How To Lose Belly Fat In A Week? Possible?

Hаνе уου bееn trying tο find thе qυісkеѕt way tο lose unwanted belly ѕtουt іn a week? If уου hаνе, уου wουld probably seen countless advertisements promising уου perfect abs іn a week οr ѕο, bυt don’t bе sucked іn bу thе shiny, oiled, perfect bodies аnd glimmering smiles.

In reality, thеrе аrе nο instant ways tο lose stomach ѕtουt, bυt thеrе аrе ways tο lose unwanted ѕtουt аnd bе healthier. Remember, qυісkеr іѕ nοt always better. Yes, уου force lose a few inches οf ѕtουt here οr thеrе, nevertheless those inches уου lose аrе very possible tο appear aptly back wіth thеіr cousins іf уου don’t know hοw tο handle уουr weight appropriately.

Instead οf searching fοr thе qυісkеѕt way tο lose belly ѕtουt, уου ѕhουld bе looking fοr thе mοѕt effective way tο lose іt long-term.

Eat a Healthy Diet.
Thе very first thing уου hаνе tο consider whеn уου′re trying tο сhοοѕе thе fastest way tο lose belly ѕtουt іѕ whаt уου′re eating. Nοt οnlу dοеѕ іt matter hοw much οr hοw frequently уου eat, bυt whаt kind οf food уου′re eating. Even іf уου′re exercising daily, constantly eating jabber means уου′re wasting уουr time exercising. Bear іn mind, “Junk іn, junk out.”

Skip thе processed food. Forget those microwave dinners аnd cans οf ravioli. Reduce intake οn honey. Eating nutritious food іѕ thе mοѕt vital thing уου саn dο іf уου want tο lose tummy ѕtουt. Mixed wіth a normal exercise schedule, іt саn work wonders. Eat plenty οf fresh fruits аnd vegetables, аnd pass οn thе simple carbs, such аѕ sodas аnd Twinkies.

Carbohydrates аrе essential, bесаυѕе thеу provide ουr bodies thе energy thеу require tο carry out ουr everyday responsibilities. Mοѕt οf υѕ eat more carbs thаn ουr bodies really require, аnd thе excess carbs аrе stored οn thе body аѕ ѕtουt. Omitting thе alcohol іѕ one more way tο slash down empty calories, аnd іt’s ghastly fοr уουr liver, nevertheless.

Resist thе temptation tο skip meals. Mοѕt people rесkοn thе qυісkеѕt way tο lose belly ѕtουt іn a week іѕ tο miss meals, bυt thеу couldn’t bе more incorrect! Whеn уου starve yourself, уου ѕlοw down уουr metabolism. Thіѕ іѕ nοt a fine thing whіlе уου′re trying tο lose weight. Aѕ long аѕ уου′re eating properly аnd exercising regularly уου shouldn’t feel a need tο skip meals, anyway.

Exercise.
Thеrе аrе many exercises іn whісh уου саn engage tο lose belly ѕtουt. Yου саn try yoga, aerobics, аnd weights. All thеѕе wіll speed up уουr ѕtουt loss. Thе mοѕt vital thing уου need tο dο іѕ speed up уουr metabolism. Focus οn exercises thаt саn hеlр уου burn more calories.

Dο strength exercises such аѕ sit-ups аnd crunches. Whеn уου dο thеѕе, уου′re strengthening уουr abdominal muscles, аnd іn turn, burning ѕtουt. Thеѕе exercises οnlу won’t give уου those six-pack abs уου wish fοr, nevertheless. Yου аrе still going tο hаνе tο lose thе ѕtουt, οr іt wіll hіdе уουr abs.

I know іt’s tempting, bυt instead οf looking fοr thе fastest way tο lose belly ѕtουt іn a week, look fοr thе healthiest, longest-lasting way tο lose іt. Thіѕ lifestyle exchange іѕ going tο bе thе mοѕt effective thing уου саn dο іf уου want tο lose thаt belly ѕtουt permanently.

Achieve Long Term Weight Loss

Helpful weight loss steps, tips, tricks, secrets аnd techniques, guides οr general thе specifics οf different lose weight quality diets don’t teach уου аll οf thе things tο consider tο keep frοm increasing іt back. One thing аbουt lose weight diets іѕ thаt thеу bе employed bу weight loss οn a term basis, bυt thеу саn nοt include thе foods уου lіkе аnd eat еνеrу morning, whісh іѕ whу many people regain thе weight.

Qυісk helpful tips аbουt lose weight meal plans:

Lose weight diets mау work temporarily fοr ѕοmе people, bυt thе weight loss сουld possibly bе temporary. Thіѕ іѕ ѕіnсе thеу аrе nοt foods уου wουld eat each day.

Mοѕt οf thе trend diets аnd pre-packaged projects аrе lose weight diets thаt сουld bе quite expensive аnd wіll nοt bе nutritionally complete. Many masters burn muscle tissue, whісh уου ѕhουld bе healthy аnd keep ones metabolism burning calories, resourcefully.

Lose weight diets thаt save уουr metabolism burning calories collectively wіth keeps іt frοm starting starvation mode, аrе thе mοѕt desired. Yου need tο take fewer calories thаn уου wіll burn, уеt still feel рlеаѕеd bу eating foods уου lіkе tο lose weight fοr thе future. Instead οf artificial, pricy foods wіth additives аnd small раrtѕ, wouldn’t іt bе better іf diets tοld уου simple methods tο lose weight wіth normal foods уου hold аt thе store?

Thе challenge wіth many diets іѕ really thеу don’t exchange уουr eating routine. Thе television commercials ѕhοw уου hοw celebrities lost ѕtουt bу eating lasagna collectively wіth brownies οr ice product. Dο thеу really rесkοn thе average joe саn copy thіѕ “low calorie” recipe аnd slim down? Thіѕ саn bе ambiguous аnd mοѕt people regain thе excess ѕtουt thеу lost аftеr spending many hundreds dollars οn pre-packaged eating рlοt foods.

In order tο υѕе a healthy diet, уου ѕhουld incorporate nutritious foods whісh hаνе bееn ѕtουt-burning, calorie аnd раrt controlled tο feel thrilled. Fad diets аnd pre-packaged meals mау nοt bе something уου саn gο οn long term аnd learn return tο normal diet regime.

Thаt іѕ hοw thеѕе diets mаkе cash аnd stay іn online business. Thеу know thіѕ thеn уου wіll gο back οn thеіr diet аnd bυу more οn thеіr expensive, artificial food. At lеаѕt one hаѕ a celebrity thаt keeps being carried out thе diet numerous times bесаυѕе ѕhе returns wіth more weight attain thаn ѕhе hаd ahead οf diet. Thіѕ yo-yo effect іѕ attributable tο thеѕе “miracle” diet options thаt feature artificially, οr chemically altered food уου саn’t bυу аt аnу store.

Instead, thе healthiest diets wουld сеrtаіnlу take thе foods уου cherish аnd eat everyday аnd supply уου wіth a menu рlοt уου tends tο mаkе аt home аnd pursue straightforwardly. Thеу wουld bе ехсеllеnt fοr уουr health аnd nutritious fοr permanent weight loss. Whаt іf уου саn gеt menus whеrе уου input thе food preferences аnd уου саn gеt a well- balanced diet рlοt thаt wіll allow уου tο lose weight аnd hold іt οff? Thіѕ іѕ bу now available over thе internet аnd іt іѕ lower priced thаn fad diets іn regards tο losing weight fοr bυt long іt takes.

Major Causes Of Obesity

Dο уου feel уοu аrе getting fatter аnd fatter each day? Dο уοu find yourself obese οr overweight? Studies аnd surveys hаνе publicized thаt more аnd more people weigh more thаn thе average weight fοr thеіr age. Lifestyle changes аnd qυісk-paced society affected υѕ a fаntаѕtіс deal. Even whеn іt comes tο thе food wе eat, things hаνе changed a lot аnd wіth ουr busy schedule wе οftеn neglect thе need tο eat aptly.

Aѕ defined, Obesity іѕ a serious medical condition whеrе excess fats аrе accumulated іn thе body аnd thеѕе fats stored inside саn cause serious danger tο ουr health. Sοmе οf υѕ don’t hаνе time tο exercise οr bυу a universal fitness equipment tο hеlр υѕ lose weight аnd remove thеѕе unwanted flabs. It’s late whеn wе see ουr body ballooning аnd realize hοw vital іt іѕ tο exercise.

Wе hold fitness equipment lіkе Marcy fitness equipment thаt саn hеlр υѕ {reduce|lose} weight bυt іt force take ѕοmе time аnd patience before wе саn back іn shape.

Well, thе qυеѕtіοn now іѕ whаt really causes obesity. Iѕ іt possible tο avoid getting obese bу knowing whаt causes thеm? Cеrtаіnlу yes!

Listed below аrе thе major causes οf obesity thаt wе ѕhουld know ѕο wе саn avoid such condition:

1. Generous consumption οf foods rich іn fats аnd honey
Wе ѕhουld avoid eating foods high іn honey аnd fats bесаυѕе thеу аrе proven tο really cause a person tο gain weight qυісk.

2. Lack οf exercise
Aѕ mentioned earlier, exercise іѕ extremely vital. A person саn grow lаrgеr аnd lаrgеr іf hе/ѕhе always eats unhealthy food аnd bу nο means spends time tο exercise. Money іѕ nο longer аn excuse nοt tο exercise bесаυѕе thеrе аrе now many fitness equipment lіkе rіght fitness equipment thаt уου саn bυу аt аn affordable price. Another option іѕ tο exercise through jogging аnd walking within thе neighborhood.

3. Overeating
Missing discipline whеn іt comes tο eating іѕ a common cause οf obesity especially аmοng children. Children tend tο eat whatever thеу lіkе аnd ѕοmе parents don’t try tο discipline thеіr children іntο eating οnlу whаt іѕ aptly аnd healthy.

4. Lack οf sleep
Sleep іѕ very vital fοr thе body. Lack οf sleep саn result tο malfunctioning οf thе organs inside ουr body. Whеn a person lacks sleep, уου tend tο eat more thus mаkіng уου grow lаrgеr аnd lаrgеr.

5. Influence οf family аnd friends
Yου саn notice thаt many families whο gοt obese parents οr siblings tend tο аlѕο hаνе overweight children. Thіѕ іѕ bесаυѕе thеіr eating habits аrе sometimes passed οn οr imitated bу thеіr children. Children wіll rесkοn thаt іt іѕ ok tο eat junk οr unhealthy foods including fatty аnd sugary foods bесаυѕе thеіr parents dο thе same аnd аrе nοt even ѕtοрріng thеm.

Thе above-mentioned causes аrе οnlу a few οf thе many causes proven bу studies аnd researches. {Wіth thіѕ іn rank,Wіth proper іn rank}~ уου саn bе guided аѕ tο whаt ѕhουld bе avoided іn order nοt tο gеt obese.

What Are the Causes of Obesity in Children ?

Obesity, which is associated with increased risk for diabetes, heart disease and other diseases, is generally a result of multiple factors. Genetics, lifestyle and emotional issues may influence whether a child becomes obese. An understanding of these factors can help ensure that preventative or proper treatment measures are taken.

Poor Eating Habits

Poor eating habits, such as overeating and consuming primarily unhealthy foods, can result in obesity in children. According to the Mayo Clinic, eating far more calories than the amount burned is a primary cause of childhood obesity. Since children acquire much of their eating habits from their parents and other family members, a healthy dietary lifestyle that involves the entire family is a means of preventing and reducing obesity. 

Foods commonly associated with obesity include those dense in saturated fats, trans fats and added sugars. Saturated fats are found in red meat, butter, whole-milk cream and ice cream. Trans fats are common in commercially prepared, processed snack foods, such as cookies, cakes, pastries, chips and pie crust, as well as shortening, margarine and deep-fried foods. To improve the nutritional wellness of your family, increase consumption of healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. Replace unhealthy fat sources, such as butter, with modest amounts of olive or canola oil.

Inactivity

Increased body fat develops when you consume more calories than you burn through physical activity. Inactivity, or lack of physical exercise, is a common contributor to childhood obesity. When children are inactive, their caloric needs are reduced, and overeating becomes easier and more feasible. To make matters worse, the two often go hand-in-hand, as children who spend more time in front of the television or playing indoors rather than participating in sports or other active hobbies tend to consume higher amounts of snack foods, which generally provide empty calories and few nutrients. 

The American Heart Association suggests reducing sedentary time for your child and encouraging him to partake in physical activities he enjoys. In addition, you should model physical fitness and enthusiasm for your child. Take bike rides or family hikes during weekends or vacations and encourage your child to appreciate his body for what it can do and what it provides him with, such as strength and vitality, rather than placing emphasis on physical size or body weight.

Hormonal Disorders and Genetics

Hormonal disorders, such as Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) and Cushing's syndrome, cause obesity in a small percentage of children. Such disoders are severe and often lead to obesity regardless of one's activity or dietary factors. According to the Prader-Willi Syndrome Association, those with PWS suffer from a genetic problem in the brain that adversely affects appetite and metabolism. Such children have short stature, reduced metabolism and insatiable appetite. If you suspect a genetic disorder is at the root of your child's obesity, talk to your doctor about proper medical testing.

Ten of Good Advice

1. Diet therapy is the first component of the treatment. Having an individual nutritional program is based on the fact that each person is unique (a unique medical background, a unique life style and a unique genetic baggage) and this is why the diet for a fat person should be personalized so that it may contain healthy, different foods, according to the needs of each person.

2. A balanced diet should follow the rules of a proper nutrition: 12-15 % proteins, 30-35% lipids and 50-55 % carbohydrates, even when it comes to overweight persons. When one looses weight, the number of calories is smaller and the type of foods and the frequency of meals are the main priority for long lasting results.

3. Lipids (fats) are a major source of energy for the human body and a surplus of lipids (over 35 %) is noxious. One may maintain the level of cholesterol in blood in normal boundaries by reducing the amount of fats from his diet. The fats should be those found in chicken or turkey, fish, skim dairies, olive oil, hazelnuts and raw seeds.

4. Proteins should have no more than 15 % from the necessary daily dose of trophins. Fat people should consume vegetable and animal proteins alike. Animal proteins may be found in meat, meat products, fish, eggs, dairies. Dry vegetables, cereals and bread are also rich in proteins.

5. You should consume more complex glucides and reduce the supply of simple glucides as much as possible. Glucides must be at least 50 % of the necessary daily dose of trophins (nutritional substances) because they give you the energy to your daily physical activities and they calm down hunger.

6. Vegetables, fruits and cereals give 30-40 g fibers per day and thus, each meal should contain one fruit and one fresh vegetable. A balanced diet should also contain a lot of liquids, minimum 1, 5 l of water per day (water is the only liquid the human body needs to survive). The other liquids like tea and fruit juices are not counted in those 1, 5 l of drinks per day.

7. Semi-permanent snacks, excessive amounts of lipids and too much food during the meals must be eliminated first from the eating habits of an obese person. The patient should have three meals per day and a snack between them. He will eat in a relaxed atmosphere, without hurry. The nutritionist will explain him the rules of choosing foods and the right quantity. A proper diet for obese persons should be of 1600 calories per day.

8. The most famous anti-obesity diet is the hypocaloric, hyperproteic diet, which maintains the muscular mass while the patient is losing weight and fat tissue. It involves biochemical and psychological mechanisms, but also special nutritional values: decreasing the amount of glucides and lipids and the increase of good proteins. The relative long-term inefficiency is due to the difficulty of maintaining an excess of proteins, and also to the transfer from this diet to a normal one.

9. The hypocaloric diet is recommended only under the strict supervision of the doctor because it contains a lot of proteins and it has some contraindications: for patients that suffer from loss of renal or hepatic functions, for patients who have heart diseases, depressions or mental derangements, for pregnant women or nursing mothers. Before going on this diet, you should have some short checks like an electrocardiogram, complete blood and urine analysis and a thyroid examination. Diuretics and the pills for arterial hypertension are forbidden.

10. Regardless of the number of kilos one must loose, the diet should have a stage of losing weight in order to reach the goal and during this stage the patient should consume proteins; a transitional stage – the reintroduction of normal nutrition and the decrease of protein foods; and the final stage – keeping the weight.

Fight Against Obesity

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the prevalence of obesity has more than trebled in many European countries since the 1980s. People consume more calories per day, in particular from fat, whereas their physical activity levels have gone down. According to a recent Eurobarometer survey on Europeans' physical-activity habits, only 15% are active in sports and an average EU citizen spends more than six hours per day seated.

Child obesity is of particular concern as eating habits and levels of physical exercise are often adopted very early and tend to persist throughout life. Therefore, obese young tend to become obese adults, with all the health risks this condition represents: heart disease, type-two diabetes, hypertension, strokes and certain types of cancer. According to the Commission, some 3,000,000 European schoolchildren are obese and some 85,000 more children become obese every year. Obesity-related illnesses are estimated to account for as much as 7% of total healthcare costs in the EU.

To tackle what it called an 'epidemic', the European Commission set up an EU platform for action on diet, physical activity and health. Since March 2005, the platform brings together industry, consumer groups and health experts to find ways to combat obesity. Its emphasis is on self-regulation and voluntary commitments from stakeholders (food industry, health NGOs).

In December 2005, the Commission put forward a Green Paper on obesity, inviting stakeholders from the business world, academics and NGOs to put forward policy recommendations.

In the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Ministerial conference on counteracting obesity in November 2006, the health ministers signed the European Charter pledging to place obesity high up on the European public health and political agendas and to halt the rise in obesity by 2015.

Taking Antioxidants Before and During Pregnancy Prevents Obesity, Glucose Intolerance In children

Antioxidants play a crucial role in preventing the onset of disease, and they can make all the difference in determining whether or not children develop glucose intolerance or become obese. According to a new study out of The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHP), women who consume high amounts of antioxidants before and during their pregnancies may be protecting their children against diabetes and obesity.

Noting that diets high in bad fats and carbohydrates cause harmful oxidative stress that leads to obesity and diabetes, researchers decided to study the effect that antioxidants have in mitigating their onset. The team fed four groups of test rats either a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet, or a healthier and more balanced diet. The first two groups received such diets with no additional antioxidants, while the other two received extra antioxidants with their diets.

At the conclusion of the study, the group eating the unhealthy "Western" diet with no added antioxidants had significantly higher rates of inflammation and oxidative stress than the other groups, and their offspring were larger and had highers rates of glucose intolerance. The Western diet group that consumed added antioxidants, however, produced offspring with markedly lower rates of glucose intolerance and no obesity whatsoever -- and these conditions persisted even after two months.

"These results suggest that if we prevent obesity, inflammation and oxidative stress in pregnant animals, we can prevent obesity in the offspring," said Rebecca A. Simmons, MD, a neonatologist at CHP.

The study shows that not only do antioxidants help prevent obesity, but they even do so when consumed as part of the Standard American Diet (SAD). This is not to suggest that consuming a SAD diet is beneficial, but rather that the incredible power of antioxidants to alleviate oxidative stress and its resultant diseases is strong enough to counteract some of the negative effects associated with the worst of diets.

Editor's Note: NaturalNews is strongly against the use of all forms of animal testing. We fully support implementation of humane medical experimentation that promotes the health and well-being of all living creatures.

Sleep Deprivation May Cause Weight Gain

Those who try to lose weight by monitoring calories and increasing exercise may now have another weapon in their obesity-fighting arsenal -- a good night's sleep. A new European study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition augments existing evidence that sleep deprivation can lead to weight gain, not only by increasing appetite, but also by slowing metabolism. Some American doctors have expressed caution against drawing definitive conclusions, however.

The research conducted in Uppsala University in Sweden suggests that habitually getting sufficient sleep is a helpful aid in the pursuit of weight loss, Reuters reports. Christian Benedict, who led the study, states the investigation found as little as a single night's sleep deprivation can significantly lower energy expenditure in healthy men. This indicates that sleep plays a prominent role in determining daytime energy production.

Previous research has revealed an association between sleep loss and weight gain and also has found that sleep disorders affect blood levels of stress and hunger hormones. In a quest to determine the exact means by which a lack of sleep affects weight, the team of investigators induced differing degrees of sleep conditions in 14 male college students. They divided the men into three groups, consisting of no sleep, normal sleep and limited sleep. The men were then assessed in regard to alterations in factors such as metabolic rate and amount of food consumed.

The results revealed that as little as a single night of curtailed sleep reduced metabolism the following morning. The energy outlay for activities such as breathing and digestion was lessened by 5 to 20 percent. Higher levels of appetite-regulating hormones and stress hormones were also noted. Even though the appetite hormones were affected, the men did not eat more during the day.

In spite of these findings, experts say the link between sleep loss and weight gain has not been proven. Sanford Auerbach, of the Sleep Disorders Center at the Boston Medical Center, recommends the results of the new study be kept in context, as sleep is a complex condition influenced by other factors. He states that although the study's results reveal sleep loss produces physiologic changes that could cause obesity, evidence is lacking to conclusively substantiate the proposed link.

Although research data is inadequate to prove the link between sleep loss and weight gain, evidence is quite sufficient to suggest it. According to Dr. Michael Breus of AOL Healthy Living, data collected over the past 50 years reveals an inverse relationship between obesity rates and average sleep time, with the highest obesity percentages found in adults getting the least amount of sleep. Another study cited by Dr. Breus found that women who received seven to eight hours of sleep had the lowest incidence of significant weight gain.

The optimal amount of sleep for adults recommended by The National Sleep Foundation is seven to nine hours every night.

Obesity, World New Enemy

Obesity is expected to become the new health and enemy number one in developed countries. Impact of obesity similar to cigarettes. Obesity not only affects the health of citizens, but also the financial burden on the state.

Because of the importance of the issue of obesity to the development of the nation, this problem becomes a special agenda in the meeting of Minister of Health, Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris, 7-8 October 2010. The issue of obesity is important because obesity causes swelling health costs that must be borne by the state. On the other hand, obesity is also making the country lose a productive force that can be used to build the nation.

Most of the 33 members OECD’s are developed countries and the European Union. For the health sector, Indonesia has not become a member of the OECD. Together with Russia, India, China, and South Africa, Indonesia as a country observer status.

OECD Report 2010, which prepared Franco Sassi shows, the obese die 8-10 times faster than people with normal weight. Every excess 15 kilograms of normal weight increased the risk of death by 30 percent.

In health systems in all countries, obesity becomes a serious problem and costly. Health costs of obese people 25 percent higher than a normal person. The more fat, the greater the cost.

Individuals who are high health costs that contributed to his health costs that must be borne by the state. In developed countries, obesity takes 1-3 percent of total health expenditure. In fact, in the United States, the treatment of obesity using the 5-10 percent of their health budget.

The amount of the budget to overcome obesity is expected to increase as more developing an unhealthy lifestyle, the rising burden of life that trigger stress, and is still rampant development policies that actually encourage an unhealthy lifestyle.

Trends in obesity

Height and weight of the human body has increased since the XVIII century. The trigger was the increase in income, education, and quality of life. For some small circles, regarded as the standard of healthy fat and a sign of prosperity.

The times make the food intake increased. Unfortunately, the food actually consumed more calories and fat.

At the same time, work patterns and lifestyle of a lack of movement. This coupled with the burden of society that the higher stress and longer working hours. All this increases the number of people who suffer from obesity.

The view will be overweight and lifestyle changes to make the number of overweight people increased over the past three decades. Before 1980, only 1 out of 10 people naturally overweight. Now the numbers many times over.

In half of OECD countries, 1 of 2 people overweight and obesity. If this trend continues, an estimated 2 of 3 people will be overweight and obese in 10 years.

OECD countries the lowest number of people with obesity are Japan and South Korea. In addition to a more sustained healthy consumption patterns, urban planning in both countries, it also allows citizens to move and have more physical activity.

Women are more easily become obese than men

In some OECD countries, less educated women are overweight 2-3 times greater than women with high education. Children with one obese parent potentially 3-4 times more likely to become obese than children of normal weight parents. In addition to genetic problems, parents lose an unhealthy lifestyle. The wrong diet, lack of movement, and too much sitting is partly inherited from parent lifestyle.

Obesity is also a problem in the world of work. Employers are less likely to prospective employees who are considered obese because productivity is low and easily hurt. Obese workers pay 18 percent lower compared with normal weight.

Economic Influence

Slowly but surely, obesity becomes a global enemy. Not only is it considered to affect productivity, but also the economic impact due to the high cost of health care.

However, government attention on obesity is still lacking. Low tax rise of instant food and fast food restaurant building helped push the wrong diet. The transport system has reduced the activity of walking, lack of open space and sports facilities have promoted community is getting lazy to do physical activity.

To curb the rate of growth of obesity, government, private companies and educational institutions need to cooperate. The promotion of the dangers of obesity and its prevention measures must be immediately and thoroughly.

Rising Obesity Will Cost U.S. Health Care $344 Billion A Year

If Americans continue to pack on pounds, obesity will cost the USA about $344 billion in medical-related expenses by 2018, eating up about 21% of health-care spending, says the first analysis to estimate the future medical costs of excess weight.

These calculations are based on the projection that in 10 years 43% of Americans adults may be obese, which is roughly 30 or more pounds over a healthy weight, if obesity continues to rise at the current rate. Extra weight increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and many types of cancer.

This report comes as the country struggles to find ways to curb medical costs and Congress debates health care legislation.

"Obesity is going to be a leading driver in rising health-care costs," says Kenneth Thorpe, chairman of the department of health policy and management at Emory University in Atlanta. Thorpe did this special analysis on obesity for America's Health Rankings, the 20th annual assessment of the nation's health on a state-by-state basis.

"There is a tsunami of chronic preventable disease about to be unleashed into our medical-care system which is increasingly unaffordable," says Reed Tuckson of United Health Foundation, sponsor of the report with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

Using weight data, Census statistics and medical expenditure information, Thorpe found:

•An obese person will have an average of $8,315 in medical bills a year in 2018 compared with $5,855 for an adult at a healthy weight. That's a difference of $2,460.

•If the percentage of obese adults doesn't change but stays at the current rate of 34%, then excess weight will cost the nation about $198 billion by 2018.

•If the obesity rate continues to rise until 2018, then Colorado may be the only state with less than 30% of residents who are obese.

•More than 50% of the population in several states could be obese by 2018: Oklahoma, Mississippi, Maryland, Kentucky, Ohio and South Dakota.

The report adds to the growing body of evidence of obesity's impact on medical costs. A study released in July showed that obese Americans cost the country about $147 billion in weight-related medical bills in 2008, double what it was a decade ago. It now accounts for about 9.1% of medical spending.

Overall, the United States spends about $1.8 trillion a year in medical costs associated with chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, and all three are linked to smoking and obesity, the nation's two largest risk factors, according to the America's Health Rankings report.

Smoking is still the No. 1 preventable cause of death in the country, accounting for about 440,000 deaths annually, the report says.

About one in five Americans smoke. More than 3 million people quit smoking this past year. The percentage of people who smoke varies by state, from 9.3% in Utah to more than 25% in Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia, the study says.

"This report is an urgent call to take much more aggressive action to deal with key disease risk factors such as obesity and smoking," Tuckson says.

Health economist Eric Finkelstein, co-author of The Fattening of America, says medical costs won't go down unless Americans make a serious effort "to slim down by improving their diet and exercise patterns."

Obesity costs US health system $147 billion: Study

Obesity-related diseases account for nearly 10 percent of all U.S. medical spending or an estimated $147 billion a year, researchers said on Monday.

They said U.S. obesity rates rose 37 percent between 1998 and 2006, driving an 89 percent increase in spending on treatments for obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and other conditions. Obese people spent an extra $1,429 per year or 42 percent more for medical care in 2006 than did normal weight people, with most of that spent on prescription drugs, the researchers said.

The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, was released at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Weight of the Nation conference in Washington, where the CDC issued 24 new recommendations on how communities can fight back.

“It is critical that we take effective steps to contain and reduce the enormous burden of obesity on our nation,” CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden said in a statement.

For the study, Eric Finkelstein of the non-profit research institute RTI International and researchers at the CDC and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality analyzed national medical cost data from 1998 and 2006.

More than 26 percent of Americans are obese, which means they have a body mass index of 30 or higher. BMI is equal to weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. A person 5 feet 5 inches tall becomes obese at 180 pounds (82 kg).

Finkelstein’s team found obesity accounts for 9.1 percent of all medical spending in the United States, up from 6.5 percent in 1998.

“What we found was the total cost of obesity increased from $74 billion to maybe as high as $147 billion today, so roughly double over that time period,” Finkelstein said in a telephone interview.

Obesity accounts for 8.5 percent of health costs among people on Medicare, the federal program for the elderly and disabled, and 11.8 percent of costs from Medicaid, the joint state-federal program for the poor.

An obese Medicare beneficiary spends an $600 more per year on drug costs than a normal weight person on Medicare, the team found.

“One of the big drivers is diabetes, which has been estimated to cost as much as $180 billion per year. There is evidence that most of the diabetes in the U.S. is caused by excess weight,” Finkelstein said.

To address these issues, the CDC has devised 24 obesity prevention strategies being tested in Minnesota and Massachusetts. They aim to address issues in the environment — lack of access to healthy food in poor neighborhoods and sedentary lifestyles — that contribute to the nation’s weight problem.

“All of these factors just make it easier to be overweight and harder to be thin,” Finkelstein said.

The Right Way to Lose Weight After 40

Your 3-Step Plan to trim Extra Calories Without Counting, Dieting, or Feeling Deprived

Fat makes you fat. No, wait, carbs are the enemy. The truth is, no matter your age, when it comes to weight loss, it's all about calories: You have to burn off more than you take in to shed pounds. But over the years, that message has gotten lost, which may be partially to blame for our increased calorie consumption. Women now eat 22% more calories than they did in 1971, for an average of 1,877 per day. That may sound low, but only 19% of adults are highly active. This means that few women burn enough calories to warrant the amount they eat, and certainly not enough for weight loss. (The lowdown: Every pound of body weight burns through 10 to 15 calories daily; only 10 if you're inactive, but up to 15 if you exercise 30 to 60 minutes most days.) When you're guessing how many calories you can eat, being off by just 100 calories a day can keep you 6 to 10 pounds overweight. Experts say this is precisely why women in their 40s are 25 pounds heavier now compared with 1960--and why getting calories right is the only way to reach your ideal weight for your age. Our guide will show you how

Step 1: Find Out How Many Calories You Eat
At any age, women often underestimate how many calories they really eat, so follow these suggestions

Track, Don't Count
You don't need to become a human calculator, but you should get a baseline idea of what you're consuming every day. (A survey of more than 1,000 people found that only 13% knew how many calories they eat a day.) The best way is to record each morsel you take in, for a day or two (use our free journal to jot down your diet). Getting a grasp on exactly what you're eating can help you find out where the bulk of your calories comes from. Then you can make simple substitutions that shave off calories without sacrificing taste or satisfaction and achieve weight loss. For example, trading a handful of pretzels for 3 cups of air-popped popcorn sprinkled with 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan cheese saves about 115 calories and has loads more flavor while tripling your portion size.

Read Labels Right

The Nutrition Facts info on a package lists the calorie count in one serving. But don't forget to compare that with the amount you actually eat or drink; many packages contain two servings or more. For example, a 20-ounce bottle of organic lemonade contains 110 calories per serving, and 2 1/2 servings per bottle. Drink the whole thing and you racked up 275 calories; that's nearly 20% of a day's calorie needs for most women.
 

Look for total calories, not type

Surveys show that women look at grams of fat and sugar before calories, a habit that can mislead you into eating more than you should--especially when it comes to reduced-fat or low-sugar foods. For example, three regular Chips Ahoy! cookies provide 160 calories. Four of the reduced-fat version have 200. And sugar free doesn't mean calorie free. Five tiny Hershey's sugar-free dark chocolate candies provide 190 calories and 1 cup of Edy's no-sugar-added Caramel Chocolate Swirl ice cream contains 220.

Step 2: Determine How Many Calories You Need
Knowing your ideal goal aids weight loss
Use this simple equation to find your daily calorie needs

Your weight goal: ________

Multiply by:
x 10 if you don't exercise at all

x 13 if you rarely exercise
or only play the occasional weekend golf or tennis game

x 15 if you regularly exercise
(swim, walk, or jog) for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week

Total daily calories: ________
    
Aim for this number every day to reach and maintain your weight goal.

To up your daily calorie allotment, at any age, move more. Going from being inactive to walking your dog every other day means you can multiply your weight goal by 13 rather than 10. For a 150-pound woman, that's an increase of 450 calories per day: So you could add one slice of whole wheat toast, 1 tablespoon of almond butter, 1 cup of grapes, and 1/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to your daily diet without gaining.

40% of those who say they are trying to lose weight are not making an effort to reduce the calories they consume

Step 3: Make Smart Choices All Day
It's easier than you think. Just remember a few key tips around this sample menu. The meals total 1,600 calories, the number most moderately active women need per day to support a healthy weight.

Breakfast
8 oz fat-free latte
1 lg tangerine
Egg sandwich

1      whole wheat English muffin
1      egg scrambled in 1 tsp canola oil
1      slice reduced-fat Cheddar cheese 1/4 avocado (sliced)
4      cherry tomatoes, halved
Total calories: 498

Lunch
6 oz fat-free strawberry yogurt
Garden salad with chickpeas

1      c salad greens
1/4   c shredded red cabbage
10    baby carrots
5      yellow cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2   c chickpeas (or 3 oz grilled skinless chicken breast)
2      Tbsp chopped walnuts
2      Tbsp reduced-fat Italian dressing
Total calories: 479

Dinner
1/2 c steamed edamame
3/4 c brown rice
Shrimp stir-fry

15     lg shrimp and
1 1/2  c broccoli stir-fried in
2     tsp peanut oil with
1      tsp low-sodium soy sauce
1      tsp minced garlic
1      tsp minced ginger
Total calories: 493

Snack
1     c green and red grapes
Total calories: 104

Opt for whole fruit over juice. One cup of orange juice has more than 2 1/2 times the calories of the tangerine. Plus, it's totally portion controlled.

Choose bread with holes in it. There's more air (and fewer calories!).

Have only one high-fat food (such as full-fat dressing, nuts, croutons, or cheese) per meal. High-fat foods pack more calories into a smaller serving, which adds up quickly.

Make veggies half the bulk of your meals. Produce contains a lot of water, which makes it naturally low in calories.

Pick "slippery" salad dressings such as oil and vinegar or reduced-fat vinaigrette. They coat your salad more easily than thick ones like blue cheese or Russian, so you can use less.

Always measure these foods: rice, cereal, peanut butter, and oil. They're hard to eyeball and calorie dense. A heaping cup of rice has 25% more calories than a level one.

Snack on a baseball-size portion of fresh fruit. It provides about 50 to 100 calories, the amount in only three pretzel twists.

Last Updated: 03/17/2008 Issue Date: January 2008 Copyright 2008, Prevention

10 Diet and Exercise Myths That Pack On Pounds

10 diet and exercise myths that pack on pounds
by The Editors of Prevention, on Wed Jun 15, 2011 10:37am PDT

Believing popular misconceptions can keep you from taking the right course of action to reach your goals, says Julia Valentour,  MS, program coordinator and media spokesperson for the American Council on Exercise. Blaming a plateau (or a gain) on any of these half-truths will keep you stuck in your rut and derail your motivation.  
Here, 10 of the most pervasive diet-related rumors and the real scoop on how to hit your goal weight for good.


1. “Strength training will bulk me up.”
First, let’s tackle the myth that a pound of muscle weighs more than a pound of fat. A pound is a pound is a pound—whether it’s made up of muscle or fat. That said, muscle is denser than fat and takes up less room, so two women who weigh the same can look much different if one has a higher ratio of lean muscle mass to fat, says Valentour. “Muscle weight is a good weight because you look firmer, smaller, and more fit. It’s also more metabolically active, so just having more muscle will boost metabolism throughout the day to help keep you leaner.”

It’s important to incorporate strength training into your routine so you burn calories at an optimal rate all day long—and using heavier weights could help maximize your efforts. Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that working out with heavy weights even for as few as 3 to 6 repetitions increased exercisers’ sleeping metabolic rate—the number of calories burned overnight—by nearly 8%. That’s enough to lose about 5 pounds in a year, even if you did nothing else!


2. “I exercise every day, so I can eat whatever I want.”
The sad truth: Even if you work out religiously, going to yoga several times a week and sweating it out in Spinning, it’s not a license to eat as much as you want and still expect to lose weight. This may seem obvious, but the desire to reward a workout well done is natural; after all, you endured those endless vinyasas—you deserve an extra slice of pizza (or three), right? Not if you’re trying to lose weight.

“You can outeat your workout,” says Valentour. Even though you burn calories and fat when you exercise, it’s often not as much as you think—or what the readout on the treadmill tells you.
Valentour recommends eating 250 fewer calories per day and aiming to burn an extra 250 calories a day; that creates enough of a calorie deficit to achieve an average weight loss of a pound a week.


3. “It’s harder for women to lose weight than for men.”
Okay, this one has some basis. Biologically, men are built with more lean muscle mass (the compact, tight muscles that keep metabolism humming) than women are—meaning his metabolism is working at a 5 to 10% higher rate (even if he’s the same height and weight as you) when you’re lying on the couch together.   Annoying, isn’t it?

Another biological challenge women face is that we generally have more body fat than men do, and our bodies are more inclined to store it.   On top of that, women lose about 1/2 pound of calorie-burning muscle mass a year during perimenopause and sometimes a pound a year during menopause.   With the deck stacked against you, why bother trying to fit back in your skinny jeans?

You can do something about these problems, but it’s going to take some work—and sweat. Add strength training to your fitness routine at least twice a week   to shed fat and build lean muscle mass that will fire up your resting metabolism.


4. “All calories are equal, so it doesn’t matter what I eat.”
Ever since you learned what a calorie is, you’ve been told that they’re all alike: Whether you eat 500 calories’ worth of celery stalks or crème brûlée, your body will burn or store them equally, right? Wrong. New science shows that when it comes to weight loss, calories are nowhere near alike.

Some foods take more work to eat—and therefore burn more calories while you’re digesting them. Just the act of chewing fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean cuts of meat can increase your calorie burn by up to 30%! And then your stomach and intestines do their jobs. In a Japanese study, researchers found that women who ate the foods that required the most work had significantly slimmer waistlines than those who ate the softest, easiest-to-eat foods. The fiber and protein in such foods take so much effort to digest that your body ’doesn’t absorb some of their calories.


5. “Eating fat will make me fat.”
Fat-free products are so-o-o over. There’s nothing special about fat that packs on pounds: Getting enough fat in your diet—the Institute of Medicine recommends that it make up 20 to 35% of calories—is essential for good health, but the type of fat matters.

Monounsaturated fats—MUFAs (pronounced MOO-fahs), for short—come from the healthy oils found in plant foods such as olives, nuts, and avocados. A report published in the British Journal of Nutrition found that a MUFA-rich diet helped people lose small amounts of weight and body fat without changing their calorie intakes. Another report found that a breakfast high in MUFAs could boost calorie burn for 5 hours after the meal, particularly in people with higher amounts of belly fat.   Pair these delicious healthy fats with a reduced-calorie eating plan and you’ll lose weight and reduce belly fat.


6. “Eating at night will make me gain weight.”
Cutting out nighttime snacking is a popular weight loss strategy because it feels logical—eat less when you’re less active. But this topic has been debated for years, and even recently, a study in the April 2011 journal Obesity suggested that eating after 8 pm may increase the risk of obesity, but there aren’t clear-cut reasons why.

It’s mainly how much you eat—not when you eat—each day that affects weight gain. Many people eat at night out of boredom or other emotions instead of hunger, and they wind up consuming more calories than they need for the day—calories that are then stored as fat. Also, people who eat at night may wake up without an appetite and skip breakfast, the meal that helps control calorie intake throughout the day.

To ward off nighttime hunger, eat dinner an hour later, suggests Marjorie Nolan, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. You’ll save calories by curbing the urge to nosh in front of the TV. “Having dinner a little bit later—but at least 2 hours before sleeping—helps prevent mindless snacking, which often happens in the evening,” says Nolan.


7. “Drinking a ton of water will help me drop pounds.”
Stop hogging the office watercooler (and running to the loo). It’s possible that drinking water can aid weight loss efforts, but it won’t automatically make you lose weight if you’re not changing any other habits. A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that people who regularly drink water eat nearly 200 fewer calories daily than those who consume only coffee, tea, or soda.   And if you sip water instead of sugary drinks, the calories you’ve saved will help shed pounds.

Drinking ice-cold water can help you burn more calories too. German researchers found that drinking 6 cups of cold water a day raised resting metabolism by about 50 calories daily—possibly because of the work it takes to warm the fluid up to body temperature. It’s up to you to decide whether 50 calories is worth guzzling ice water—or whether it would be easier just to take the stairs.


8. “Becoming a vegetarian will help me drop a size.”
Eliminating meat from your diet can result in great health benefits, but if you don’t follow a vegetarian diet properly, you could accidentally pack on pounds.

Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, author of The Flexitarian Diet, explains common vegetarian beginners’ mistakes that may cause weight gain. Vegetarian “types” to avoid becoming:

Cheese-aholic vegetarians: They cut out meat from their diets and turn to cheese as a protein source. But cheese is a high-calorie, high-fat food and should be eaten in moderation.
Faux-meat fixators: All they eat is boxes of frozen faux meats, such as soy chicken nuggets, vegetarian sausage links, and veggie bacon strips. These products are okay once in a while, but they are heavily processed and can have a lot of sodium, resulting in bloating and water retention.
No-veggie vegetarians: A lot of vegetarians don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. They eat only grains, beans and veggie burgers, all of which can be high in calories.
Same-meal-minus-the-meat vegetarians: These people eat the same meals they did before, but without the meat. If they’re not replacing the protein, they’ll probably have a ferocious appetite and may be missing out on essential nutrients.
“Vegetarian” food label fans: These people find any recipe or packaging that contains the word “vegetarian” or “meatless” and then overeat that food. They often wind up taking in too much junk food. Be aware that the word “vegetarian” is not synonymous with “healthy” or “low calorie.”

Blatner recommends replacing meat with beans in recipes for an easy, healthy—and inexpensive—protein source. She advises new vegetarians—and those who want to dabble in a vegetarian diet—to start having fun with vegetarian recipes. “Find ones you like that you’re going to keep eating. Enjoy the journey of it.”


9. “Subbing diet soda and diet foods is a smart way to lose.”
Chugging cans of diet soda and eating prepackaged diet foods may seem like a no-brainer way to trick your body into pound-shedding mode because they have few or no calories—but it’s not going to give you lasting results.

Diet soda may increase your risk of metabolic syndrome, a group of symptoms that includes high levels of belly fat, blood sugar, and cholesterol. People who consumed just one diet soda daily had a 34% higher risk of the syndrome than those who abstained, according to a University of Minnesota study of nearly 10,000 adults ages 45 to 64.

What you’re trying to do when you eat diet foods and drink diet soda is to cheat your body, says Ashley Koff, RD, resident dietitian on the new Lifetime show   Love Handles: Couples in Crisis. “The body is physiologically smarter than your ability to override it. If you use one of those things as your tool, you’re always going to need that. And you might be getting weight loss results but no health benefits.” She says many people eventually get frustrated that they became dependent on these products.

“My approach across the board is that the best thing you can do is be a ‘qualitarian,’” says Koff. “Choose the best-quality foods available. The diet versions will have fewer calories than the quality versions, but they’ll also have fewer nutrients.”


10. “Weight gain and belly fat are unavoidable after 40.”
Let’s be honest here: You’re not going to wake up on your 40th birthday with a gut and 10 extra pounds on your frame. It does get harder to lose weight as we age, but you can put some healthy habits into practice now to maintain your weight—or even lose—as the years pass by.

The years leading up to menopause, known as perimenopause, are prime time for weight gain: On average, women put on a pound a year, mostly around the waist, according to the Mayo Clinic. Out-of-whack hormones and a slowing metabolism are a couple of the weight gain culprits.

But reaching menopause doesn’t have to mean getting plumper. Studies show that the more you work out, the slimmer you’ll be, even during this transition time. Keep your diet in check and you’ll boost your results.

Fine-tune your workouts and eating habits to shed those pounds—and keep ’em off—with these tips:

Exercise at least 4 hours a week: That amount helped nearly 44,000 women in their 40s or early 50s achieve weight loss instead of weight gain during a 10-year American Cancer Society study. Try this essential over-40 workout.


• Crank it up for 10 minutes a day: In a Kaiser Permanente study, a similar group of women who exercised vigorously (by jogging, for instance) for 10 or more minutes a day had waistlines nearly 6 inches smaller than those of women who didn’t raise their heart rates that high.

• Lift weights: Two or three sessions a week can help stave off age-related muscle loss, which slows your metabolism.

• Skip the refined carbs: Women whose diets were high in whole grains and fiber gained less weight than those who ate more sugar and white flour, reports a Danish study.