Get your ideal weight

2001/02/01 Agirre, Jabier - Medikua eta OEEko kidea Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Osasuna

However, there are two things that are essential for this: your effort and perseverance, and the support of a good professional.

In fact, the number of people affected has increased considerably in recent years, as in most industrialized societies like ours. Thus, at present it can be affirmed that more than 50% of the Spanish population weighs more than would be appropriate for it.

Why do we become obese?

Of course you have to take a step from obese to not being obese, and that is not easy, just as it costs to overcome other diseases, but it is not impossible. Unlike other diseases, will, constancy, and non-discouragement can be factors that can help prevent the disease.

Today there are more obese than ever before and some experts have published the XXI. They consider obesity as one of the main pests of the twentieth century. And why? Dr. Marius Diaz, president of the Spanish Association for the Research of Obesity, says that two are the reasons that justify this situation:

• Food changes produced in the population: we currently tend to eat more than our body needs and eat foods rich in calories and fat.
• Lack of exercise and sedentarism, largely influenced by new technologies (television, computer, video games, etc. ). ).

However, without prejudice to these two factors, most experts recognize that at the origin of obesity, many factors must be taken into account, among which are:

• Psychological factors. There are more and more people who, because of their anxiety or anguish, have an excessive weight because they are not at ease with themselves, because they seek pleasure or satisfaction when it comes to eating in other areas of their life (work, social or family) that they do not find.
• Social and cultural factors. The gaps or errors that occur when choosing and eating some foods are within the lifestyle that is transmitted from parents to children. They are usually cheaper, but rich in sugars and fats at a time. In other cases, sweet foods have been associated with a certain sense of well-being (relationship that is not direct or convenient at all).

In view of all these factors, you may be tempted to despair. But calm, if you eat properly, without excesses, giving your body just what you need, there is no reason to worry. However, the risks derived from overweight should always be very present. Obese people have a shorter life expectancy than non-obese people, for many years it has been known.

The first ones who realized this were responsible for the North American insurance companies and since then they began to charge more to their insured according to their overweight.

However, not all types of obesity present the same risk. When fat builds up in the lumbar area, around the hips, complications are lower and lighter than when fat builds up in half the body.

Is there prevention?

According to Dr. Javier Aranceta, director of several papers presented by the Spanish Association for the Research of Obesity, the ideal would be to not put health in danger. In other words, "the prevention of obesity is not always to eat less. It is, above all, a diet or a balanced diet, in which predominate foods of vegetable origin, avoiding fats or fats, sauces and very elaborate dishes. And exercise, how not."

Prevention should focus on specific times or times: during pregnancy, during childbirth, in childhood and in adolescence, from 40 years old and when you want to quit smoking.

And how to treat obesity?

Once it is checked that a person is obese and wants to start treatment, it can be many and very different programs specifically designed to reduce weight, but watch! !, mistrust the methods that ensure you lose several kilos in a short time. The ideal is to put it in the hands of a specialist (endocrinologist or nutritionist doctor) to make a measure of food to your measure. Treatments against obesity are usually based on:

Diet or measure of eating

It is not enough with a food table or the proposed menus already formulated. Before the doctor implants the diet, the specialist should evaluate its obesity, also controlling its metabolic alterations (if any) and nutritional history.

Physical exercise

For the prevention and treatment of obesity it is convenient to perform physical exercise with moderation but continuously. Many housewives, for example, believe it is enough to do household chores, but it is shown that the calories burned in this way are minimal.

Psychological support

It is necessary as long as the patient does not have sufficient strength to follow marked treatment or there are psychological problems in depth that can hinder the process.

Drugs or drugs

In recent years, medicines have been created that, along with diet and exercise, prevent the absorption of fat to fight the disease.

In some cases it will be necessary to take more drastic measures, such as surgery, in severe cases (when the body mass index is higher than 40).

Children, increasingly obese

As in the case of adults, in the last 10 years there has been a worrying increase in childhood obesity. According to some studies, between 3 and 6% of the child and youth population is obese.

And children who do not have breakfast are, it seems, the most vulnerable to obese.

Tips for not eating more than enough

• Drink two glasses of water before meals. You will notice the feeling of satiety. It is also recommended to drink between meals.
• As a first dish, take the fruit. The water and sugar they contain will make you full and you will take the second dish with less anxiety.
• Use small dishes. In this way, the amount that will serve you will be necessarily less.
• Eat in quiet atmosphere. It is shown that with a lot of noise it chews faster and eats more.
• Do not eat alone. Eating with other people will help you eat less and quieter, slower. As a goal, you should stop eating before others.
• The brain takes about 20 seconds to realize that the stomach is full. Although there is still more desire to eat, you may not need it.

What you should do

Before the beginning of the regime

• Put yourself in the hands of a good specialist (endocrinologist or obesity expert) to prepare a plan and put the right regimen. Do not start on your own as it is shown that the results are not the same and that many times the regime is suspended or unfulfilled.
• Communicate your intention to family members and ask for help. With your mood, what you are looking for will be much easier.
• Tell all your friends and friends that you are trying to lose kilos. This “commitment” will help you stay firm in your purpose.
• Look for another person you want to lose weight with. Doing so at the same time, it will be easier to encourage one another.

Until regime

• Put in a strategic and easily visible place (for example at the refrigerator door) the list of favors you will get with weight loss: breathe better, go up and down stairs, put the clothes you have kept in the closet for a long time, tie the laces of the shoes or reduce the knee mines.
• Accept that you have lowered morale and that you have more moments of vulnerability. It is normal that from time to time you are discouraged, perhaps because you have not achieved the results you expected. Don't despair, overcome the depression and fight again. Health is at stake.

Once the regime is finished

• Follow a maintenance diet. After losing the kilos, that is the danger, to win again. Think how much it has cost you to get there and choose your food with sense.
• Choose simple, grilled or cooked foods. It rejects especially the fried ones.
• Periodically control the weight so that the balance does not give you surprises.