Getting Off the Weight-Gain, Weight-Loss Rollercoaster

According to the latest statistics from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 97 million Americans are overweight or obese. There are an estimated 300 million people in the United States, resulting in a relative number of one in three Americans being overweight or obese.

Excess weight is often accompanied by high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, certain types of cancer, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems, and psychological disorders, such as depression not to mention other health problems. The total costs attributed to obesity-related disease surpass $100 billion annually in the United States.

Weight loss is not just a matter of wanting to look and feel better, it is a necessity if you want to get and stay healthy and let’s face it, who doesn’t?

The prevalence of obesity in children has increased markedly, with approximately 20%-25 % of children either overweight or obese. An estimated 25.6% of adults in the United States reported being obese in 2007, an increase of nearly 2 percent since 2005 according to the Office of the Surgeon General.

• What if you learned how your body responds to food intake of various types and amounts so you understand why you keep gaining that weight back?
• What if you knew how much water you need to get and stay healthy?
• And what if you knew some essential supplements that you need to take every day to get and stay healthy and to make your hair and skin softer from the inside out the way it’s supposed to happen?
• What if you could lose weight without having to go hungry or eat rice cakes for six months because you understood how it actually worked; the science behind weight loss?

Once you understand why you gain the weight back after the diet is over and realize a better way to accomplish your goals, you will be able to lose your excess weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. Don’t blame metabolism or genetics. Only a very small percentage of Americans fall into this category. Chances are, you are not one of them. Much of the medical industry that is concerned with weightloss tries to convince patients that there is a genetic factor or factors causing them to be overweight. This way they can prescribe a medication to help you lose the weight. Maybe there’s a better way than to add another prescription medication to the medicine cabinet.

Remember, losing weight is not magic and if you eat and drink the same amount of calories (or more) than what you burn throughout the day in your daily activities, you will not lose weight. You do need to be aware of how many calories the food you eat has and how to keep it from causing weight gain. You do not have to continually count calories, only a little bit at the beginning to increase your awareness of what is actually causing the weight gain or at least causing you to not be able to lose the excess you’re carrying around.

Your metabolism is essentially the sum total of all the calories you consume and burn throughout the day. Your BMR or Basal Metabolic Rate is simply the energy you would expend if you laid around all day not moving or doing anything. Everyone’s BMR is different and everyone’s metabolism is different but there are a few elements that are the same. That is, we all process our food in the same biochemical way. This is providing, of course, that you do not have some debilitating illness which alters these processes. If this is the case consult your doctor before you begin any weight loss program. Assuming you are not one of these people let’s continue.

In order to get a handle on your metabolism you need to get familiar with the amount of calories you are consuming each day and the amount you are burning each day also. After all it is the difference between these two numbers that determine whether you gain weight, lose weight or maintain your current weight. Counting calories is a drag so plan to do it only for a short time. After that you will begin to develop more of a “feel” for calories. You will know before you look up a particular food item whether it is high in calories or not. You will also be able to tell when you eat something whether it is high in calories or not. You will begin to associate the high calorie foods with that bloated, sluggish feeling accompanied by indigestion and gas and the low calorie foods with being alert, healthy and energetic.