Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health,
leading to reduced life expectancy and/or increased health problems. In the last few weeks we have heard more than ever on the News about obesity and how it affects us.
Obesity increases the likelihood of various diseases, particularly heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea, certain types of cancer, and osteoarthritis.
Obesity is most commonly caused by a combination of excessive food energy intake, lack of physical activity, and genetic susceptibility, although a few cases are caused primarily by genes, endocrine disorders.
Our nation has now according to the news become all overweight , this in the time of the Olympics so it may not seem a good image to portray, and what in truth is there to help people,
Joining a gym can help, but let’s be honest the gym to a person who is overweight is a place of torture and in some cases humiliation.
You can feel out of your depth, I know people are going to say I can’t do that, well that is ok, you also have the slimming clubs that can help and some are very good and help with self image, believe me this matters.
What is right and works for one person may not always work for another, you need to do what is right for you . yes the cost in some cases can be expensive , but if you work it out over a period of time it is not so bad.
One thing I will say is don’t go extreme, anyone who has gained weight does it over a period of time and it will also take a period of time to get rid of it. Dieting and physical exercise are the mainstays of treatment for obesity.
Diet quality can be improved by reducing the consumption, of energy-dense foods such as those high in fat and sugars, and by increasing the intake of dietary fibre.
When you do take up exercise you must be careful, start slow,with short walks, swimming or water aerobics you need to do low weight bearing exercise, water is a great medium for this there are (small local swimming clubs or see if your pool has adult times).
Also you must realise that weight, that is excess, puts a strain on all parts of your body, heart, lungs and your muscles that is a problem when you are exercising, because your body can then hold you back, muscles can strain more easily and ruptures can occur.
So at all times take it slow in your time at your pace everyone is different and we all need to know how to work with our bodies we are after all are re-educating them.
Please remember before you start any exercise regime or diet (though a diet is the last thing you want to be doing, you should be considering it as a change of habit and a change of life) Consult your Doctor,
What not to do.
A young lady was trying to lose weight, she went on a what I call a crash diet at the same time going to the gym 4 times in a week she had decided to do a spinning class, but had not told the trainer that she had a slight pull on her thigh muscle.
She was also not drinking enough water this is important as you need to keep hydrated doing exercise, towards the end of the class she felt unwell by the end of the night her legs were very swollen and she could hardly move she was in pain.
She had what is called Rhabdomyolysis, what we call Muscle Breakdown, she needed to have surgery to remove the damaged toxic muscle, she was for quite sometime in hospital, it could have been even worse she could have ended up on dialysis so please take it slow, take on board the healthy eating tips.
TAKE YOUR TIME .you have nothing to prove to anyone, you can only do this for yourself.
