This article is about excess body fat. Not a fun subject. My intention is to point out the down side of obesity. I mean no harm to anyone. This article is not about how fat looks or if it is attractive or not.
There is our ideal weight. There is overweight. There is obesity and morbid obesity. Science defines ideal weight using the body mass index (BMI). BMI is a relationship between height and weight. Ideal BMI is 22. Overweight begins at BMI 25. Obesity begins at BMI 30 and morbid obesity begins at BMI 40. BMI readings are the same for men or women. There are many Internet sites that automatically calculate BMI if you don’t know your BMI. One site is www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi.
Excess fat is a health hazard. It overworks the heart. It makes the overweight person susceptible to diabetes, lower energy levels, heart disease, and cancer.
There is no secret to the formula for gaining or losing weight, regardless of the claims and promises in the many fad diet books. If you consume fewer calories than you burn, you will lose weight. If you consume more calories than you burn, you will gain weight. If you eat and burn the same number of calories, your body weight will stabilize.
There are no healthy reasons to carry excessive fat. There are many compelling reasons to be at our ideal body weight. Quality and quantity of life are the two basic, important ones. In fact, scientific research suggests that if we are slightly underweight, through healthy habits, we will likely live longer than the population average.
The arguments about accepting people who are fat, or that it is discrimination not to do so, confounds the underlying health issues. I do not think fat is something we should wrap our arms around and hug it like a friend. Certainly love and accept friends who are overweight. However, never give up hope that they will somehow find a way to loose their excess pounds, for their own sake. Not for anyone else, for themselves! Regardless of the cause of the excessive weight: heredity, environment, or a combination of the two – it is not good.
It is a challenge to keep our weight at ideal levels. However, we should never stop trying. There are seductive advertisements for delicious looking foods, that are actually poison to our bodies. It is when we take anything to excess or neglect what we know we should do, that we get into trouble.
Tim O’Brien writes continuing-education courses and presents seminars on stress management.
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