American Medical Association Family Medical Guide - American Medical Association [11]
How to Achieve and Maintain a Healthy Weight
Losing weight and keeping it off is difficult, so it’s important to set realistic goals that you can achieve and maintain. If you are overweight, even a moderate reduction in body weight—as little as 10 percent—can significantly improve your health.
The only healthy way to lose weight is to use more calories than you take in. For most people, this means eating less and being more physically active. Losing weight gradually—no more than 1 or 2 pounds per week—improves your chances of keeping it off successfully. Changing your diet and exercise habits gradually will help you to make those changes a permanent part of your life.
Avoid fad diets that promise quick weight loss. Any diet that sounds too good to be true probably is. For more information about losing weight, see page 53.
Be Active
Regular exercise contributes to weight loss, especially when combined with a healthy diet. In addition to weight control, regular exercise helps reduce blood pressure, helps prevent heart disease, helps control cholesterol and blood sugar levels, slows bone loss associated with aging, lowers the risk of some types of cancer, and helps relieve anxiety and depression.
When beginning an exercise program, choose activities you enjoy and can easily fit into your day. Begin exercising slowly, and gradually increase the intensity of your workouts. For example, begin with a 10-minute walk three times a week and work your way up to 30 to 60 minutes of brisk walking five times a week.
If you find it difficult to set aside an entire hour for exercise each day, try scheduling shorter exercise sessions—for example, two or three 20-minute sessions a day. If you miss a day or two, don’t be discouraged. Return to your exercise routine as soon as you can. To learn more about what regular exercise can do for you and your family, read the chapter Exercise, Fitness, and Health starting on page 45. Get all members of your family into an active lifestyle:
• Make time for the entire family to participate in regular physical activities that everyone enjoys. Try walking, biking, playing tennis, or in-line skating.
• Plan active family vacations such as hiking, camping, or skiing trips.
• Assign active household chores to every family member, such as vacuuming, mowing the lawn, or washing the car.
• Encourage all family members to enroll in a structured physical activity such as tennis, martial arts, gymnastics, or dancing.
• Limit sedentary activities such as watching TV, playing video games, and surfing the Internet.
Body Mass Index
Body mass index (BMI) is a calculated score that indicates the healthiness of a person’s weight. Although the BMI does not directly evaluate body fat percentage, the formula is related to the amount of fat a person carries and is calculated using the person’s height and weight. BMI can help determine a person’s health risks and is a generally reliable health gauge for people between ages 19 and 70. The index is less reliable, however, for competitive athletes or body builders (who may have a high BMI but whose body is made up mostly of muscle) and for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
What’s your BMI?
To learn your body mass index (BMI), find your height in the left-hand column in the chart below and read across the row from your height until you reach your weight. Then look at the number at the bottom of your weight column—this