Food For Weight Control

Definition of Being Overweight

The most scale used by most professionals to determine acceptable weight is Body Mass Index (BMI). The BMI formula BMI = Weight (kg) / height (metre)2.

So your BMI could be easily worked out using the above formula. The result is then interpreted as follow:

below 20 = underweight
20-25 = acceptable weight
25-30 = overweight
30-40 = obese
over 40 = morbidly obese



The acceptable range of 20-25 allows a women of 1.7 metres (5ft 7 in) to weight anything between 57.8kg to 72.25kg. The acceptable maximum weight for health is higher than many people would expect.

Another good indication of genuine overweight is the "waist circumference" test. This test is as below:

Man - indication

94cm(37.5in) - OK
94-101cm(37.5in-40.5in - further weight gain should be avoided
over 101cm(40.5in) - weight should be lost

Women - indication

80cm(32in) - OK
80-87cm (32-34.75in) - further weight gain should be avoided
over 87cm(34.75in) - weight should be lost

If you are on the borderline on the BMI system, the waist circumference test may help you decide which categories you belong to and what action you need to take.

Overeating and Overweight


Most people think overweight people eat a lot. Well, in most cases, that is far from the truth. Most people nowadays lead a fairly sedentary lifestyle. Calorie needs for them may not be great. So by eating a small amount more than the calorie needs, it will result in a slow but steady weight increase.

For example, by eating just 100 calorie a day more than the needs will result in an annual weight gain of 4.7kg(10lb).

Reason for Losing Weight


Research has demonstrated that people with a high Body Mass Index (BMI) of over 30 are prompt to ill-health, disease and early death even though they may have passed their fitness tests and look as healthy as slim people are.

Of course there will always be some obese people who live healthy, happy and long lives.

Fast Track to Permanent Weight Loss


Research has shown that people who lose weight quickly are more likely to put the weight back on again. People lose weight quickly by starving for a certain period of time. Once they achieve their weight lose goal, they start having the same diet before the weight lose. They put the weight back on as soon as they lose it.

You need a healthy weight lose diet. You need to consume enough calories for your body to ensure you don't feel hungry. You need to get all the nutrients for your body while losing your weight. So. you need to eat a reasonable amount of food. On these calorie levels, you can not lose weight quickly. However, research has shown that people who consume enough amount of calories do better at weight loss long term.

The Best Diet for Losing Weight


The best diet for weight loss should be a healthy and normal diet. It should contain all the major nutrients, fibre and so on. You should have three meals and a snack a day. In order for you to lose weight, you have to create a calories deficit which means burning up more energy than you consume as food.

Men need 1,500 to 1750 calories a day whereas women need 1,250 to 1,500 calories a day. This is a rough guide. For very overweight or very active people, they will be able to eat more than that but still lost weight, especially if activity levels are stepped up.

On good calorie counting diet, you will cut down on the high calorie foods such as cakes, pastries, desserts, fatty meats, sugar, mayonnaise, alcohol and so on. There is not point cutting down low calories food such as vegetables and fruits because these healthy foods that are important to your health do not save you enough calories to make a different. There is not need to cut out carbohydrate food such as bread, rice, potato and pasta either. These are healthy food. The only thing you need to do is cut down the portion size a bit.


Slow Metabolism and Overweight


A small percentage of people have slower metabolism due to an underactive thyroid gland. Thyroid gland is a double-lobed structure located in the neck that regulate the rate of metabolism. A blood test could diagnose the problem.

A lot of overweight people believe that their overweight body is the cause of slower metabolism rate. They think they burn up calories slower than slim people. This is not true. As a matter of fact, slim people have slower metabolism the overweight people. The most important factor that govern the metabolism rate is how big you are. The heavier a body is, the more work it has to do. Hence the more calorie it needs and the faster metabolic rate it has.

For example, a 70kg women needs much more to eat than a 50kg women in order to maintain weight. Once the 70kg women begins to lose weight, her metabolism rate will slow down gradually. If she slims down to 50kg, her metabolism rate will be similar to the 50kg women if other factor are equal.

Control Food Craving


There is no need to completely give up that food that you enjoy. A small amount of any food can be included in a healthy diet. A dessert after a healthy low-fat main course will be fine.

In a healthy diet, you should not miss meals or go long periods without food or indulge in over-strict calorie control. This can most likely produce the craving for sweet and high carbonhydrates food such as chocolate or biscuits as the result of low blood sugar levels. Satisfying such cravings with a sugary snack may result in even lower dip in blood sugar because it will trigger an excess released of insulin that our body needs to cope with the sugary influx. As a result of that, there could be another craving for more sweet food.

Eating regular small meals high in healthy and low glycaemic index foods is one way to get off this crave-indulge-crave situation.

Weight Loss And Slimming Program


When you begin a slimming diet in the first week or two, you will lose several kilogram of weight. This is coming from the fluid you lose not the fat. Subsequently, weight loss will be mostly fat.

The other reason is that the when you lose weight, your metabolic rate is gradually slowing down because you are getting smaller in size. The slimmer a body is, the less work it has to do. So the lower metabolic rate a body has, the lower its calaries needs.

So after a while on a slimming program, the same diet could not give you the calorie deficit you need to achieve your weight loss target. For weight loss to continue at a steady rate, you need to gradually cut the calorie content of the diet and increase your exercise level accordingly.