Obesity is increasingly becoming a global epidemic, engulfing every section of our society, affecting people of all age groups. It is usually accompanied by many of its sister diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases, gallbladder diseases and gallstones, to name a few.
Obesity is a condition in which fat accumulation occurs in the body to such an extent that it begins to have negative effect on a person’s health. Some fat is required by the body to maintain its temperature, provide energy, help in absorbing fat-soluble vitamins and protect internal organs. When this fat accumulation exceeds the normal limit, it leads to obesity.
There are numerous ways by which you can determine whether you are overweight or not. Some of them are body mass index (BMI), waist-hip ratio and DEXA scan. You can effectively lose those extra kilos from your body and achieve healthy weight by following some of our tried and tested weight loss methods mentioned below.
Diet
You can reduce your excess flabs by disciplining your diet and improving your dietary fitness. This can be achieved by bringing considerable changes in one’s eating habits, i.e., avoiding some foods while including a few that can be consumed regularly.
Having a healthy and balanced diet is always known to favor healthy weight. Increased intake of lean protein-rich foods, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grain and nutritious foods can help you achieve your healthy weight mark.
Try to avoid foods like refined carbohydrates found in biscuits, chips, pastries, white rice, sugar and alcohol that might extend your waistline. You should also try to reduce overall portion size, and not to leave out any food-group completely as this may lead to nutritional deficiencies.
Also, try to keep yourself hydrated throughout the day to avoid fluid retention. Breakfast, being the most important meal of the day, should never be missed.
Exercise
Carrying excess weight around can be extremely uncomfortable and cumbersome that has a potential to damage your health. By combining regular exercise with dietary changes can help you lose weight and maintaining the same in the healthy zone. This will eventually help develop a sense of confidence and wellbeing in you, while lowering the levels of anxiety and depression.
To reap the benefits of exercises, you should perform some form of aerobics for 20 minutes, three times a week along with 15 minutes of moderate exercise, regularly. Aerobics, weight training and yoga are some forms of exercise that you can incorporate in your daily routine. If you cannot adopt any exercise regimen, you can choose to do regular brisk walking, biking, dancing, gardening, running or jogging.
Before starting any new exercise regimen, you should focus on the signals your body is giving. Pushing yourself is necessary, but not to the level that could lead to injuries. If you experience any pain or shortness of pain, you should stop exercising immediately.
Use of Diet Suppressants
Among the drugs available for weight loss, there are several diet and appetite suppressants present in the market. These drugs act by increasing the concentration of two neurochemicals, namely serotonin and catecholamine that affect a person’s mood and appetite. By influencing these neurochemicals, the body is tricked into supposing that it is full. These diet suppressants are generally meant to be taken for a few weeks or months as a short-term therapy.
These diet suppressants are available in the market in two forms, viz., immediate-release and extended-release tablets. Phentermine is of the commonly prescribed medication that is used to suppress appetite. It is available as a prescription as well as over-the-counter (OTC) drug. Lorcaserin is another such drug that has been approved by the FDA for treating obesity. Fatigue, headache and dizziness are the common side effects observed with this drug.
Lipotropic Injections for Weight Loss Treatment
Injections containing lipotropic substances that help in the breakdown of fat during metabolism are given to facilitate the removal of stored fat in organs like liver. Some lipotropic substances that are injected in the body include:
- Inositol or choline
- Methionine or L-Carnitine
- Vitamin B12 or B Compounds
Other essential vitamins and minerals are also added in these injections that help in shedding those extra kilos which you have been trying to lose for quite a long time. These injections come with minimum side effects and show quick results. The compounds present in lipotropic injections also facilitate the formation of new and healthy cells.
Weight Loss Diet Supplements
Weight loss can be achieved by including certain products in one’s diet that act as weight loss diet supplements. However, these products do not have scientific evidence with respect to their safety and hence, should only be taken under medical supervision. Below is the list of some useful and effective products that can help you lose weight:
- Fiber
- Calcium
- Green tea extracts
- Meal replacements
- CLA (Conjugated linoleic acid)
Weight loss Treatment by Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese medical practice, which can be used for reducing weight in overweight people. This treatment work by assuming that excess weight arises due to disturbed flow of energy to and from the hypothalamus (a highly functional part of the brain, mainly involved in hormone balance), and restoring this disturbance to the normal state.
Acupuncture acts as an appetite suppressant, increases metabolism and favors rest. It is a method, which can help you reduce weight without engaging in any kind of exercise regimen at the start of the treatment. It relaxes your body, and reduces your craving for food by helping you focus on other things. It tones stomach muscles and makes you feel satisfied faster. Stomach muscle stretches too much when you overeat which can be brought back in shape with acupuncture.
In order to lose weight, certain points on your ear are aroused by using small tacks and small magnets or beads that are taped at particular places and left for about a week. You can rub these areas when you feel craving for certain foods. During the treatment, beads or ear pins are left on the patient, and lifestyle and food changes are suggested.
Acupuncture is a safe and effective method for losing weight as there are no side effects associated with it. After combining it with breathing exercise, herbs, dietary supplements and abdominal massage for 8-12 weeks, you can achieve your desired weight. Also, there is no chance of getting addicted to this procedure.
Surgery for Weight Loss
People with chronic form of obesity generally undergo surgery to improve their condition. However, these surgeries are not very common, and suggested only when a patient starts experiencing grave health problems. BMI is generally used as an eligibility criterion to determine if the person can undergo surgery or not.
However, it should be kept in mind that for losing weight, surgery alone will not offer the desired outcome. Successful weight loss demands committing to dietary and physical fitness as well.
Types of Weight Loss Surgery:
- Sleeve Gastrectomy Surgery: The stomach size is decreased and as a result, the quantity of food that can be eaten is limited. During this surgery, a thin perpendicular sleeve of the size of a banana is created in the stomach by using stapling tool and the rest of the stomach is taken away.
This decreases stomach size and hence, the person eats less and reaches satiety faster and for a longer duration, while allowing normal digestion and assimilation of food. Simultaneously, the body discontinues accumulating surplus calories and begin utilizing extra fat to generate energy as there is a consumption of food.
Patients, who have undergone this surgery, have been reported to shed off an average of 55% of their extra weight with significant improvement in their general health.
- Gastric Bypass: A combination of a restrictive and a malabsorptive bariatric surgery method is employed in this procedure. It creates a smaller stomach pocket and brings about change in the normal course of digestion. Thus, the food circumvents a big section of the stomach and a bigger part of the small intestine. Since less food is eaten and fewer calories are absorbed; the body does not store extra calories, but utilizes the available fat to give energy.
- Adjustable Gastric Banding: This is basically the most effective and safest way of achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight without exposing your stomach to unnecessary fastening.
A band is used to check the amount of food eaten during each meal. Thus, it makes you feel satiated for a longer period and makes it easier for you to adopt and stick to the new feeding lifestyle.
- Gastric Ballooning: In this surgery, a gastric balloon, which is a soft silicon balloon, is inserted into your stomach. It partially fills your stomach and gives you the feeling of a fullness. The balloon is then removed after 6 months.
Behavior Changes
For reducing your weight and maintaining it that way, you need to adopt certain lifestyle changes as well. Long-term lifestyle changes require simply monitoring what you eat and how much you exercise to maintain proper energy flow.
A positive energy balance will lead to weight gain due to presence of excess calories in the body. A negative energy balance will lead to weight loss as calories spent are higher than calories ingested. Exercise helps in maintain the desired energy balance.
Behavior change is one of the most widely used strategies for achieving weight loss and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Some of the behavioral changes that can be incorporated for effectively reducing weight are:
- Keeping record of eating and physical activity each day
- Setting reasonable goals for eating and exercise
- Rewarding yourself with non-food prize for each goal met
- Establishing a plan for success
- Avoiding situations that make you go for binge eating
Well, it is important to note that these treatments have their own shortcomings. For instance, in case of surgery, a patient may develop some complications like faster weight regain after the surgery. Moreover, besides being costly and unaffordable to some patients, these treatments are very painful and scaring.
It is for these reasons that weight loss diet supplements are regarded more convenient and effective as well as affordable solutions for most people. Supplements provide the best alternative to these treatments.
