In order to achieve overall well-being, maintaining a healthy weight is crucial. It can be challenging to know which approach is best with so many fad diets and conflicting information available.
Meet the author
A dietitian, Priyanka Shukla Dwivedi helps clients achieve their weight management goals by recommending nutrition and lifestyle changes. Several factors affect weight, and she discusses practical strategies for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight in this article. This article will provide valuable insights to help you achieve your weight loss, gain, or maintenance goals.
You can contact her for any health-related inquiry at shukla_priyanka06@yahoo.com
A person’s ability to attain and maintain a healthy weight is influenced by a variety of behaviors, techniques, and physiological processes. The majority of weight management techniques promote healthy eating and physical activity over the long term. The strategies of weight management mostly focus on achieving healthy weights through slow but steady weight loss. The goal of weight management isn’t always to lose weight, but also to maintain an ideal weight. If you’re struggling with obesity and related health problems, weight loss comes into play.
Having a basic understanding of weight management and strategies for maintaining a healthy weight is extremely important since obesity is a risk factor for many chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease.
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that nearly 40% of adults are obese. The obesity prevalence was 39.8% among adults aged 20 to 39 years, 44.3% among adults aged 40 to 59 years, and 41.5% among adults aged 60 and older.
-CDC
How to define overweight/obesity?
In the United States, overweight and obese are labeled for weight ranges established by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). People with a BMI between 25-29.9 are considered overweight, and adults with a BMI greater than or equal to 30 are considered obese. Being overweight can increase the risk of certain diseases and health problems.
- Understanding BMI
BMI is a measure of how healthy a person’s weight is based on height and weight. It is calculated by dividing an adult’s weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared.
- BMI accuracy
BMI takes into account natural variations in body shape, giving a healthy weight range for a particular height.
It is not only important to measure your BMI, but other factors may also be taken into account by healthcare professionals when determining your healthy weight.
Other Facts
- People with very muscular bodies, such as heavyweight boxers, weight trainers, and athletes, maybe a healthy weight even though their BMI is considered obese due to muscle density.
- The ethnic group you belong to can also affect your risk of certain health conditions. For example, adults from South Asia may be more likely to develop diabetes with a BMI of 23, which is considered healthy.
- As a pregnant woman, you shouldn’t use BMI as a measure.
Understanding BMR
BMR stands for Basal Metabolic Rate and should not be confused with BMI. The BMR refers to your body’s need for energy to maintain homeostasis. BMR refers to the number of calories the body needs for basic life-sustaining activities, like:
- Breathing
- Circulation
- Nutrient processing
- Cell production.
You can use your BMR to gain, lose, or maintain weight. You can calculate how many calories you should consume by knowing how many calories you burn. In a nutshell,
In a nutshell,
- Are you trying to maintain your weight? You should consume the same amount of calories as you burn.
- Are you trying to gain weight? You should consume more calories than you burn.
- Do you want to lose weight? Ensure that you consume fewer calories than you burn…
You can actively participate in your physical health by understanding your BMR, your average activity level, and how many calories you need daily to maintain your weight.
A good place to start is calculating your BMR, regardless of whether you need to gain or lose weight.
Key Factors of Weight Management
A person’s weight is influenced by a number of factors, including diet, physical activity, genetics, environment, health care support, medications, and illness, but diet and physical activity have a greater impact because they can be altered with conscious behavior.
To achieve a healthy weight, you must understand general techniques such as portion control, self-monitoring, and consistency in your diet. Once this healthy weight has been attained, maintaining this stable weight also involves physical activity and control of an individual’s environment and eating patterns. Also read about metabolism at https://journals-times.com/2022/11/15/discover-what-your-metabolism-does-for-your-health/
Weight management in humans is discussed in the following section.
- Energy balance
Energy balance is the phrase used to describe the difference between the number of calories a person consumes and the number of calories the same person expends in a given time period. When it comes to the energy balance equation, there are three possible outcomes-
- Calories consumed (food, drink) = calories expended (basal metabolic rate, physical activity, etc.
Outcome: Weight remains unchanged.
- Calories consumed> calories expended, Also known as Positive Energy Balance
Outcome: weight increases
- Calories consumed<calories expended, also known as Negative Energy balance
Outcome: Weight decreases
- Diet
The quantity of food and drink consumed by an individual may play a role in weight management, as may the type of food and drink a person consumes.
- Physical activity
Physical inactivity leads to less energy expenditure and impacts obesity rates in both children and adults. Physical activity has become a worldwide concern since inactivity also increases the risk of health diseases. Regular physical activity can reduce the risk of non-communicable diseases like heart disease and dyslipidemia (high cholesterol).
- The basal metabolic rate
BMR is one of the main components of a person’s daily energy expenditure. It is defined as the amount of energy expended during a given amount of time by a person at rest.
An individual’s BMR is directly proportional to his or her lean body mass.
In other words, the lean body mass a person has, the higher their BMR.
- Body mass index
BMI is a value used to get a sense of a person’s overall mass and is calculated from a person’s height and weight. Though BMI is often used as an indicator of excess weight, it is not an accurate representation of a person’s body fat percentage.
Classification of overweight and obesity by body mass index (BMI)
- Complicating factors
- The thermogenic effect of food
- Medications
- Diseases
Common gastrointestinal disorders associated with weight loss are malabsorption due to celiac disease or chronic pancreatitis. Depression and eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa can also contribute to weight loss. Infectious causes of weight loss include HIV/AIDS.
While type 1 diabetes causes weight loss, type 2 diabetes is associated with weight gain. Other endocrine causes of weight loss include hyperthyroidism and chronic adrenalin insufficiency.
Conclusion
To conclude, preventing chronic diseases like type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease requires weight management. Weight loss and weight maintenance can be achieved through healthy eating and physical activity. In order to gain, lose, or maintain weight, it is essential to understand BMI, BMR, and energy balance.
Weight management should take into account diet, physical activity, genetics, environment, health care support, medications, and illness. The body mass index (BMI) should not be used solely to determine an individual’s health status, and health care professionals should take various factors into account when determining a person’s healthy weight.
Weight management strategies and healthy behaviors are essential for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
