Google “diet books” or “books about weight loss,” and up they pop, dozens of titles like Weight Loss for People Who Feel Too Much, The End of Overeating, Healthy Gut, Flat Stomach, and The Food Therapist. Google “diet podcasts,” and there you again find dozens of choices, programs and instructors promising they can help you trim inches off your tummy and pounds off the bathroom scale.
Many Americans are obsessed with their weight, and with good reason. As Joseph Mercola tells us in “60 Percent of Americans Will Be Obese by 2030,” we are losing our battle of the bulge, that “42.5 percent of adults 20 and over are obese, while another 31.1 percent are overweight.” By 2025, Mercola reports, the American Obesity Association suggests that the number of obese Americans will jump to 50%.
Many Americans are obsessed with their weight, and with good reason. As Joseph Mercola tells us in “60 Percent of Americans Will Be Obese by 2030,” we are losing our battle of the bulge, that “42.5 percent of adults 20 and over are obese, while another 31.1 percent are overweight.” By 2025, Mercola reports, the American Obesity Association suggests that the number of obese Americans will jump to 50%.
In her article “Am I Obese? How Experts Define What Obesity Is,” Amanda MacMillan of WebMD writes that obesity means having far too much body fat. Experts measure our body fat by a scale based on body mass index, or BMI, but as MacMillan points out, that is only the first determinant to check your obesity. Belly fat in particular can be dangerous. She then goes on to discuss the various health risks associated with obesity, like high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and sleep apnea, and ways and reasons to safely and effectively reduce weight.
MacMillan’s article also includes a link to check your BMI—I hover on the line of being overweight—and I encourage readers to visit this site and determine their own BMI. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.99 are overweight, while those above 30 are considered obese.
In addition to medical consequences, corpulence severely affects the number of young people able to volunteer for the military. It’s also just plain old uncomfortable. Before losing some weight eight years ago—I attribute that shrinkage to abstaining from alcohol for a year—I used to say the most rigorous part of my workout at the YMCA was bending over to tie and untie my gym shoes. I was joking, but only a little.
Experts offer different reasons for this boom in weight gain among Americans. Joseph Mercola, for instance, focuses on our consumption of processed foods like breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, various snacks, and pizza. He writes, “The consumption of ultra-processed or hyper-processed foods, which make up 57.9 percent of the average American’s caloric intake, is an important culprit.” Others point to fast foods or alcohol. Some blame our extra padding on our failure to exercise and our penchant for the sofa, a soda, and a television set.
Doubtless all of these factors contribute to this stacking up of pounds.
Recently, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and my physician put me on metoprolol. This condition resulted from some bad habits, including a failure to exercise, and after doing a little research I learned that Mercola’s advice about processed foods applied to me as well. In addition to the metoprolol, eating more fresh vegetables and making my own soups, reducing my daily intake of wine, walking just a half an hour a day, and losing a few pounds should help lower my blood pressure.
After noting the difficulties of changing our habits and losing weight, MacMillan tells readers, “It’s not about being a certain size. It’s about small steps that add up to better health over time.
“If you lose as little as 5% to 10% of your weight, it starts to make a positive difference.”
I’m too ignorant to suggest certain diet books or podcasts to readers, but I can offer encouragement. As MacMillan recommends, we can start with small changes, pick ourselves up and continue on the path when we fall, try not to beat ourselves up over those failures, and keep pushing forward, all the while bearing in mind the words of the Roman poet Virgil: “The greatest wealth is health.”
MacMillan’s article also includes a link to check your BMI—I hover on the line of being overweight—and I encourage readers to visit this site and determine their own BMI. Those with a BMI of 25 to 29.99 are overweight, while those above 30 are considered obese.
In addition to medical consequences, corpulence severely affects the number of young people able to volunteer for the military. It’s also just plain old uncomfortable. Before losing some weight eight years ago—I attribute that shrinkage to abstaining from alcohol for a year—I used to say the most rigorous part of my workout at the YMCA was bending over to tie and untie my gym shoes. I was joking, but only a little.
Experts offer different reasons for this boom in weight gain among Americans. Joseph Mercola, for instance, focuses on our consumption of processed foods like breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets, various snacks, and pizza. He writes, “The consumption of ultra-processed or hyper-processed foods, which make up 57.9 percent of the average American’s caloric intake, is an important culprit.” Others point to fast foods or alcohol. Some blame our extra padding on our failure to exercise and our penchant for the sofa, a soda, and a television set.
Doubtless all of these factors contribute to this stacking up of pounds.
Recently, I was diagnosed with high blood pressure, and my physician put me on metoprolol. This condition resulted from some bad habits, including a failure to exercise, and after doing a little research I learned that Mercola’s advice about processed foods applied to me as well. In addition to the metoprolol, eating more fresh vegetables and making my own soups, reducing my daily intake of wine, walking just a half an hour a day, and losing a few pounds should help lower my blood pressure.
After noting the difficulties of changing our habits and losing weight, MacMillan tells readers, “It’s not about being a certain size. It’s about small steps that add up to better health over time.
“If you lose as little as 5% to 10% of your weight, it starts to make a positive difference.”
I’m too ignorant to suggest certain diet books or podcasts to readers, but I can offer encouragement. As MacMillan recommends, we can start with small changes, pick ourselves up and continue on the path when we fall, try not to beat ourselves up over those failures, and keep pushing forward, all the while bearing in mind the words of the Roman poet Virgil: “The greatest wealth is health.”