher
calorie foods. Take larger portions of foods, and enjoy seconds (as
long as you are hungry). |
