Overeating is one of the greatest sins of our modern society. We have confused appetite hunger so often that we cannot tell the difference. Hunger is a signal from the body that it has actual need for food. It is not a learned response. The body needs to be refueled.
On the other hand, appetite is a learned response tied in with what and when a person wants to eat. Perhaps one sense has been stimulated- the person smells a food, sees it, or thinks about it. This reminds him of a pleasant experience he has had with that food, and he wants to eat.
That is why it is hard for any person to know when he is overeaten. Of course there are the obvious signs. After overeating many, many times, he becomes overweight. But if we are talking about how knows he is overeaten, there is probably only that full, stuffy feeling- which many people consider normal.
If you want to be healthy and weigh what you really want to weigh, it is the best policy to train carefully the tastes and feelings for food. This can be done adequately only over a period of time.
We used to think that a chubby baby, a chubby person, was the most healthy. That`s not true. Now we often go the other way, thinking that the skinny person is the healthiest. That`s not true either. There is an ideal weight for each that is neither really chubby nor skinny.
If you want to maintain your proper weight for maximum health, you have to be in charge of what you eat. You can`t allow mere taste or sight or remembrance of a food to dictate to you. That`s why many weight –control programmes are erroneous- they don`t retrain your thinking about food.
Obesity is one of the major medical problems of our day. It is not disease of itself, but it predisposes to many diseases, including diabetes, heart disease, stomach disorders.
When you remember that for five pounds of fat there are about three extra miles of blood vessels, you get an idea of what the body is burdened with when it has an extra fifteen or twenty pounds of fat to carry around.
We see this problem more among children than ever before, and a higher percentage of women are overweight than men, though men are catching up. One reason for this is that in our society girls are not as active as boys.
It is easier for some people to keep their proper weight than others. There are certain body types which do not tend towards obesity. For example you can identify the ‘bony’ type. It doesn`t matter what activity level they are on, what their eating patterns are they are very seldom overweight.
So there are physiological reasons why some people have a harder time to maintain their weight. But this is not to say they cannot control it. It simply means that they have to work harder at it.
That only weight reduction process we can prove really works is to retrain your eating habits and increase your exercise. It has to be a pattern for life both getting more exercise than you usually get and eating less often or in smaller quantities so as to reduce your calorie intake. Crash diets do neither of these on a continuing basis. One of the biggest problems of a crash diet is that you feel bad when you are on it. You think of it as a diet – and when you say ‘ diet’, you are sure to see beginning and an end.
As soon as you reach that ending point, the chances are 99.9 per cent that you will go right back to the pattern that caused overweight in the first place.
Some crash diets are outright dangerous. For instance, they may increase the protein and decrease the carbohydrates. They may decreases the liquid intake, so you lose a lot of water. When you step on the scales, you yell, ‘ Hurrah! I`m losing weight’. But all you`re doing is losing water. And you may be encouraged to stay on this rigid regime for an indefinite period.
There are many problems with high-protein diets. Again the major trouble as far as weight control is concerned is that it doesn`t retrain a person`s eating habits.
Some people, including teenagers, are attracted by the claims often made for diet pills. Let`s look at the various kinds of such pills available on the market today.
First, there are drugs, some of which are in the form of lozenges that contain benzocaine. This is intended to deaden the taste buds so you will not feel hungry. But this has not been proved successful in losing weight permanently.
Other diet pills contain cellulose or pectin, or something else that is supposed to absorb water and expand in your stomach, so the stomach feels full without your having to eat food. The trouble here is twofold: You have to take a large amount to get sufficient bulk to satisfy and the temporary satisfaction rapidly passes. You may feel full for the moment, but not for long.
Some diet pills are diuretics- they make you lose water. But again, this is all you lose, which is what is really necessary for adequate weight control.
Amphetamines are sometimes prescribed for control of weight. There’s no scientific proof that this drug actually decreases the appetite. It may give a feeling of well-being, minor stimulation. Theory is that if a person feels good, he won’t be depressed and go to food as a solution.
Appetite depressants may work for some people. However, the outside edge of their time effectiveness is about three months. Usually they are effective for only about one month. Then the dieter tends to increase the dosage so it continues to depress the appetite.
Doctors say that the only usefulness for prescription medication for weight control is that they give a temporary boost, either to get the dieter started on a real control program or to give him a bit of encouragement when he reaches a plateau and loses incentive. But there are no useful long term effects. And for many people there is no indication that they even depress the appetite.
Equally a problem is the person who is a string bean and seemingly cannot gain weight. Such a person may try and try to gain, but in failing to do so will feel as frustrated and defeated as the person who is trying to lose pounds. This is another reason to believe there is one physiological predisposing to either leanness or obesity. Of course there are a lot of people who fit neither extreme.
The excessively thin person should first be sure he has no disease that is causing his condition. A complete physical check-up should assure him of this. A few people have anorexia nervosa, a severe mental problem that causes not to eat. Second the thin person usually gets the idea that he doesn’t need to exercise. But we know what various kinds of exercise tone up the entire body so it can function better. Thus a well rounded program of exercise is essential.
For this person the diet is changed, not to increase the overall quantity, but rather the quality. He needs more high-density calorie foods. For example, instead of eating two slices of bread, he will eat only one slice but add margarine and jam, or use more salad dressings on his salads. At times such person cannot eat large meals, so he may need pattern of several smaller ones throughout the day.
Another misunderstood aspect of exercise is the assumption that exercise increases the appetite. Many claim hard exercise causes them to eat more. However this is not a rigid cycle. The exercise that increases your appetite is occasional exercise. It has been proved by long-term studies that consistent exercises actually decrease the appetite.
You may have a hard time believing this, because you remember that first beautiful spring day when you went out of picnic. You played football and run three-legged races all day until you were famished. Then came the big meal.
Yet this was the result of occasional exercise. You had more of an appetite because you were feeling better and everything was marvelous for you! Your whole outlook on life was better, and this increased your caloric need. On the other hand, regular exercise decreases the appetite. Understanding this is especially necessary for people with sedentary life styles. For them consistency in exercise is all the more needed.
Different people prefer different kinds of exercise. The best form for you is the kind you think you can live with the rest of your life. I may think walking is the best for me. You may think its jogging. The next person may think its cycling. Whatever you can live with that makes you expend energy is the best for you.
At times teenager, especially girls who are weight-conscious, ask specifically what they should do. At a risk of repeating some of the points already made, here are some suggestions. The girl should analyze what she has eaten for a week. Rather than prescribe a diet say,’ let’s see what you may be able to live without.’ Perhaps she can decrease her diet by one milk-shake a week. Here we’re talking about 500 calories a week, and in a few weeks that’s going to be a pound.
Now if she can decrease her week’s menu by more than that, the weight can go a little faster. It is unwise to decrease a teenage girl’s diet too much during those important, developing years. We find that the most teenage girls as a group are among the most malnourished, so we want to go slow in cutting things out of their diet.
The best thing for this weight conscious girl is in some way to increase her exercise. And we don’t mean by doing calisthenics, but by something she enjoys. Perhaps it can be walking or by extra activities at home that require going up and down stairs, something that can be incorporated into her daily life pattern.
At times you can get teenage girls to do gymnastics, or play tennis, or take up some active game. Swimming is the big thing in summer. But the basic thing for teenage girls is to help her increase her exercise. In the whole picture of weight control, most important is the need that it could be done by natural, long range means that will increase the healthy functioning of the body, and in this way the vigorous use of the mind as well.
DESIRABLE WEIGHTS ACCORDING TO FRAME AT AGES 25 AND OVER
Weight in pounds and kilos in door clothing
Weight in pounds and kilos in door clothing[i]
|
MEN
|
|||||||
|
Height with shoes *
FT. INS.
METRES.
|
Small
LBS. KGS.
|
Medium
LBS. KGS.
|
Large
LBS. KGS.
|
||||
|
5’2’’
5’4’’
5’6’’
5’8’’
5’10’’
6’0’’
6’2’’
6’4’’
|
1.57
1.62
1.67
1.72
1.77
1.82
1.88
1.93
|
112-120
118-
126
124-133
132-141
140-150
148-158
156-167
164-175
|
50.8-54.4
53.5-57.1
56.2-60.3
59.9-64.0
63.5-68.0
67.1-71.7
70.8-75.7
74.4-79.4
|
118-129
124-136 130-143
138-152
146-160
154-170
162-180
172-190
|
53.5-
58.5
56.2-
61.7
59.0 -64.9 62.6-68.9 66.2-72.6
69.8-77.1
73.5-
81.6
78.0-
86.2
|
126-141
132-148
138-156 147-166
155-174
164
-184
173-194 182-204
|
57.7-
64.0
59.9-
67.1
62.6-
70.8
66.7-
75.3
70.3-
78.9
74.4-83.5
78.5-
88.0
82.5-
92.5
|
|
WOMEN
|
|||||||
|
5’0’’
5’2’’
5’4’’
5’6’’
5’10’
6’0’’
|
1.52
1.57
1.62
1.67
1.77
1.82
|
96-104
102-110 108-116
114-123
130-140
138-148
|
43.5-47.2
46.3-49.9
49.0-
52.6
51.7-55.8
59.0-63.5
62.6-67.1
|
101-113
107-119
113-126
120-135
136-151
144-159
|
45.8-
51.3
48.5
-54.0
51.3-57.1
54.4-61.2
61.7-68.5
65.3-72.1
|
109-125
115-131
121-138
137-154
145-163
153-173
|
49.4-56.7
52.2-59.4
54.9-62.6
62.1
-69.8
65.8-73.9
69.4-78.5
|
Calculation based on man with 1’’ ( 2.5cm)
and women with 2’’ (5cm) heels.
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