Obesity in Today’s World

From 1988-1994 the number of Americans who were over weight or obese was 56%. That number rose from 1999-2000 to 64% according to NAASO.org. Oregon is one of the highest with 23% of its population being obese. There are many reasons why people become obese or over weight. Many times it is genetic but that is something you can not change. What you can change is the way you eat, what you eat and how much you eat. If our society as a whole does not change the way we eat, we will be at high risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart attacks. In 2004 obesity related deaths ranked number two, smoking came in first. By 2005 obesity related deaths was expected to pass smoking as the number one cause of death, according to Medscape.com.

Americans lead busy lives and the cost of living is not cheep. In a typical family home, both parents work a forty hour week and arrive home late. Most of those families would rather relax than think about making a well balanced meal for everyone. Usually they will grab what it closest or easiest such as a microwave dinner, take out or the phone to order a pizza.

Often eating out is cheaper than making a home cooked meal. You can go to McDonalds and feed a family of four for fewer than twenty dollars. It is fast, easy and cheap. To feed a family of four a balanced meal, for example chicken with rice and a vegetable, costs more in both time and money. Foster Farms offers three chicken breasts in a package for around $9.00 at a local Fred Meyer here in Oregon. You would have to buy two in order to feed a family of four. One package of Uncle Ben’s instant wild rice only has two to three servings per container for $2.50 which means again you would have to buy two packages. For a bushel of broccoli can range in price from $1.00 per pound. Once you go to the grocery store, come home and make all this food, you evening is gone and so is over twenty dollars.

Lack of health choice at restaurants makes eating right difficult. According to Foodfacts.info, in 2005 fast food chain, Wendy’s, pulled their fruit salad option after only ten months on the menu, sighting low sales. Many fast food chains have started to offer healthier choices such as Subway which offers raisins and yogurt, and Wendy’s offers mandarin orange fruit cups in place of fries. Some sit down restaurants have followed suit such as Red Robin which will allow you to order either a petite hamburger patty or a Boca Burger substitute for any of their burgers. Unfortunately other places do not offer alternatives or the alternatives are not well advertised by the prospective restaurant. Red Robin might offer a Boca patty substitution but it is in fine print which is barley visible at the very bottom of their menu.

When eating out, often you do not have control over the serving sizes. For instance at McDonalds, e medium fry package now has nutritional facts listed on the side. It shows how many calories are in that amount of fries along with the sodium content. What they are not taking into account is the amount of salt added to the fries after cooking, and the person filling the container usually over fills. Therefore the nutritional facts and serving size information provided is inaccurate.

Gastric bypass surgery is the second only to breast augmentation, as the most common surgery among young adults. The time is now for us to start setting a good example for all people and start making smarter choices of food, make the effort to cook healthy meals, and rethink what a serving size is. Sure it might require more effort and more time and sacrifice but when you look at the health risks and concerns associated with obesity, it just makes sense to spend a few extra dollars, a little more time and make a few better choices in order to make a better future for you and your family.

First Step to Lose Weight Fast

Losing weight and leading a healthier life style are the goal of more and more people in today’s stressed and modern society. No wonder people are seeking the ever elusive miracle weight loss program or pill that will change their lives. If you are one of these people, you need to realize that there is no miracle plan, diet or pill that would help you to lose weight. The first step to weight loss involves the identification of the reasons for you being over weight. First you should ask yourself why you are overweight. There can be many reasons why you are overweight. Maybe you live an inactive lifestyle, with very little exercise due to your work situation or private life. It is also possible that you’re being overweight or obese is hereditary. Or do you fall in all the three categories? Once you find the cause behind your obesity, your situation becomes easier to deal with it.

For example, if you are overweight because you’re leading an inactive lifestyle, it is time to start moving around more in order to increase your daily activity level. If you are accustomed to using the elevator, try climbing the stairs instead. Whenever you want to switch TV channels, don’t use the remote; instead, walk up to the TV set and switch channels. Do morning walks on a daily basis. Take a companion along with you whenever you are on a morning walk, this will enable you to walk long distances without getting fatigued. You also need to exercise daily for 20 minutes or half an hour. If you cannot participate in strenuous exercises due to ill health, there are various light workout schedules available today, that takes a persons health condition in consideration. Remember that your goal is not to get stuck with any single form of exercise; your only goal is to keep your body active in order to lose weight. Are your parents and grandparents overweight? If so, maybe you have a genetic tendency toward obesity. Genetic obesity is hard to cure, but not impossible. You need to research some weight loss exercise programs which are developed for genetic obese persons and just workout a bit harder than others. Remember that a good healthy diet, authorized by a medical doctor and exercise are the only things that would help you shed the extra flab.

If you are eating too much for emotional reasons, it is time to find the reason itself. Do you overindulge simply because you are bored with life? If so, then try to find some interesting activities that will keep your mind engaged. Do you find yourself too much stressed at work? Do you have a deadline to meet and you feel the need to eat in order to ward off the stress? If so, try to take short breaks from work.

As you can see, once you identify the object responsible for your obesity, it helps you to take specific and concrete steps that would enable you lose weight faster.