We are obsessed with both food and dieting, in probably equal measures. With new restaurants springing up all over the city and every type of food you can imagine ready to be delivered to your door in 45 minutes, Dubai is a food lovers’ paradise.
We eat out often where meals are usually larger portions, higher in fat and calories than what we would eat at home. A stressful day at work means we are more likely to pick up the phone and order fast food when we get home rather than cook.
But at the same time, we spend millions a year on weight loss products and treatments hoping for a quick fix to that expanding waistline. According to a report by America’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than one-third (36.5%) of US adults have obesity. And what’s more, dieting is failure-prone, with the statistics even worse when it comes to those who can keep the weight off.
The answer to this weight loss/weight gain cycle lies in how you manage your weight on a daily basis. Your diet and the way you eat, is ingrained in your lifestyle. So, if you want to change your weight and keep it off, you must permanently adopt a healthy lifestyle.
It’s not just all that tempting food that stands in the way of your efforts to achieve or maintain a healthy weight. Technology has altered our lifestyles, and most of us end up sitting for most of the day, about a quarter of adults - and an even greater percentage of women - report that they are sedentary and engage in no physical activity, and less than half exercise regularly. And as women age, their tendency to be sedentary steadily increases.
Being overweight increases your risk for many diseases. You are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death for both men and women in the US. Overweight people are also more likely to have high blood pressure, another major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, and high cholesterol, also a risk factor. They’re twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes - a major cause of death, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, amputation and blindness - as those not overweight.
It sounds so simple: eat less, exercise, lose weight. But few people succeed in losing more than a few pounds on diets and even fewer succeed in maintaining that weight loss.
Extreme diets can sometimes be harmful and are rarely successful in the long term. This means that weight loss should not be your only or even your primary goal if you are concerned about your health. Instead, the success of your weight-management efforts should be evaluated not just by the number of pounds you lose, but by improvements in your chronic disease risk factors, such as reduced blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, as well as by new, healthy lifestyle habits.
Diagnosis
Before launching a weight management programme, you might want to talk to a professional who specialises in this area.
“First things first. Meet an expert, says Dr Sanjay Parashar at Cocoona Centre for Aesthetic Transformation. Everybody is different, everyone’s weight is different, eating habits differ, hence one needs a tailor-made approach for weight management he adds.
Nutritionist
Nutritionists and dietitians can evaluate your diet and nutritional habits and help structure more healthy eating patterns and weight management strategies based on your needs, food selection and calorie goals.
Endocrinologist
Endocrinology is the field of medicine involving the body’s chemical messengers, or hormones, and its biochemical control mechanisms, or metabolism. Endocrinologists are physicians who care for patients with complex hormonal disorders and metabolic conditions, including obesity as well as diabetes, thyroid disorders, metabolic bone disease, pituitary and adrenal conditions and growth and gonadal disorders.
Personal trainer
Trainers provide one-on-one exercise-related goals, they can help with motivation, provide professional expertise and personalised attention to help you reach your goals.
“An expert should help you; understand your current health, identify your imbalances and weight management goals, chart out a written plan, help you find a buddy, or even be a buddy and address the weight loss myths, says Dr Parashar.
Treatment
The key to weight management is incorporating three strategies into lifelong practices - eating healthfully, exercising regularly and, for some, changing your relationship with food. The most important key to success is to see any changes in diet and exercise not as punishment.
There’s two things that always work says Dr Parashar. “A written plan; I always advise have a plan for yourself. Know what you will eat and do to address your weight concern. This helps you remind yourself what you can eat, and should avoid. Find a buddy; team work is always more fruitful and successful. convince your partner, friend or colleague to be part of this programme. They work like a sponsor, you can go to them for motivation and also make the journey of weight management interesting and challenging,” adds Dr Parashar.
Eating for weight management
If you keep in mind the biological reason we eat - to provide our bodies the energy and nutrients they need - is a good way to think about food.
With an estimated 90% of dieters regaining all, or part, of the weight they lose within five years, it’s reasonable to assume that ‘dieting’ is not the answer to weight management. The best ‘diet’ is a way of life that you can follow for the rest of your life, so it should consist of a balance of a variety of foods.
The easiest advice to follow is to divide your plate into sections. Half your plate at main meals should consist of colourful vegetables, one quarter of grain products such as whole-grain bread, pasta, whole-grain rice and cereals, and one quarter of lean meat, fish or poultry.
A few simple ways to cut back on calories include:
Hold the sauce. Dishes that include high-fat sauces, mayonnaise and regular salad dressings should only be consumed occasionally and only in small portions.
Drink more water. Avoid calories hidden in bottled juices, alcoholic beverages, fancy coffee concoctions, smoothies and excessive fruit juice consumption.
Eat high-volume foods. High-volume, low-calorie foods, like most fruits and vegetables, are high in water and fibre, helping you feel fuller longer.
“Calorie counting always help keeping a check, but it’s best is to have a written plan, deign chart. Stick to it. A good plan balances the overall intake, just not calorie counting. One needs nutrition and proper nutrition,” says Dr Parashar.
The skinny on fad diets
Despite some interesting miracle weight-loss claims you see, there is simply no magic formula for losing weight. Fad diets may help you lose some pounds in the short run, but they don’t work in the long term because they’re impossible, and unhealthy, to maintain. The truth is permanent weight loss takes time and requires a permanent change in eating and exercise habits.
Physical activity helps
Daily physical activity does help weight management. And exercise not only burns calories, it also tempers your appetite, boosts metabolism, improves sleep and provides psychological benefits, such as an increased feeling of control and self-esteem, as well as reducing stress.
Dr Parashar says “My advice to all my patients concerned with weight management is healthy eating, followed by an active lifestyle. Not everyone is made for the gym, but walks, staying off the couch and carbs is important. And exercise, there is no point going to the gym followed by a pizza on the couch!”
As a rule of thumb, a healthy woman should engage in at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise or at least 75 minutes of vigorous aerobic exercise per week while not exceeding caloric intake requirements.